Review Summary: This album will rock your face off.
He Is Legend have previously released an EP, "91025" and one full-length, "I Am Hollywood." Their style is a mix of metal and hard rock with both wonderfully sung and screamed vocals. "I Am Hollywood" contained some of the more imaginative riffs I had heard in a while, and while the band has a fair share of screaming, it sounds nothing like a standard "screamo" band.
Enter "Suck Out The Poison." It expands on "I Am Hollywood" ten-fold. This album is SO heavy. It never lets up - there are no ballads, no slow songs, just straight up, balls-to-the-wall, rock.
The CD begins with a bang with Dixie Wolf, which is somewhat of an expansion of the first song on "I Am Hollywood," The Seduction - the two songs contain similar riffs and the lyrics in the breakdown are the same. Right off one of the most marked changes is that frontman Schuylar Croom has chosen to sing in a more raspy, somewhat whiskey-soaked voice. It works really well with the gritty riffs and blast-beat drums. The song sounds pretty standard until the chorus ends and Schuylar screams out "REST IN PIECES!!!" - it's one of those parts that you have to rewind because it is that awesome.
The CD continues with the near 80s hair-metal sound of the last minute of Attack Of The Dungeon Witch. Suck Out The Poison follows with a chorus that could have been written by Def Leppard. Mushroom River is a grungy, metal rocker, followed by the the nightmarish sounding China White II. Some of the lyrics are based on children's nursery rhymes, and when coupled with the devastating riffs and screaming that He Is Legend has nearly perfected this time around, it sounds like some sort of deranged goulish fairy-tale gone terribly wrong (and that's a good thing!)
Serpent Sickness begins with Schuylar pleading "please let me out of your brain!" It continues with a real dark vibe and some of the album's best drumming. This band has gotten really good at the "controlled chaos" thing - a la Every Time I Die, or the new Underoath album. The southern rock riff that opens Electronic Throat could have come straight from Lynyrd Skynrd. Stampede and The Widow Of Magnolia continue the great riffs and balance between Schuylar's great voice and his frightening scream. Pot Bellied Goddess is probably the most "melodic" song on the record - and that's not a bad thing - it really showcases Schuylar's voice.
Goldie's Torn Locks begins with an urgent riff before it explodes into one of the best songs on the album. It's one of the many songs where Schuylar adds his southern accent onto some of the vocals, giving the songs an even more dirty, bar-room feel. The CD finishes with (((louds, an 8 minute epic which is the epitomy of He Is Legend, with dirty riffs, erie lyrics, and vocals that range from crooning to throat-shredding. The addition of the female vocals are really great, and it gives it a feeling similar to the female vocals on "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones.
The only complaint I have with this album is the two interludes, Opening, and Cannonball Hands (The Tomato Parade) - they really add nothing to the album.
The North Carolina boys have made an album that is not only creative as hell, but will make you want to drive fast and break everything in sight. Get ready to have a sore neck, because you'll be head-banging like crazy to this one.
