Mayhem Album: “Legions of War”

Now really, who can complain about this? A smashing studio album packaged with a second disc of rippin' live tracks and demos is a nice treat to say the least.

"Grand Declaration of War" has always been one of the only black metal albums I have been able to listen to since I grew out of my metal diehard phase. I still listen to metal once in awhile, but it doesn't hold the same merit it used to. This album, however, is an exception. Unlike a lot of black metal, it is well produced, sounding like a band that has grown out of the garage sound, and also lacks the cheese factor of inverted crosses and pentagrams soaked in blood on the packaging, and lyrically speaks beyond something blaspheming the Christian church. The CD is a concept album based upon a third world war, one where the cause is rebellion against society's imposed will on the masses. Plain and simple, this album is effective due to its varied approach. Instead of beating you to death with blastbeats and screams, it creates a cold atmosphere with vocal effects, soundbites of bombs exploding, and a really moody techno/electronica track midway, and also effectively uses silence to make you feel as though you are the survivor of this brutal war. That's not to say this doesn't bring the metal--Hellhammer still pummels you without mercy, and Blasphemer shreds some of the best and most intricate riffs since Emperor invaded my life with "Anthems to the Welkin At Dusk." Maniac sounds just like his name would suggest, varying his approach with spoken word and screams, interspersed with industrial voice effects throughout. The songs themselves are well-written and would be effective without the concept.

The live disc enclosed, "European Legions," is a decent add-on. The live tracks are of great quality, very raw next to the studio album's crystalline sound, and extremely intense. These guys certainly haven't lost their edge as time has progressed. The song selection snags some favorites from years past as well as showing off how "War" sounds on stage. The demos from "War" don't do much for me, as they basically sound like their studio counterparts, but oh well. They're there regardless.

That being said, I found this deal to be very good, and well worth the cash invested. The album is a weekly visitor to the stereo, and is still one of my favorite metal records to this day. It caught a lot of flak with the diehards, who hated to see this band progress out of their "Deathcrush" days, but frankly, this sounds ten times better. It sounds confident, mature, scary as hell, skillful, and best of all, original. "Grand Declaration" is without a doubt one of the better records in my collection, one I am proud to own, and something I see myself pumping for years to come.