Death is June- Legion of the Damned : "the Poison Chalice"

 This band from the Netherlands has a massive sound they hit you with at a full gallop. The vocals are at a dry mid range rasp. At times they remind me of Abbath, but with less of a croak.  Their 8th album under this moniker, they have dialed in the sound they want and are focused on execution. They have a great deal of command, and retain the hook of thrash in their riffing. They pour on the speed to a greater extent with "Skulls Adorn the Traitors Gate" which is the kind of  fantasy novel epic you might expect given the fact the album cover looks like the Dungeon Master's Guide. Four songs in and there is not much in the way of surprised, very in your face , hyper aggression. 

"Behold the Beyond" has the kind of hooky song writing I want from a band like this. This makes the need for surprises I was looking for earlier obsolete as it proves they can get the job done with little smoke and mirrors. They begin to give into the need for speed by the time we reach "Retaliation". This is also when I get to wonder if they have not been taking notes from Immortal. 'Savage Intent' does this perhaps more effectively than the previous song. They begin to border on their songs beginning to sound the things so they need more powerful galloping moments. 

They thrash into things pretty well with "Chimes of Flagellation". This is a more effective use of speed. Yeah, I know I used effective already, but I am trying to look at what is effective or ineffective rather than seeing a performance as good or bad. The more melodic nuances here also work well. They are great at riding the chug to create thrash grooves as heard on "Beheading the Godhead' where the vocals fall in a more rhythmic manner.  It goes to show you can write hooky songs no matter the genre.  The title track does not support this theory as it rushes by in a frantic charge that works off what we have heard before from the. I will round this one down to an 8.5, it was a fun listen and they are good at what they do, what they do just comes across like Immortal leaning into their death metal side, but if you like big epic European death metal this album is for you.It was released on Napalm Records.