By 
1. Sentenced to a Life of Chronic Guilt
2. If the Judges Became the Judged
3. Never-Ending Quest for Purpose
4. Controllers of Perception
5. Story Without Closure
Above: Frank D’Erasmo
Currently based in New Jersey, LEGIONARY are a Melodic Death/Thrash outfit formed in NYC, and mastermind Frank D’Erasmo handles rhythm guitar, bass, and drum duties.
At the time of writing this, only one track is available for sampling from the new 5-track LEGIONARY venture, Never-Ending Quest for Purpose – and that’s the hard-slugging “If the Judges Became the Judged”. Click the link above Frank’s picture to listen.
Despite not exactly falling in love with the album based on this one track, I can still appreciate what the band is working toward here, and point out what’s working well.
The band say it’s a continuation of their previous release, Prison Realm: “For fans of that EP, this new album is in that style again, but on steroids! Things sound heavier, more epic, and more massive on this album.”
The instrumentation is tight and crisp. I enjoyed the riffs quite a bit (props to both D’Erasmo, on rhythm, and Tony Barhoum of CONDITION CRITICAL on lead, on their playing), it has strong and radiant guitar solos, and the grizzled screaming pulled me in at first (good work there, Chris Clancy of AS I LAY DYING, INVICTUS and MUTINY WITHIN!), but I wasn’t terribly keen on the addition of the clean vocals, also by Clancy. It just sort of weakened the buildup and the gruffness for me.
The singer DOES have audible chops, it’s merely that the more melodic sound is not the style I typically seek out when sifting through new Metal offerings. It’s not cringey in this instance the way I often feel about “Melodic” vocals, but it’s still kinda… just meh. I could take or leave that one aspect.
The album’s artwork depicts a backpacker about to take on an ambitious hike through some very tall, jagged mountains. The sky overhead is dreary and bleak, but the person’s posture suggests he’s ready for anything, and that’s the sound the album’s first and second tracks seem to be encapsulating.
The third track, which is also the title track, is perfect for the middle of the opus. It promises glory and triumph, and ends on a victorious note. I think the vocals were pretty strong again here.
The fourth track, “Controllers of Perception”, invokes paranoia and chaos. I really liked the drumming on this track in particular – it helps reinforce the image of some great obstacle our hero stands against and all the energy being expended in the effort. This song is very dark-and-light-at-war, with a fun breakdown a little over halfway through and a nice guitar solo to set us up for the next track. This track also has the best scream at the end.
The fifth track, “Story Without Closure”, is an 11 minute and 39 second whopper of an ending. It starts off slowly and almost OPETH-like, but quickly begins to shred your ear drums with the most punishing and effective drum, vocal, and guitar work the album’s had yet. A strong finish.
Overall? Solid musicianship. Just not enamored with the more Melodic vocal tinges, which I DID expect after learning the band’s genre and influences.
ALBUM RATING: 4/5
RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE WHO ENJOY: KREATOR, ICED EARTH, INTO ETERNITY, CONTROL DENIED, MUTINY WITHIN
OTHER INFORMATION:
Engineering – Ben Karas
Mixing/Mastering – Mike Low
All Music & Lyrics – Frank D’Erasmo
Album artwork – Mark Cooper
The album is set for a March 6th release. The band are hoping that with enough support, they can release physical albums as well as digital download.
Below are some links to hopefully help the guys make that happen.
You can pre-order the digital album for $8 USD.
They also have 11 other previous releases! Pretty impressive.
LINKS: https://legionary.bandcamp.com/album/never-ending-quest-for-purpose-album
