Tracklist:-
1. Transuranic Ejaculation
2. Cosmo Hammer
3. Overlord Of Thunder
4. Scourge Of Pestilence
5. Sociopathic Infestation
6. Aim At A Starless Sky
7. Fist Hammurabi
Sometimes it is necessary to challenge yourself and to breach the limits of what you feel is acceptable. Nowhere is that more true than when discovering and listening to extreme music. I occasionally listen to noise and drone and I have the odd spurt where I actively seek out the most intense music. Japanese duo Legion of Andromeda are exactly the type of band I'm talking about. Their latest opus was released last September via Crucial Blast as a CD/digital download and it features seven doom/death/noise drenched songs. It was previously released on tape/LP via At War With False Noise and Unholy Anarchy.
Legion of Andromeda cuts a primitive figure with raw guitar and vocals, backed-up by the clinical time keeping of a drum machine on opener Transuranic Ejaculation. It’s droning, repetitive and disconcerting, which is completely the atmosphere that LOA were no doubt looking to achieve. They make fellow countrymen Mad Capsule Markets sound like a pop band. Cosmo Hammer is the best song-title period and kinda sounds like it should be a killer thrash song. Thrash though, it is not. It has a similar tempo to that of Iron Scorn’s opener but this time features more torturous, higher-pitched screams in places as well as some cool but subtle vocal effects. You’ll get a faint hint of guitar melody during Overlord Of Thunder, as M adds a layer of treble to the mix. As with the majority of the record, it becomes quite hypnotic when LOA uses the same drum pattern for over six-minutes. The longer it goes on for, the faster it seems to get but maybe that’s just your head playing tricks on you. Things do in fact seem to pick up the pace during Scourge Of Pestilence, which while being every bit as vile as it’s title suggests is actually the shortest (and most uptempo…perhaps?). It’s quite hard to get your head around the psyches of both M and R during Sociopathic Infestation ,considering they have crafted this terrifying yet minimal sound all by themselves. The fact that the country has a forest reserved for those who wish to commit suicide (bless their souls) may give you a clue though as to the society that they live in. By the time penultimate song Aim At The Starless Sky begins, you have either submitted to LOA’s tortured doom/death or you’ve given up altogether. If you’re still here then your mind will only get stronger, as once again your subjected to rendition-like noise and stark industrialism, all set to the backdrop of extreme metal. Fist of Hammurabi slowly smothers you throughout it’s seven-minutes until there is no signs of visible life left. It all comes to an abrupt end and leaves an indelible mark on the brain. Legion of Andromeda are not for the faint of heart or the weak willed. Approach at your peril.
You can stream Iron Scorn below:-
You can buy it on all formats (except tape) from LOA's bandcamp page above. You can also pick it from the below labels:-
At War With False Noise - https://awwfn.bandcamp.com/merch
Crucial Blast - https://crucialblast.bandcamp.com/merch
Legion of Andromeda Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/legionofandromedaofficial/
Crucial Blast Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CrucialBlast
Amazing album. My group was able to play a show with them on our last tour through Japan and plan on playing with them when we go back this January.
ReplyDeleteWhat band are you in? Shoot me a link and I'll check it out. Thanks.
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