The Legion

A Bliss To Suffer

Listenable Records 2010

Swedish black metal injected with a lethal dose of death metal brutality can be found on the third full length album from The Legion.  Tight and relentlessly fast pacing combined with atmospheric keys erupt from my speakers as the album's opener Shining Redemption gets underway.  References to Dark Funeral with hints of Dissection and Emperor can be discerned within the typhoon of drums and guitars.  Call To the Nameless Black takes up right where the previous track left off, lots of double bass drums and a violent rhythm section that flips on a dime with a blackened death style and some killer breaks around the 2:30 mark.  The guitar soloing reminds me of Arcturus on their Aspera Hiems Symphonia album.  A more traditional black metal tempo forms the contour of the initial passage on A Toil Beneath the Skin with some nice cymbal work.  Dripping riffs exude atmosphere as the song swirls exhaling an icy breath.  The drum production here has a weird popping effect which is not pleasant.  Blood Be Gone begins with an eerie warped guitar before exploding in to some vicious speed and cold melodies reminding me of Dark Funeral.  Man Beast bursts with death metal ferocity before morphing to blasting black metal with some atmospheric synths thrown in.  Despite all the violence within The Legion's music, the material still remains with a sense of control, always staying tight and because of that, a little flat.  While flawlessly executing their material, The Legion fails to jump out ahead of their peers.  A Bliss To Suffer is a solid and meets all your desires if you are seeking violent yet quality black metal.