 | Tracklist:
1. Khaos Overture
2. Yesterday Is Dead And Gone
3. Bloodstained Cross
4. Under Black Flags We March
5. No Gods, No Masters
6. City Of The Dead
7. Through The Eyes Of A Raven
8. Cruelty Without Beauty
9. We Are A Godless Entity
10. Cult Of Chaos
11. Thorns In My Flesh
12. Turn To Dust
13. Vengeance Is Mine
14. Secrets
15. The Zoo
16. Snow Bound
Release Date: 06/07/2011 | |
| | other reviews | Jake C. Taylor (2.5)
Another album; another collection of fleeting brilliance, and a whole lot of sustenance in the monot... |
On 8 Lists
|
| Summary: It's a lack of creativity that makes Khaos Legions such a difficult album to listen to. |
Everything you need to know about Khaos Legions is nicely summed up in the first three songs debuted by Arch Enemy over the last couple months. "Yesterday Is Dead and Gone" emphasizes individuality and freedom. "Bloodstained Cross" is a song about how god isn't real. And of course, "No Gods, No Masters" has something to do with individuality and freedom from a god that doesn't exist. If this sounds familiar, it's because this is blueprint Arch Enemy has spent the past decade following. If such themes were ever particularly inspiring, their continuous regurgitation has rendered them uninteresting. While vocalist Angela Gossow rasping "All the prayers in the world/won't help you now" in "Bloodstained Cross," may have sounded edgy eight years ago when Arch Enemy was the first death metal band you listened to, in 2011 it's stale. Put simply, Khaos Legions doesn't say anything that hasn't been said roughly the same way over the past four or five albums.
Likewise, Khaos Legions recycles the same musical ideas that listeners were subject to on Rise of the Tyrant, Anthems of Rebellion, and virtually every other second-rate melodeath album released since the turn of the century. Guitarists Michael and Christopher Amott are often credited as being skilled players, and while this may be true, they don't do very much with it. Gossow highlights Arch Enemy's major shtick (there is a woman fronting a death metal band), but once you get over that, the band has very little to separate them from their peers. At its best, Khaos Legions is standard, barely passable melodeath faire; a song like "Bloodstained Cross" somewhat catchy, if unmemorable. At its worst, Khaos Legions is a mess of ideas haphazardly thrown together. Too much of the record features ill-advised tempo changes, inane, out of place soloing that is supposed to sound impressive but instead sounds tacky. "Through the Eyes of a Raven" is the worst offender, offering a bizarre hodgepodge of slow grooves, monotonous melodeath clichés, and an instrumental section that sounds as though it was lifted from an Iron Maiden song from the 1980s. It's a frustratingly incohesive record for a band that has previously released seven.
Detractors frequently cite Angela Gossow as being the weak link in Arch Enemy. While her efforts behind the mic certainly do not help (ranging from merely overproduced to downright ridiculous), the problems with Khaos Legions run deeper. Arch Enemy seem content with resting on their laurels, and while that may please the kind of fans who are upset that In Flames haven't be repackaging Whoracle for the past ten years, it ultimately lacks substance. It's this lack of creativity that makes Khaos Legions such a difficult album to listen to; the band's seeming unwillingness to address these problems makes it difficult to care.
|
| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Nice review...
I just can't get into this band...
I tried "Black Earth" and "Anthems of Rebellion" and I found the material pretty ordinary...
| | |
Great Review, as always. Can't stand Angela's vocals any more.
Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
| | |
Band is annoying, especially Angela. Good review, but I won't check
this out.
| | |
I've always liked Arch Enemy so I'm still gonna listen to this. Not really expecting much though.
Digging: Steamy Ray Vaughan - A Little Bit of Rattlesnake Digging: Steamy Ray Vaughan - A Little Bit of Rattlesnake
| | |
I've always found the Amott Brothers to be pretty extraordinary, but this is meh...
Digging: Ewan Dobson - Ewan Dobson
| | |
I refuse to listen to this
i'm so sure it's gonna be boring
Digging: Goldie - Timeless
| | |
Mike Amott is better in Carcass
Digging: Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion Digging: Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion
| | | Album Rating: 2 | Sound Off
I've started getting annoyed by the band members themselves recently, even though I am definitely (or was?) an Angela fanboy. It doesn't seem to be anything really special or new, just the same old melodeath. That said, I still find it enjoyable even though I do agree with many of the points raised in this review. Fanbois 4 evur I guess.
Digging: Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis Digging: Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis | | | Album Rating: 4 | Sound Off
"Yesterday Is Dead and Gone" emphasizes individuality and freedom. "Bloodless Cross" is a song about
how god isn't real."
You can't even get the song titles right. Another review from a guy that listened to the first song
and thought it was enough to review the whole album.
I agree that this album isn't anything new, it is more of the same, but why does everybody complain
now? Nobody complained about Doomsday Machine, which is in my opinion their weakest album, and is
extremely generic. In fact, everybody liked it!
And now that they release their second best album (Wages of Sin is their best), nobody likes the
band anymore.
Still, good review but I don't agree with this being a 2.
| | |
Listen to some Carnal Forge instead of this. A very similar sounding band, but even better.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5 | Sound Off
this album is like if a bunch of dumbasses made a metal album
Digging: Ultramontane Northern Winds - kutte hjertet Digging: Ultramontane Northern Winds - kutte hjertet | | | Album Rating: 4 | Sound Off
Carnal Forge is great
| | | Album Rating: 1.5 | Sound Off
who
| | |
Listened to the first three songs. That was enough to convince me I was done with this band. Guess I'm not 15 years old anymore...
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Nailed it. Every riff/song is like a stale version of one I've already heard before.
| | |
i liked this band when i first got into metal and never again
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Recycled garbage
Guess I'm not 15 years old anymore...
Exactly
Digging: Goo Goo Dolls - A Boy Named Goo | | | Album Rating: 1.5
Also sixteen songs is way too much torture
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
It sounds quality to my ears. Sure, it doesn't deviate from what they did before, but did anyone really expect them to suddenly sound like Opeth?
I have no problems with this record. "Anthems" is their finest hour, but this is solid and I'm sure there's a few gems that I'll continuously listen to.
Digging: Lacuna Coil - Comalies Digging: Lacuna Coil - Comalies | | |
it's poo
Digging: Bjork - Vespertine
| | | |
|
|
Stumble
Digg
Twitter
Del.icio.us
