Cult of the Dead

It's really simple: if you want more Legion of the Damned you'll enjoy this, if you don't then you can ignore it. Once again, the Legion treats us with a relentless flood of riffs, touching on both Thrash and Death Metal. Cult of the Dead does not differ in any way from their previous albums: stripped down extreme metal, designed to make you headbang, without a place for extensive noodling. As always, blistering fast metal mayhem is mixed in with slower, heavy breaks and the occasional catchy riff.

Lead sections are limited and the rare solo does few things more than add chaotic elements (think Trey Azagthoth or Kerry King minus the shredding) to the song. The bass is mostly invisible, barring a sparse line here and there. These two facts, combined with the lack of experimentation cause the overall product to be quite monotonous. The strong point of this band, however, is that they can make repetitiveness a good thing, and the album does not drag at all. With the exception of haunting electronic supplements in three songs, the inundation of fast guitars does not stop a single time.

The vocals lean more towards Death Metal, recalling Morbid Saint or Torture Squad. Like the rest of the music, they rely mostly on a single formula, breaking it only a handful of times on the entire album. The vicious drumming adds great background treats, ranging from psychotic fills to ardent double bassing. All of these particles are held together by a clean, modern production, which works amazingly well for the music. All in all, this is more of the good old Legion of the Damned, which will satisfy fans of the band. Adding more variation wouldn't have been a bad idea, but in general this is an excellent release.