LEGIONS OF THE DARK
Compilation CD
Sonic Wave, 2001
It is so irritating looking at the big, stupid and not attractive-looking price sticker and to make it worse, they stick it on the front cover. It ruined the artwork you fool! So I have to carefully peel it off. Last time we have VSP doing like this now Sonic Wave Malaysia. Think as a fan, will you? This compilation was supposed to be release as a free CD for DARK LEGIONS Magazine issue #3 but Makhluq change the plan and I think it is wise to do so. Firstly, there are lots of new, not yet release tracks. Secondly, there are lots of Singaporean bands and they might not hear by many fans especially from oversea since the magazine distribution only ranged in the Singapore/Malaysia. 17 bands, each presents 1 track. The booklet comes complete with band pic, logo, info and including the band's genre. Only the background color is not really in my liking. I am not paid to say this but all our Singaporean brothers and sisters are almost equally great! Some present new, not yet release track, while few (or maybe just FENRIR?) present a track from their latest release. BEAST PETRIFY has more 'oriental' feeling in its speed thrash music. Makhluq is as vocal in BUNUH, SAKARATUL MAUT and ABATTORY and he vary his voice in each band. BUNUH is heading for more brutal death and so does Makhluq voice. ABATTORY is still with their fast death/thrash but a bit faster now. SAKARATUL MAUT has musically improved especially now with a human drummer and the vocal is too distorted, chaotic black metal type of voice. I knew ENORTHED and WRATH OF GIBRYLE as I link them from my website but they are release-less band back then. ENORTHED blew me away with their great speed metal!!!! WRATH OF GIBRYLE plays melodic thrash at certain part sound a bit like Venom. RESURRECT and EREBUS play melodic death but RESURRECT is much better with vocal variations. VRYKOLAKAS (review of their CD elsewhere in this issue) and SADISTORY are in the same league, brutal death metal. Others are ELYSIUM (Germany; new Sonic Wave band; death), ENFORCE (Australia; released a split CD with SW; quite interesting death/thrash), MALICIOUS SECRETS (France; black), DARKNESS ETERNAL (Canada; death/doom), CENTAUR (Australia; death/thrash) and INNER WAR (USA; death). Other things beside the background color that I dislike are the drawing of the devil tied-up to a stick and the letter 'T' looks like a cross. Combining these two, I can say that LEGIONS... is a positive, 'white' metal project. Is that Sonic Wave marketing strategy? At least the logo/pentagram looks great.
4/5