LEGION OF THE DAMNED
LEGION OF THE DAMNED "The Poison Chalice"
By Dr. Abner Mality
If you're after no-nonsense heads down thrash metal, it's tough to go wrong with LEGION OF THE DAMNED. OK, they'll never win a prize for innovation in the pursuit of sore necks, but including the time when they were known as OCCULT, they've been at it for 33 years and never in that time have they put out a soft or wimpy album and "The Poison Chalice" is not gonna break that streak.
Only the first few seconds of "Saints In Torment" offer any relief from thrash. When that's out of the way, it's full speed ahead with no let up. The Dutchmen favor a European style of metal that owes a lot to the old German gods but should also appeal to fans of SLAYER and ANTHRAX. The super raspy vocals of Maurice Swinkels bring a touch of evil blackness to the music.
The LEGION sound does get monolithic at times and songs tend to sound alike. "Contamination" is a killer tune, but the following "Progressive Destructor" has a very similar sound. That's why I liked the more epic "Skulls Adorn the Traitor's Gate" which has some real atmosphere and resembles their countrymen GOD DETHRONED a bit. Two more notable tracks are "Savage Intent" and the title track, which have a kind of bouncy hook to them that will really get the heads nodding, if not furiously banging. Guitar solos are not outstanding but get the job done.
Yet another solid blast of thrash from these veterans...drink deep from this chalice!