Promising US band with an equally promising album debut
Most old school death metal is inherently thrashy, and yet hordes of bands are tripping over one another to claim how thrashy their death metal is. In a lot of cases it seems like a trick to distance their melodic death metal sound from the melo-death term. But Legionary is indeed thrashy death metal in every sense of the words. 10 tracks of rolling tremolo thrash riffs, melodic solos and primal vocals aplenty, Arcane Divisions, the band's first full length album venture, is a force to be reckoned with.
The 2012 album is the US group's only release besides a demo from 2010 and proposes some overwhelmingly imposing songwriting. Thrashing d-beats call to mosh, only to be overtaken by neckwrecking bursts of death metal accompanied by the characteristically animalistic roaring of the band's vocalist Tim Rocheny. Saturated with noticable nods to the classic late 80s sound, Legionary also maintain a modern focus throughout Arcane Divisions.
The 2012 album is the US group's only release besides a demo from 2010 and proposes some overwhelmingly imposing songwriting. Thrashing d-beats call to mosh, only to be overtaken by neckwrecking bursts of death metal accompanied by the characteristically animalistic roaring of the band's vocalist Tim Rocheny. Saturated with noticable nods to the classic late 80s sound, Legionary also maintain a modern focus throughout Arcane Divisions.
"Band leader Frank D'Erasmo's detailed drumwork draws attention, even during guitar-focused solos,"
Tony Barhoum and Alonso Maguiño's melodic guitar solos sometimes takes the music in a more confused direction where melodic death metal reigns supreme. It is far from predominant on the band's debut, but tracks like Unfriendly Fire are a bit too light-weight and exceedingly melodic for my taste. Band leader Frank D'Erasmo's detailed drumwork draws attention, even during guitar-focused solos, and is certainly an essential part of Legionary's unique sound.
Suffice it to say that Arcane Divisions is no run of the mill half-assed melodic death-thrash. Legionary maintain a true core of metal infused with classic as well as forward-thinking passages and as such have created a vicious mutant of fast and crushing metal.
Suffice it to say that Arcane Divisions is no run of the mill half-assed melodic death-thrash. Legionary maintain a true core of metal infused with classic as well as forward-thinking passages and as such have created a vicious mutant of fast and crushing metal.
7/10
Released in 2012 independently
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