Legions Of Crows
“Stab Me”
2011
I must admit, when I first saw this bands name, “Legions of Crows”, I didn’t know what to expect. I guess the crow is usually associated with death and gothic imagery. Hell, a group of crows is called a murder. This British bands 2011 full-length album titled Stab Me is a strange bird indeed. It is a weird hybrid of gothic black metal and doom metal. The result is an eccentric album that is very ambitions but marred by some minor but noticeable blemishes. The biggest problem I have is the sound. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think every band has to sound perfect. But this record suffers from way too much reverb. And I mean WAY too much. Everything has about ten layers of unnecessary fuzzy that really drags it down. John the Revelator is on vocals. He sounds like he would be right at home in an industrial band. He is not bad; I just wish I could hear him better through all that reverb. At first I literally thought there was something wrong with my speakers. The whole album sounds like it was recorded in a tomb. But all that being said, this is a very unique album. After an intro that sounds like a Christian church hymn, complete with organs Stab Me takes the listener to some very dark places. Some songs like Fellating the Lamb are very long and straight forward with more a black metal sound, but still provides that feeling of dread and have enough growth and change to keep you invested the whole time. Some songs like Bullshit Acres and Dull Gray are slower and very well constructed doom metal songs. And Carrion Pond Drive is a bizarre spoken word track where a dark poem is being read. You can almost see foggy darkness as the man’s words carve images in your head. It works surprisingly well as kind of an intermission. I did enjoy this album. I am the one always complaining too many bands sound alike, so I can’t fault this band for trying something different. With a little more focus and a lot less reverb they would have had a real winner here. But as it stands it is almost a fresh, new masterpiece.
Tracklist:
1. Provident Hymn/Malediction
2. Fellating the Lamb
3. Defecate
4. Carrion Pond Drove
5. Legions of Crows
6. Bullshit Acres
7. Dull Grey
8. Coventry Carol
https://www.facebook.com/Legions-of-Crows-149292095099071/
Members:
Herod – Guitars/Bass
John The Revelator – Vocals
Attila – Vocals/Keyboards/Programming
Rating: 7 out of 10
~Kris