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Barathrum > Legions of Perkele > Reviews
Barathrum - Legions of Perkele

Slathered in demonic sermon - 95%

autothrall, November 12th, 2009

Though they were one of the earliest formed of the Finnish black metal onslaught, it was the late 90s work of Barathrum which reined me in as devotee, a series of simple but bombastic recordings which balanced destructive power, classic metal riffing and the unforgettable rasp of Demonos Sova. Certainly he 21st century has seen its resurgence of 'roots' black metal in which the riff and darkness have come full circle (Satyricon's last few albums, for example), but this was already old hat for the Finns, and to their credit, they still sound like no one else...

Legions of Perkele is the fourth full-length from Sova and company, and marked the departure of the heavily bass-dripping ooze of their earlier albums. The guitars here plod across the battlefield like ancient tanks infused with the souls of the damned, delivering surefire yet simple volleys of chords in which there isn't a single misplaced note. This is also singalong, ale swilling material to which you can throw the horns with friends. "Revenge by Magick", "Angelbomber", "Last Day in Heaven", all great, slow to mid-paced tracks with pumping bass lines, restrained but efficient drumming, slathered in demonic sermon.

Yet, the album grows deeper and darker still. "Dark Sorceress (Autumn Siege)", a slower piece anchored by percussion and walls of glorious doom-like riffs. "Necromantic Ritual" is one of the catchiest Barathrum tracks of their career, for its powerful choppy opening riff and epic male crooning, the perfect audio companion to Conan the Barbarian (just shut the dialogue off and listen to this instead). The title track "Legions of Perkele" moves at a similar gait albeit with the bass, and a pretty interesting modulated voice sample intro. The true prize here is the inclusion of the mighty "Warmetal" (previously available on the Infernal album) bonus track. One of the most brilliant, catchy and self-referential black metal tracks to ever escape Hell, and easily one of my VERY worthy of the title. I can think of few tracks I'd favor more for the cracking of skulls. If you don't like this song, YOU ARE A PUSSY. No offense to actual pussy.

In short, Legions of Perkele is Barathrum's finest hour, and one of the greatest black metal albums to arrive in the 20th century. Along with Horna and Impaled Nazarene, they formed the perfect triumvirate of 90s evil, and helped create a strong backbone that their country might stand its ground alongside the venerable Norse and Swedish scenes. There are one or two tracks on the album which feel lackluster, but only in comparison to the quality of the rest. This album still crushes today!

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

IV: The beginnings of sharper music - 83%

Byrgan, January 5th, 2009

This is a turning point for Barathrum. It is isn't a complete 180 for the band, though degrees are altered and positioned towards slightly different directions with "Legions of Perkele." Their inclusion to a bigger label at that point might have had something to do with it, or that their first three albums might have already reached their plateau of a pitch black aura.

If you're not familiar with Barathrum and also don't want a drastic album that might leak real fluid from its seams, this is the first recording that I would recommend because it isn't as extreme as the previous three full lengths were—that is in sound, time length and actual music.

The mid-paced, slower structuring and black metal overtone are here on "Legions." This creates a catchy assembly of riffs that gather together for a meeting on each song, and still have the capability of producing some tense, heavy moments and quarrelsome outbursts amongst themselves. Though the production can tell a different story: the sound of the guitar is level and even, with more of a medium tone; the bass guitar isn't on the same level with the guitars compared to the last and has an equally even tone; the drums seem to be heard with an exact distinction between them; the vocals don't seem to have the same amount of distortion effect as the last, and at times can be more transcribable even when he's growling or rasping up your speakers. Granted there are still effects added, but not dumped or saturated.

This is still Barathrum, but with a fresh coat of paint: glossy, louder and viewed better. This can make a difference in how they play on "LoP." There is still a certain atmosphere here, and there are a decent amount of moments that cause that head to bang of yours, though I feel it isn't as gravitating in some ways. It is more sided with a sharper delivery this time, where the previous material had a combination of metal music and also a dense mood created by the dirtiness of itself. Rolling around in the muck is likely to bring about and pick up various unplanned additions in the process: stains, scraps, bruises, infections, and a potential crawling vermin on your back or in your pocket—hiding, waiting, and adding another round of unplanned surprises. That's how I take their older material, with "Legions of Perkele" being more in the way of a music oriented piece at this point in their discography, and their older material aiming towards the other end of the spectrum by using more manipulation and by having less distinction. Even with that said, this release still manages to deliver its own certain moments and additions through the power of the instruments.

This starts out with an intro: having marching drums, an intermittent bell, distorted vocals towards the end and then some other hard to guess sounds. Tracks 2 and 3 seem like more accessible music, with more of an upbeat tempo, and not so much of an oppressive atmosphere, at least compared to tracks 4, and 6 through 9. These carry some varied, unique qualities with different vocal effects and even a neat guitar effect on track 8. A surprise addition on the 5th track, and towards the end of the 4th, has more of a speed metal style riffing structure, with quicker palm muting and a distinct '80's vibe; this is something of a "testing of the waters" for the next album, which has more of these type of inspired songs included.

Barathrum created another album that still delivers a particular brand of extreme metal. With this release, the band took a slightly sidelined direction to their previous outputs. Those recordings came with more experimentation and extremes that weren't as harnessed, or shaped into a package that's easier to open. While here, it is more exact in a music related sense, and in a lesser time frame than the others as well. This is the beginning steps that Barathrum took to become more so in the way of an accessible band for the regular extreme metalhead instead of the irregular extreme metalhead. That doesn't completely take away from "Legions of Perkele" being a driving force, with simplistically structured black metal coming from a paced and repeated perspective. The band still manages to keep complex song writing, melody and faster music for the other guys to fend to.

The letter L - 95%

MetalReaper, November 19th, 2004

After three good albums Barathrum changed the label from Nazgul's Eyrie to Spinefarm. Differences between the Infernal and Legions of Perkele are in the sounds, and it could be caused by the bigger label. Barathrum's rock-black metal started by Infernal has developed further from the two first albums. The changes could be heard on the Devilry-promo. Demonos Sova appears again as happy as always, developing further his voice to new dimensions, thought it has always been easy to recognize.

Intro starts with soldier march with devil preparing for war against the christians (Guess who wins). "Revenge by Magick"'s main guitar-riff tells about the change of musical direction adding some rock elements to their music, not forgetting the blast-beat. The band's drummer does not use too much blast-beat, which is not a bad thing. Riff is simple, but then again Barathrum has never used too complicated riffs. "Angelburner" has an interesting bass-riff, and the whole song is a bit more aggressive than the previous one. The main guitar-riff varies a bit, and is not so catchy as "Revenge by Magick"'s one. "Dark Sorceress (Autumn Siege)" is the longest track, intro is pretty long and boring, but it's one of the best tracks of the album. The song speeds up the tempo towards the end. "Last day in heaven" is the easiest song to listen. It's the "hit-song" of the album. Guitar-riff is simple as fuck.

At this point the album starts to change its direction towards the darker realms than the previous "hits". The guitar-riff is evil on the "The force of evil" and then there are many women screaming, so make sure that your mother doesn't hear them. She won't like those screams. And then those clean vocals (back from the previous albums) return. "Necromantical ritual" is not so evil, but that guitar-riff and the chants in the background aren't too happy. Then comes in "SaLuBeLe", the old demo track. Guitar-effects are used and it sounds like that the band has rocketed to space. The title track "Legions of Perkele" features an evil bass and the beast speaking. It sounds a bit funny when the low male voice says "Legions of... Perkele". The band plays to the end. Then it's quiet.

The silence is short-lived when the bonus tracks start. There are two of them. The first one is the debut-album Hailstorm's opening track re-recorded. Sova's vocals are maniac, but they're far from the original version (thanks to the crappy sound quality). The second bonus is a good old friend and probably the best-known Barathrum song re-recorded, "Warmetal"! Blast-beat dominates the track and the song overall is the fastest song on the album. A very nice surprise indeed!

There's no doubt that Barathrum has made one of it's best albums to date. Highly recommended