Album Reviews

He Is Legend has been on a bit of a journey throughout the years. From the growls and metallic riffs of “I Am Hollywood” to the newly introduced alt-rock tendencies of 2014’s comeback album “Heavy Fruit”, the band has never stopped shapeshifting. On their fifth album (and first for Spinefarm), “Few”, they seem to have come full circle. Then again, who knows what they will do on their next album.

Throughout these twelve songs, they throw everything but the kitchen sink at their material. That’s how come they sound like Pantera one minute and like Dredg the next. And draped over it all, a Southern groove is hard at work to spice things up. The politically charged opener “Air Raid” goes for the jugular right away with crushing riffs and haunting melodies, “Eastern Locust” has a bit of a Deftones vibe going on, while the theatrical stylings of “Fritz The Dog” stand in stark contrast to the Sabbath-like slow burn of closing track “The Garden”.

It’s a lot to take in and while some people might love it, I seem to lose my focus every single time. Not just because there is so much going on, but – weirdly enough – because all these different styles and sounds start to blend together after the first couple of songs. Kudos to them for trying to cram all these different ideas in just twelve songs, but I’m afraid this one is a bit too adventurous for me.

Track listing:

1. Air Raid
2. Sand
3. Beaufort
4. Silent Gold
5. Alley Cat
6. Jordan
7. Gold Dust
8. Call Ins
9. Eastern Locust
10. Fritz the Dog
11. The Vampyre
12. The Garden