Legends

Though South and Central America have generally had a healthy representation in the power metal scene going back to early days of the 2nd wave, a few isolated nations like Costa Rica didn't really make much of an impact, especially when compared with the endless steam of bands that flowed out of Brazil, Argentina and later Peru. Recently things began to look up with the impressive showing made by San Jose's Wings Of Destiny, and not too long after they had hit the ground running with 3 highly potent LPs from 2015-2017, another act with a gritter edge from the same town in Konkordia would make a play at rivaling them. In this respect, their 2017 debut EP Legends ends up holding a good sized candle to the work of their contemporaries, while avoiding the pitfall of borrowing from their competition.

In essence, this sports the same speed-dominated, dual guitar attack approach of Wings Of Destiny with a slight helping of keyboards for added atmosphere, but takes it in a heavier and less Helloween-influenced direction. The approach is more heavily tied to a simplified, riff-based approach and leans heavily on the speed metal end of the spectrum. In fact, drummer Luis Miguel Gonzalez's relentless double kick beats give things far more of a Sacred Steel mode of blood, guts and glory from a sonic angle, though the vocals prove a tad less sloppy and the lyrical content has more of a romantic, almost Italian character to it. Luis Madrigal's singing tends more towards a mid-range howl that fits the bottom-ended sound well, and also proves adaptive to changes in feel, with his performance on the piano-driven ballad "She" seeing him successfully shift to a more subdued croon when called for.

But individual performances aside, what ultimately sells these songs is the pummeling heaviness matched by unrelenting speed that dominates the lion's share of the album. The Spartan-inspired crusher "Listen To The War Cry" rides a constant stream of furious speed riffs and lands a pretty flashy guitar solo following a dramatic spoken section by what is assumedly a portrayal of King Leonidas, while conventional cruisers with a few precision-based breaks in "Chains Of Eternity" and the somewhat Iron Maiden-tinged "Blunt Sword" cut with same ferocity minus the theatrical element. The true coup de grace that brings home this band's less than subtle affinity for Manowar's musical approach is the brilliant closer "Heart Of The Sea", featuring a bright pipe organ intro like something directly out of Kings Of Metal, while the rest of the song cooks with the fervor of something heard from Paragon or Stormwarrior.

Sadly almost 5 years to the day that this EP turned a few heads in the online streaming world there has yet to be a follow up and original vocalist Luis Madrigal would also bow out not long after its release. There is a ton of potential here, and with the right person at the controls in the studio and a similarly competent vocalist this band could definitely give the current crop of power metal bands in Europe and South America a run for their money. Those who are nostalgic for the rugged character that typified acts like Wisdom, The Storyteller, Sacred Steel and early Hammerfall will definitely want to hear this. It's about as rooted in the chivalry of Arthurian lore as it is the grimy sword and sorcery of Conan The Barbarian, but the end product is definitely something that Manowar and Helloween fans alike can enjoy.