Review Summary: Brutal death metal at it's finest.
Before Deeds of Flesh became what many consider an overly technical band, they were writing some of the most brutal music possible. While they didn't revolutionize the standard death metal formula, they perfected it instead. Riffs are chaotic, vocals are brutal and the drums are faster than a bullet. And it all shows in their fourth album, Mark of the Legion.
With a near perfect production for this type of music, Deeds of Flesh manages to evoke both brutality and technicality. And almost all of it comes from guitarist and vocalist, Erik Lindmark. The vocals of Lindmark sound like they come from a inhuman monster. Fortunately, the vocals never become boring despite the fact that they pretty much never change during the entire album.
Though his growls are hard to decipher, the lyrics are very good. Lines such as: "And our dead heroes and warriors; Were all swept to Asgard" sound like they come from an Amon Amarth album. However, it does also contain your usual death metal lyrics that are about killing a person in a gory way.
Deeds of Flesh are usually most recognized for their crushing and brutal riffs and Mark of the Legion is no exception. All the riffs from "Cleansed by Fire" to "Drink the Blood" are all very well written and manages to keep you interested all the way through. However, the riffs can sometimes blend together and sound very similar, but it only happen a few times during the 40 minute album.
If you think that guitars and vocals are everything this album has to offer, you'd be wrong. Drummer Mike Hamilton plays the drums like he's trying to be the best drummer in the world and his blast beats sound really good despite the fact that the guitars can sometimes drown out the drums and they can sound a bit to low. But that is a minor complaint when compared to everything else this album does right.
However, there are two minor issues with the album. Jacoby Kingston is surely a great bassist, but the bass is almost nowhere to be heard. This is what keeps this album from rivaling albums like "None So Vile" or "Pierced from within". But that doesn't really matter that much in the long run. The other is that the album is pretty short, only 41 minutes long and you wish it would go on longer due to the amount of brutality this album offers you. But that's probably a good thing due to the fact you'd want more.
Despite these mishaps, the pros far outweigh the cons, and what we have is a masterpiece of brutal death metal. All fans of death metal should check it out.
Pros:
Guitars and vocals sound sick
Very well done drums
A perfect production
Strong lyrics
Cons:
A lack of bass
A bit too short
