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'Cleric of Samsara' Review on SludgeSwamp!
http://sludgeswamp.blogspot.com
"First of all, Of Legend is an unsigned US band from Athens, Georgia. The five virtuous band members are Justin himself, a.k.a. Justin Legend, on vocals and electronics, Buggs and Scott Moseley on guitars, John Holloway on bass and John Crapps on drums.
Here at the Swamp the music is the ruling language and these guys say a lot through their music.
As Justin anticipated in his introducing e-mail message, Of Legend band plays “a style of post-metal for fans of bands such as Isis, Cult Of Luna, Neurosis etc.”
Their debut release is a consistent EP called “Cleric of Samsara”, which possesses a primary feature: an excellent production quality. Sounds are crystal clear but not too sharp, just perfectly tuned and balanced. Even that bit of fuzz is not lost. You can hear every instrument, every chord vibrating, the interplay between the two guitars, the graspy vocals, that bit of keyboards, anything, but the sounds do not cover each other.
The Ep include one half spoken intro and four long and complex tracks, as expected for this music style.
The intro speaks about time, concepts of time, a time machine is mentioned and in such occasions some images come often to me instinctively, either the endless movement of the sea waves, or movement into the sky or a rotating spiral, like in some dreams. The music that follows sort of adheres to such fantasy images because it’s dreamy, hypnotic and dynamic at the same time.
The post-hardcore vocals are harsh and maybe give a sense of pain, although the intense melodies are not depressing.
In general there is not much change in rhythm, which is never too slow and never too fast, except maybe in the fourth track. There the heavy, distorted parts, where also powerful vocals are prominent, give way to some softer, slower parts. In general the rhythms are as powerful and progressive as a post-metal equivalent of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. That gives an hypnotic sense to the melodies, which are also rich in catchy and complicated riffs.
The last dynamic track is my favourite one, as … it strongly reminds me of beloved Opeth! There are those magic “Opethian” riffs knitted into the framework of this track which perfectly fit to the whole. And, well, if I think about the last release by Opeth, I must admit that Akerfeldt and friends did invade the post-metal realm a bit …
Both melodies and vocals definitely remind me more of Isis and Neurosis than Cult of Luna (if I have to compare between the big names mentioned by the band), as I feel Cult of Luna rather oppressive. If I have to think about other post-metal bands, I feel that Of Legend shares some affinities with that great prog-psych post-metal band Isthmus.
I’ve listened to this debut EP many times in these days. It flew away so smoothly and after a while I was going back to it with pleasure, and not only because I was expected to write the review.
I must confess that I’m not an expert of post-metal. Actually I’m not an expert of anything, I just absorb music together with my life-essential oxygen, so basically as any amoeba in a muddy water, and chemically rework it.
So, on the basis of my chemical reworking, I think that this is an awesome debut work and that Of Legend band has a great potential.
Please, let me and the band know about your chemical reworking as well!"
- Sludge Swamp
Discography
"Cleric of Samsara" (2010)
"Anhedonia/ Accuser of Thy Bretheren" (single/B side, 2009
Self Titled LP - 2005
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Bio
Of Legend formed in the spring of 2005 in Atlanta, and after playing it's first show in Athens that summer, the band quickly fell in love with the Classic City and soon relocated and adopted Athens as its new hometown. The original incarnation of the band played a no frills brand of traditional hardcore, akin to such old school heavyweights such as Madball, Blood For Blood, Sick of it All, and The Cro Mags.
The band quickly became a fixture in the Athens hardcore and metal scene, performing along now defunct acts like Another Broken Vehicle, The Knife Trade and Cobra Clutch. Even as their peers one by one gave up the ghost, Of Legend soldiered on, eventually even sharing the stage with several hardcore legends such as New York hardcore pioneers Agnostic Front.
In late 2008, lineup changes reared their ugly heads and founding members vocalist Justin Burnham and guitarist Andrew Senter found themselves looking for new members to take the band in a drastic new direction.
"Well Andrew and myself had been playing hardcore in one form or another with different bands for over a decade." Explained Burnham.
"We were burnt out and just felt like we wanted to do something different, more in line with what we were listening to, and being inspired by. It was really a situation where if we didn't change, I think we would have just laid the band to rest. We had been listening to a lot of bands like Isis, Pelican, Cult of Luna...stuff like that. Call it post metal, sludge, whatever you like...I just consider it to be heavy atmospheric music, which is what we're trying to do. Some people that were into the old stuff really hate the new songs, but we honestly don't care. If you get what we're doing, fantastic, if not, well that's cool too, but the old songs aren't coming back so quit asking. "
With the additions of John Crapps on Drums, Scott Mosely on second guitar, and John Holloway on bass, Of Legend has replaced the angry 2 minute bursts of hardcore rage with sprawling 8 minute soundscapes of borderline psychedelic crushing atmospheric metal. The band is currently recording a new EP here in Athens with Anthony Lunn at Rising Tide Recordings, hoping for a late winter/early spring release. The band hopes to be on the road as much as possible all over the Southeast.
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