THE LEGION: GHOST – …Two for Eternity

I have written previously about my genetic disposition to have a higher body fat percentage than normal. I have also written about my quest to keep this percentage from getting completely out of hand by walking or using my elliptical while listening to promos to review. Another mark of a good exercise promo besides consistent backbeat is that I can listen to it completely through, or at least through the entire workout. Scrolling to change music while exercising is not only a pain in the ass, but can end up being a different kind of painful if you trip over an uneven chunk of side walk or lose you balance while diddling your phone/device. One such album that I had problems with in this category was THE LEGION: GHOST debut …Two for Eternity, released September 30, 2016, on Noizgate Records.

From the surface, this should not have been a problem. Emerging from their predecessor band Koroded in early 2015, members of THE LEGION: GHOST are already road-tested veterans of the modern metal scene. Their sound, to me, is somewhere between 18 Visions and Trivium, with a dose of The Ghost Inside for good measure. Vocalist Kevin Kearns has the pipes to easily compete with the anybody in the business. The rest of the band are no slouches either. So, why wasn’t this working for me? I could get about halfway through the 13 track album before I would get bored and switch to something else. Was it the repetitiveness of the songs? The overall similarity of the chords and riffs? I’m not sure. I tried mixing it up, thinking it was the flow of the tracks that was causing my disinterest. I tried starting my listening in the middle of the record with track seven, aptly titled “Ghost.” This helped a little bit, as the back half of the record is a little bit darker, more melodic, and slightly more diverse. Songs “Oblivion” and especially “Black rain” are the high points of the record. There is even a piano interlude! Unfortunately, after that it’s right back to the same ‘ol same ‘ol.

Producer/mixer/Caliban guitarist Marc Görtz should have been pickier and cut this record in half. By making it an EP, it would have been THE LEGION: GHOST five best songs. It not only would have been an easier and more enjoyable listen, but also showed a more diverse side of the band. Ultimately, …Two for Eternity suffers from poor production, not poor sound quality, leaving THE LEGION: GHOST with “a what could’ve been” album.