Storm Legion — Desolation Angels
Storm Legion is a duo from Lisbon, including drummer/guitarist/vocalist Nocturno Horrendus from Morte Incandescente. The sound of the two bands is quite similar but Storm Legion are more refined and polished than their counterpart. An aura of extreme, bleak desperation and gloomy atmosphere are present in both bands though. I guess there's something wrong in the air of Lisbon.
In all of the nine tracks on "Desolation Angels" the crisp, dissonant and cacophonic guitar mayhem is perfectly matched by a fiery and precise rhythmic section. Vocals are very "emo" and painful, sometimes even calling to mind the latest efforts of Darkthrone, and lyrics lean towards inner self exploration and personal problems. Indeed, the absence of silly satanic or pagan imagery might put off the intransigent metal heads, while attracting people that usually shy away from this much ridiculed music genre.
A very distinctive tract of this album is that the brutal and clean aggression of traditional black metal riffing gets methodically interrupted by dissonant melodies, reminding me of Morte Incandescente's more "catchy" songs. Mixing tortured guitars and wrong melodies is a bold move bound to failure and regret, but Storm Legion manage to pull it off pretty well, obtaining very modern and challenging black metal. It can't be everybody's cup of tea of course but their attitude deserves respect.
Special mentions go to the title track "Desolation Angels", the only calm interlude amidst the storm - a classic sabbathian arpeggio mixed with dirty crackling noise, so much better than the usual hated black metal intros - and to the Dark-thron-esque moment in "Inner War" - maybe the only concession to fun in this album.
In conclusion "Desolation Angels" is a very solid and mature album. I think that the crystal clear production detracts from its atmosphere but I guess it fits to a higher profile release like this. Recommended to fans of emotional black metal.