Legion Helvete

Tsjuder were never children of sadness. Since their first steps, they preferred brutal sounds. Raw and violent tracks without useless frills have always characterized their albums. “Legion Helvete”, their fourth full-length from 2011, ended a period of seven long years of silence. Nevertheless, this hiatus did not lead to a new approach. The album is easily comparable with its predecessor “Desert Northern Hell”, a masterpiece of Norwegian blackness. Frankly speaking, I believe that you must have a strong conviction if you don’t modify your style after such a long time. And exactly this conviction is the first positive thing I like when it comes to the formation from the Norwegian capital.

Speaking of Norway, Tsjuder are obviously familiar with “Pure Holocaust”. Immortal’s groundbreaking work (it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, unbelievable) does not only work as a general point of orientation due to comparable vibes and aesthetics. Especially the opening riff of “Fra en råtten kiste” pays tribute to “The Sun No Longer Rises”, while “Black Shadows of Hell” refers to Immortal’s all-time classic in a more general way. But don’t draw hasty conclusions – Tsjuder’s songs offer a lot of different layers and parts. Thus, their tracks are mostly great and autonomous. Especially “Fra en råtten kiste” does not suffer from a lack of own ideas and a short sign of respect for pioneers does not mean that unscrupulous copycats are at work.

Despite its uncompromising vehemence, the material of “Legion Helvete” reflects an impressive maturity. The rakish songs do not lack variety, but the different sections blend seamlessly with each other. As a result, we get an album with a strong and natural flow. Better still, its explosiveness starts with the first and ends with the last tone. Intros or outros are overrated, Tsjuder deliver the pure Apocalypse, even though they have structured it in musically useful sections. On the other hand, the band also likes it the primitive way from time to time. It feels great to listen to the lead vocalist while he just barks the word “Slakt”, the title of another straight, almost linear highlight. Sometimes the method of the hammer is simply good.

Production-wise, there is nothing to grumble. I am speaking about an album from 2011, not a demo from 1991 which has been recorded by a technically incompetent misanthrope in a lonely log house in Northern Norway. “Legion Helvete” has a demonic feel to it. The guitars appear like a general threat. Perhaps they are too dominant, at least in comparison with bass and drums. Especially the latter could have make a more expressive contribution. The drum rolls in the opulent closer show the real potential of this instrument. By the way, “Vårt helvete” is a sustainable final statement. More than ten minutes of pure black metal without even one second of boredom are no matter of course, but Tsjuder manage this challenge cleverly. All in all, they barrel along the icy roads of Northern black metal. I admit that they also deliver one or two less strong pieces (“Blod og aske” has some somewhat vapid parts), but the strong big picture of “Legion Helvete” remains untouched. It’s nothing less than another unsilent storm in the North abyss.

This is the album that’s been missing from my collection for years. I always sat there listening to bm albums thinking what is it that’s missing… Tsjuder, Horna, Setherial and Nargaroth were always my favourite bands and yet none of them could make a 100% delivery (this album still isn't, but it's as close as I think I'll ever get to perfect). I still can’t put my finger on exactly what it is that makes me tick with this album but I do. This is the perfect album to bang your head along thinking fuck yes!

So when I first heard about this album all the hype was on "The Daemon Throne" and holy fuck was the hype deserved. The only way to describe the masterpiece with words is Unholy Paragon 2.0 without the slow intro, just a blast. Surprisingly this isn't the be all and end all of the album as others have stated but it's what you're looking for to get you hooked!

I've heard moans and groans about "Fra En Råtten Kiste" and "Dauðir" which to be fair are all complete bullshit. These songs are immense "Fra" sounds like something from "Desert Northern Hell" until 3:45 when it brings me to 1349's cover of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". As for "Dauðir" it starts exactly like a 1349 song then about a minute in finds its Tsjuder pace and blows the fucking speakers!

"Voldsherskeren" the best song so far is an epic mixture of something from Satyricon's "Nemesis Devina" and "Desert Northern Hell". For a few seconds here and there I can place influence from Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" but on a much darker scale. The only complaint i have about "Voldsherskeren" and the following song "Slakt" (which are my favourite song's on the album) is the similarity of shouting the title to fast paced music, just at different ends of the song. You could argue that with "Slakt" it is delivered faster and with more wrath but it's still "samey".

"Black Shadows of Hell" is pretty crap compared to rest of the album, however if this and the next song were on a different band's album they would be the highlights. The song is not bad as such, just bad for Tsjuder. "Blod og Aske" is pretty awesome considering it's like the Tsjuder we love plus short gothic melodic riff in the middle, in no way a filler track as you'd expect at this end of the album... saying that, it's missing the perfect mark but it's pretty near! I don't even want to write about "Vårt Helvete" you know the drill, boring at the start, amazing at the end, has some really good parts throughout.

To be perfectly honest, it's a better album than "Desert Northern Hell" (queue the abuse), it's still not 100% perfect but it's so fucking close it hurts!

Recommended songs:
1) "Voldsherskeren"
2) "Slakt"
3) "The Daemon Throne"
4) "Dauðir"
5) "Fra En Råtten Kiste"

To pretend that I was waiting impatiently for the new Tsjuder album is a gross understatement. This trio, formed of Nag (bass, screaming), Draugluin (guitar, screaming) and Anti-Christian (drums) rightfully belongs to my personal top five black metal bands since the reelease of Desert Northern Hell (2004), a brilliant piece of Norwegian shit. Band split in 2006 had a bomb effect among fans, but I suspected that our agitators would not stop there. After various adventures (including the creation of Krypt by Nag and Tyrann by Anti-Christian and Draugluin), these little devils started to play together again in 2010. After a few concerts, they announced the release of their fourth album, Legion Helvete (2011). Let’s open the doors of hell and behold the beast.

Tsjuder plays a direct and aggressive kind of black metal. Exit subtlety, enter brutality. But already with Desert Nortern Hell, a certain change was perceivable. The band incorporated thrash and punk musical patterns, giving a lot of rhythm to the compositions. This aspect is reinforced on Legion Helvete. Similarities with its predecessor are numerous, but this time Tsjuder supports (happily) more its trashy side. It starts furiously with The Daemon Throne, rough song, reminiscent of the early albums, but with Fra Ratten Kiste, accents from their 2004 album appear, including a powerful rhythm that makes you want to tear down your neck! Songs such as Dauðir, or Voldsherskeren Vart Helvete however, are more brutal and linear, while Slakt is practically a punk hymn! In short, these Oslo demons picked up where they left.

Legion Helvete goes back to true Norwegian black metal in its original form. On several occasions during my many listens, I felt transported to the heyday when this kind of metal was really dark, destructive and antisocial. Neither extraordinary nor perfect, this album should nevertheless be listened to by anyone who claims to love black metal 8/10

Originally written for metalobscur.com

Tsjuder were just developing into one of Norway's more reliable acts in the 'sandblaster' black metal category when they decided to sit upon their withered laurels and give the band a rest. Desert Northern Hell was a true highlight for not only the band, but Norse black metal in the mid-'oughts, so fans might have been disappointed that it had become their swansong. Seven years forward, and well, it should no longer be considered such, for the vicious scum have flung their bloodied, inverted cross spurs back into the saddle for another bonfire dance with destiny. For those concerned: do not worry, the band has not changed all that much, and much of the original lineup has returned here. But this is both a blessing and curse, for while the Legion Helvete remains loyal to Desert Northern Hell, it's not quite as good.

Part of this is that Tsjuder are, and have always been, one of the least distinctive bands to reach their level of notoriety. Solid songwriters, and competent musicians all, but the black metal they perform has always felt its claws along the axis of the pre-established sounds of Scandinavian rogues Mayhem, Bathory, Immortal, Marduk and Darkthrone, and thus they've always felt like an extra pair of blooded gauntlets groping about the cookie jar of darkness. That's not to say that this is necessarily a handicap. Hell, just look at Taake, he's done remarkable things with almost no ability for innovation. But still, when listening through Legion Helvete, one seeking out any unusual abuse or grotesquery will draw only blanks. Without any doubt, this is ferocious, tightly executed black metal for those who like the grimness delivered through both style and skill, but it does lack the immortal songwriting that its precursors excelled in.

As expected, "The Daemon Throne" opens like a volley of hellfire blasting which should peel the paint off whatever religious relic you feel might ward off the band's approach, and you'll notice the band's penchant for the taut, aggressive thrash rhythms that they weave in between their more accelerated sequences. I love the chunky coiled tone of the guitars here, though this is not so noticeable once they get to blasting. Discordant, higher notes are strung along in a fashion not unlike their countrymen 1349 or Emperor, but the band does show a reasonable level of varied tempo here throughout the track list. Even steady blasters like the vile, melodically spiked "Dauðir" or the grating, rapid-fire "Voldsherskeren" are given brief bursts of Hellhammer like mid-paced grooving.

In general, though, Tsjuder are a band for the audience that likes its black metal really-fucking-fast, and as with their past efforts, you'll often feel as if you've just been run off the speedway by an 18-wheeler on its way to a fiendish barbecue. The only issue with this is, of course, as with so many other acts who hold no opposition to hitting the sound barrier, the riffs are woven along very predictable paths, and there are no diabolic secrets contained within any on the album. It's all been done, and Tsjuder simply don't offer any memorable spin upon the genre, and only a few of the streaming, bleeding tremolo patterns on the album stand out far enough that I demanded repeated exposures. For a seven-year gap, Legion Helvete serves as solid proof that these men have not allowed their limbs to frost over, or joints to weaken. Fans of Enthroned, Marduk, or the Polish sect of hyper-blasters will find it appropriately intense, but the top Norse echelon will likely still elude them.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com