Black Legions Metal

Ever wanted to hear something so grim and fucking evil that you searched everywhere...but to no avail? Well, it seems you've stumbled upon it! This split EP/LP by two of the French Legions bands is extremely good for a split. One of the few splits I can listen to without wondering why the hell the split was made. All of the Legions splits are good, in fact.

Torgeist starts off the split and their side with a synth track over a pulsating sound. This track is merely an intro, but it's pretty effective and it works. The side is very raw...so raw that at first you'll feel like it's just some kind of weird white noise. But once you get a bit into the tracks, your ears will adjust and you'll be able to pick out specific instruments...it's really very interesting. Most of Torgeist's stuff is a decent clip, and pretty rocking. Their song titles are stupid as hell, but they're French, so that's pretty mucha given. Their sound is almost all treble, with practically no bass at all. The drums are very good; the double bass drum is used effectively, and the drummer throws in some pretty crazy fills at times.

Vlad Tepes starts off with the instrumental 'Raven's Hike'. After this, their side explodes into full force with 'Abyssic and Funeral Symphony'. This track is very good and the vocals blew me away. Their guitar tone is very epic and almost clean at times. The drumming is good...very well placed, even though the crash cymbal can get kind of annoying. There is actually bass to be heard. It is intricately woven in, but does nothing special except meander around behind the guitar and is kind of hard to notice at times. Other than that, Vlad Tepes' side is great.

This album is a must have for all French black metal fans, as is most of this band's work (and most Black Legions stuff in general). It is pretty rare, I'd imagine, but it was recently released on vinyl, I've heard, so try to pick it up.