If you’re not sure where to begin with a band who just so happen to have a massive back catalogue then best-of albums can be good as a starting block. They can give a good overview of what they’re all about without leaving you feeling too overwhelmed as you try to figure out which albums to avoid, which album saw them through that horrible experimental period fans would rather forget, and so forth. Well my knowledge of Stormlord is pretty limited so I guess a good place for me to start with them is here. The Legacy Of Medusa is a double album, with the main disc containing ten tracks released throughout their career, plus the three track ‘Under the Sign of the Sword’ E.P. originally released in 1997, while disc two is a live album recorded in Quebec city in 2006.
“Extreme epic metal” is a fairly accurate way of describing Stormlord, who mix symphonic elements in with epic black metal which contains a certain “Ride forth into battle with my magical mystical sword of power” theme running through it. An atmospheric keyboard line introduces ‘Where my spirit forever shall be’ which quickly subsides as a pugnacious array of riffs come storming through and powerful drums come crashing to the fore like a wave banging against the rocks. Epic moments like this are balanced out with calm and spiritual parts where the keyboard sweeps into the foreground, adding an atmospheric sheen which is aided by the quasi operatic female vocals that sporadically come into play. ‘I am legend’ begins with some speeding guitar riffery that puts a thrash metal slant against the ferocious wall of sound, bringing to mind early Testament. A keyboard line soon gets entangled in the mix as an onslaught of drums force their way back in and all hell breaks loose.
A ubiquitous usage of keyboards does irritate in places, where such an overabundance distracts from the rest of the sound, such as on ‘Xanadu (A vision in a dream)’ where it feels as though heavier passages are being diluted by a seemingly pointless keyboard melody which adds no atmosphere whatsoever. Keyboards linger in the sound throughout most of this album to varying extents, and work nicely on the evocative and relatively slow paced ‘The Gorgon Cult’ where an eerie keyboard flourish creates an air of mysticism over a scything wall of guitars, until the elements unite and charge headfirst into a demonic waltz of a chorus where ferocious rasps desperately try to project.
The operatic voice that comes booming out on ‘The Oath of the Legion’ leads into a sinister chant that disrupts the punishing foray of blackened madness, which shifts into a more controlled punchy repetition. This booming voice returns on ‘Under the sign of the sword’ as a dramatic chant is forcefully projected above an emphasised crash of the snare drum, as a thick layer of guitars march on through putting a Maiden-esque stamp on the track, while guitar solos sprinkle a glimmer of light into the mix. A similar feel continues through ‘Riding the sunset’ which has a storm into battle sentiment to it while the caustic venom spat by Christiano Borchi is interrupted by an incursion of female backing vocals, as a guitar solo glides in the distance.
The live disc contains a number of the tracks on disc one and is a nice addition, as the quality of the recording is fairly high. The Dimmu-esque ‘Dance of Hecate’, ‘I am Legend’ and the eerie ‘Under the Boards’ are all repeated here although you get the raw sound of them being played live. The melodic sounds of ‘Wurdulak’ fire up the crowd with the concoction of stomping guitar rhythms and keyboard driven flurries, and a cover of Slayer classic ‘Raining Blood’ rounds off the album nicely. Overall this is a solid album with enough killer tracks to make this worth investing in.
http://www.stormlord.net
http://www.myspace.com/stormlordband
http://www.scarletrecords.net
