Band:	Korzus
Album:	Legion
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	October 24, 2014
Guest review by:	Cynic Metalhead

01. Lifeline
02. Lamb
03. Six Seconds
04. Broken
05. Vampiro
06. Die Alone
07. Apparatus Belli
08. Time Has Come
09. Purgatory
10. Self Hate
11. Bleeding Pride
12. Devil's Head
13. Legion

The last time I reviewed Korzus's Discipline Of Hate (review here) work I was damn impressed by the amount of diversity they brought in their old school Brazilian thrash metal playing. Not only has their 2011 disc (Discipline Of Hate) gone on to become one of the best releases from the Korzus camp, but it has also raised the bar high for themselves. It took four years for Marcello's troops to sit and discuss making a new album, which may perhaps be another milestone release in form of Legion.

Having 13 songs with no bonus tracks thrown in, Legion offers fans a very different stature. It's superior, harder and more cohesive, especially in terms of tempos and the rhythm section. The build-up is more abrasive and heavier than before; some modern aspects emerged in the aggressive vocals with heavy guitar riffs and crushing solos (far more polished than in previous releases). Keeping the same formulae intact (from Discipline Of Hate), Korzus once again tighten their grip in the first half, where songs follow speed metal theorems and generate ferocity a la "Broken" and "Die Alone." The album opener "Lifeline," with strong riffs and clannish drumming, sets the perfect tone and introduction to fans to give a sip of forthcoming brutality. Moving forward to the middle section, the solos which were the pinnacle of the start of the album now get blurred, weary and disconnected whilst the lyrics go typical B-level lyrical concepts ("lies with blood," "skulls and veins," "suicide and grave," "pure evil is ascending") and the songs start throwing out grooviness. This creates pressure on the bass and drums, which aren't able to withstand the gait of the album, and, therefore, it hits the main rough patch.

No doubt Siebert and Oliveira are very talented musicians, and they have shown class in the likes of Mass Illusion, K.Z.S (drop-dead boring album, but the two dudes just slaughtered it) and even Discipline of Hate, but they really could not give a spark to songs here which were developing into a different spectrum. Look, you really cannot avoid the rough patch when a record is in its pinnacle of ferocity and aggression. With competitors constantly raising the bar high (works such as Striker's City Of Gold, Phosphorus's Assassinat or Nervosa's Victim Of Yourself), one wrong step and you go deep down into the well. However, the momentum in the last half picks up speed and shows better quality of songs as tracks like "Purgatory," "Bleeding Pride" or "Legion" start encapsulating what Legion is all about, i.e a show of classic work of melody and thick shredding. Anway, in the end what it comes down to is that Legion could have been a better record had its quality not taken a nosedive n the second half. Sadly, this isn't another milestone release and not outstanding as Discipline Of Hate.

Recommendation: Fan of thrash metal can go and check it out. Nothing groundbreaking can be found here as far as the reviewer is concerned.