Legion Of The Damned - Cult Of The Dead

Published December 11 2008

*=Staff's pick	Sermon Of Sacrilege Pray & Suffer* Black Templar House Of Possession* Black Wings Of Yog-Sothoth Cult Of The Dead Necrosophic Rapture* Enslaver Of Souls Solar Overlord Lucifer Saviour The Final Godsend*

Genre	Thrash Metal	Maurice Swinkels	Vocals
Tracks	11	Richard Ebisch	Guitar
Runningtime	42 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Massacre Records	Harold Gielen	Bass
Release	19 December 2008	Erik Fleuren	Drums
Country	Holland	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Kreator, Slayer

After a great opening, in form of the ominous intro Sermon of Sacrilege followed by the jawbreaking Pray & Suffer, everything is business as usual in the Legion Of The Damned camp. Fast and intense old school thrash metal filled with distinct and razorsharp riffs accompanied by superb vocals, everything clad in a very fat production. The tempo is perhaps slightly more moderate this time but you can almost feel and touch the intensity and aggression in the air while listening to them.

While I think their previous albums have been close to top notch, around 8,5 or 9 points all of them, I would have wanted something a bit different this time for a higher grade. It is throughout the album shifting between grinding midtempo and fast attacks, and the riffs are as mentioned really brilliant from time to time but the real high peaks are a bit absent this time since there are no real "hits" to be found. Nevertheless, their lowest level is very high so there are no songs or moments that do not belong here.

In conclusion: no surprises, just pure thrash metal of very high quality like we are used to from Legion Of The Damned. They have always lived off their riffs and continue to do so here. A few peaks, some standard cuts, but no real lows to be found. A bit more variation would not have hurt, since some passages sounds all too familiar. If you are new to Legion Of The Damned and love this, be sure to check up their previous albums.