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LEGION OF THE DAMNED
Ravenous Plague

Napalm (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

Legion Of The Damned, who hail from the Netherlands, are becoming seasoned veterans and prolific thrash stalwarts considering that Ravenous Plague is their sixth studio album in under a decade. The quartet has been around in some form since the early 90s (initially under the Occult moniker) although it wasn’t until 2006 that their debut platter Malevolent Rapture crawled from under a rock to rave reviews.

However it seems that the prolific nature of this band has been its downfall, as I wasn’t too impressed by the 2007 follow-up Sons Of The Jackal. Legion Of The Damned have worked hard for two years – since the release of 2011’s Descent Into Chaos – and I’m glad they’ve taken that extra bit of time to write and record this 11-track album.

Descent Into Chaos was a decent effort but not one that really hit me where it hurts, but this time around I was hoping for the riff to be more blistering, the vocals more sneering and the drums more bruising, and for the most part the band have achieved this type of assault. Yes, the comparisons with some of the German thrash giants are there – Destruction and Sodom are such dominant forces that it’s difficult not to incorporate some of their sound into your own – and while Legion Of The Damned aren’t the most original bunch of thrashing maniacs, Ravenous Plague is an album that matches that debut composition.

This time round the band have opted to use producer Andy Classen, and this seems to have worked to their advantage as the guitar of Twan van Geel seem quite dense and not as clean cut as those of the departed Richard Ebisch, who featured on the last opus. Vocally, Maurice Swinkels is still a frothing beast of a frontman and Erik Fleuren’s drums are extremely vicious in the assaults of ‘Ravenous Abominations’, ‘Morbid Death’ and one of my favourite thrashers, ‘Black Baron’.

Legion Of The Damned are not interested in playing overtly elaborate technical metal and leave the progression to other bands, but if you’re after a flesh-mincing batch of songs that are guaranteed to have you smashing the room up, then Ravenous Plague will be your cup of tea.

Right from the off ‘Howling For Armageddon’ mixes pace with sinister snarls, and the band rarely leaves this method of mayhem, taking the listener into battle right to the end with ‘Strike Of The Apocalypse’ which emerges with a war-torn chug of rancid guitars and leviathan drums. But for those of you seeking just a touch of variety amidst the black smoke then try a visit to the ‘Doom Priest’ to confess your sins. This pivotal track is a doom-laden plod for the first minute but continues to offer melody the harder it gets, but it’s the track which epitomises the Legion Of The Damned sound despite its obvious lack of invention.

So, Ravenous Plague is a return to form and one that proves that there is still space for this type of no frills thrash metal, but then again there has always been room for bands who have that distinctly European flavour about their sound. This isn’t a groundbreaking release, but Legion Of The Damned never set out to break boundaries but merely to break bones and after a few spins of this album I’m sure you’ll be keen to tend to a few wounds the band has inflicted on your thrashed soul.

Neil Arnold

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