Divine Legions at War

Divine Legions at War is the Christian death metal band Clemency's second full length album released in 2002. Their debut was 1999's Spiritual Domination.

This album is an obvious attempt to create a safe Christian alternative to the band Morbid Angel's distinct and rather unique brand of death metal. A great idea but falls just short of its goal for the following reasons.

I'll start with the drumming which seems to make an eager attempt at mimicking Pete Sandoval's machine gun double bass kicks and quick as well as technically proficient hand work. First of all, the double bass drumming displayed here is comparable in speed to Sandoval's but not nearly as accurate or creative. The hand work is a bit sloppy and doesn't keep time as well as the band's blatantly obvious musical influence. Also, the changes of pace are not transitioned very smoothly at all. However, I do commend this drummers well intentioned effort.

Secondly are the guitars which faired far better in terms of modeling the fret board wizardly of Morbid Angel guitarist and mastermind Trey Azagthoth. The rhythms are lightning fast with the precision that is to be expected for a band that is trying to stand on equal footing with a top notch death metal act like Morbid Angel. The leads are very atmospheric and are certainly the highlight of this release. I would elaborate on the bass playing but it is unfortunately nearly inaudible and gets buried deep in the mix of the album.

Lastly is the production which is very thin and lacks volume and substance especially with the guitars. The poor production confined this offering to just slightly above mediocre when it had the potential to be a good and more enjoyable listening experience.

Get this if you want a sound that bares some resemblance to Morbid Angel and are a devout Christian who desires a CD that offers a reasonable listening alternative to the harsh anti-Christian rhetoric spewed out by MA.