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Review Summary: A graceful kingdom marred by a warriors call. The sound of "Legends" is a mix of interwoven dynamics, all of which come together in uninterrupted power. From the cathartic shriek opening "Forged by Fire and Stone" to the gentle waves of soothing nature closing out the track "Woods of Eternity", Legends flaunts its incredible use of dynamics to sound both explosive and melodic at the same time. Forceful gales batter you, then still air follows, and so the process repeats. This album is just like a storms cycle. Rampant and seemingly chaotic, and yet still in the heart of it all is beauty. This is because of a combination of some truly brute-like roars pair with harmonious flutes, violins, and horns, all of which never seem to clash. They mend together, neither threatening to overpower the other.
Every instrument is it's own puzzle piece completing the master work. The power chords are pounding yet not so much that the rest of the orchestra doesn't get the chance to permeate the atmosphere. The growls are massive yet not so much as to bring the center of attention towards the aggression. Everything coexists peacefully. The only part of the album that get's slightly less attention is the drumming, as it exists more for the purpose of being a backbone and keeping the rhythm and gets seldom moments to standout, however when it does it is relentless. The short bursts of nearly Behemoth-level blast beats make for sharp bursts of energy. A perfect example is off the track "Ancient Willow", a song with such beauty that only blast beats as tumultuous as this drummers could permeate.
Out of all these things, one thing still reigns supreme over the album. Never mind the melody, the aggression, or even the ability to make compositions that are structured amazingly. This album is true to its theme and it does everything with heart. For example, off "The Wayfarer", one is placed in a bustling merchant center of medieval Europe, peasants trading their wares in tattered clothing barely getting by and people all having a good laugh over folk music and mead. Simply put, this album feels authentic. Another example of this would be that the album opens up with the sound of clanking steel being forged, this being both literal and metaphorical in that this album is preparing you for an assault. An amalgamation of driving, epic guitar riffs, soaring flutes and occasional war chants, this album manages to sound like an incinerating bonfire while retaining the vitality of a single embers spark. It is once you find this spark that the album begins to reveal its intricacies, ranging from twinkling bells that sprinkle the mix to a faintly heard choir in the background off the track "Ancient Willow". So many facets of this album are only unfolded over time, making it equally fresh and exciting album with every listen.
The most respectable thing about this album is that they don't add the folk music because it gives the false pretense of automatically being unique and having its own identity like some folk metal bands do. In all honesty, folk metal seems to pile in with waves of Viking metal look-alikes. This band does it because they are fully devoted to painting the scenery of medieval Europe, allowing you to bask in its beauty and revel in its chaos.
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fraid I'm not so much a fan of this one my man
The review as a whole is very brief. This isn't always a negative, but all I gathered from this was that it has hard parts and lighter parts that don't clash. The first two paragraphs seem to exclusively hammer this point home and don't get too much/no attention at all to any other aspects of the album except a slight mention of the drumming.
It could have been expanded on much more and just to me feels rushed.
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Maybe I could have expanded slightly more, but I really didn't have much more to say about the album, ya know? Like if i added more it'd just be me rehashing all I said. I'll see what more I can add at least
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I think what could help is trying to find a direction to take the review from start to finish. Some of the descriptions here are quite good actually, but the review does read a bit haphazardly, like it's jumping around various aspects of the album without explaining them in a smoother, more concise way. I know what works for one writer won't necessary work for another, but I tend to treat my reviews like essays I wrote in school, often letting my introductory paragraph set the stage for what I want to further touch on, dedicating each paragraph to something I want to delve into. Then, in my concluding paragraph, I'll try to wrap things by saying what the end result of the album means for the band and/or listener. That's one thing I didn't dig in this review was the final paragraph, which to me feels like it's attacking folk metal for the sake of attacking folk metal, out of nowhere.
Two other things I personally recommend would be listening to how some people talk, such as a presentation, video blog, etc. and imagine how they'd discuss what you're reviewing. I sometimes do this while thinking of videos by YouTubers like Jim Sterling and Jared from Wisecrack. Now, this is good for inspiration, but you also want to make sure you retain your own voice in whatever you write. The other, more universal thing I'd suggest is reading your reviews aloud when you finish them. Be as relaxed as possible when reading them, and read it in a way that feels natural to you. Do sentences seem to run on? Do you stumble when reading certain sections? I find reading my reviews aloud helps me weave out many of the twigs I'd normally look past.
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This definitely feels odd still having these type of haphazard mistakes nearly 40 reviews in, but yeah, I understand your points. As for the "attack on folk metal" I actually really like folk metal but I think my belief on the droves of bands that are viking metal clones doesn't do anything for the review. I reread my reviews but I think saying them out loud would help, that way I can kind of find out what sounds out of place. I'm piss poor and revising and editing so I think just saying it aloud would help. I might redo the review although probably not today. Thanks for the feedback man! Really gotta get my shit together so many reviews in, i'm still way to hit or miss.
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Also I see you've been getting into Katatonia, going to see them in March near Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania if you're not from the U.S) and i'm pretty stoked.
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Hey, you can feel free to look through my reviews, I've had my share of blunders like anyone else. I've always struggled to elaborate my thoughts, which is something that gets easier with a bigger palette of albums and reviews. I've been on and off this site, so my quality has definitely been inconsistent. I don't think I started to get what I'd consider consistently solid until my review of Under the Red Cloud, and even now I still feel like I'm trying to find a groove.
And I too will be seeing Katatonia in March, and Amorphis in April, but I'm in Florida, so I'll be driving to St. Petersburg and Tampa, (both about 3 hour drives for me) respectively.
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That's awesome dude. Me and like two other friends are driving out to Millvale I think which is like 4-5 hours because it's on the whole opposite side of Pennsylvania. I actually couldn't get too into Amorphis but a lot of people love Amorphis it seems. Still, hope it's a good concert.
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New Duskmourn out. Album cover looks sick
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Oh man the new one hits on first spin m//
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
https://www.facebook.com/duskmournmetal/posts/pfbid0A95Wyk8u7496WZnUKwewCYv8Sk3c18P1tMuZMuMmsysyWR8pqfKGnbtMLiiCWB45l
new song out this Friday, news of the new album to follow. lfg
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
New track rules m/
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these guys have a decent run of albums going, get the job done for this niche
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