CoC : Legenda - Autumnal : Review

Legenda - _Autumnal_
(Holy Records, 1997)
by: Drew Snow (8 out of 10)

As you've probably already heard, Legenda is the new band of Sir Luttinen, ex of Impaled Nazarene. He and the other Imp Naz guys just weren't on the same musical wavelength, and it's a good thing Luttinen left, because it's hard to imagine Impaled Nazarene putting out the kind of slow-to-mid-paced, synth-enhanced, doomy songs that Legenda does. True, Impaled Nazarene had "Blood Is Thicker than Water" on _Suomi Finland Perkele_, and the overall sound of _Autumnal_ is just like that song, except not quite as pop-structured, and with a more watery production. Clocking in at a solid fifty minutes, _Autumnal_ has thirteen songs that are all of the exact same ilk and all range between three and five minutes in length (except one that's 5:02). The lyrics, for the most part, deal with romantic topics such as the seasons (of course), moonlight, nightfalls, winter nights, and other such things, however the lyrics once or twice delve into juvenile language and pathetically forced rhymes ("Bloodred stiletto was the one; I stabbed to her heart and what for, huh?"). The music is a different story, almost all the songs have that familiar mid-paced bass-snare rhythm, fused with some fairly simple guitar riff, and completed by some synth complementing, but not usually dominating, the other two elements. The vocals are typically harsh and Luttinen-like, which, strangely enough, fits quite nicely with the music, at least to this listener's ears. Since Legenda is on Holy Records, a label with a diverse offering, people into their other acts (regardless of who they are) will probably want to take notice of the band, and I can even see some doom people going for _Autumnal_. Either way, it's an album that deserves to be heard, for sure.

(article published 12/8/1997)

ALBUMS
19/11/1998	P Azevedo	9	Legenda - Eclipse