Lex Legion – Lex Legion
Lex Legion – Lex Legion
MNRK
Release: 12006/26
Words: Jon Deaux
Score: 9.5/10
This smells of leather, dry ice, and a very expensive amp that’s been left on since 1988
Imagine taking five-sixths of King Diamond’s classic mid-to-late ’80s lineup, which created the masterfully eerie Them and Conspiracy and turned the idea of sleeping with the lights off into a fully realized horror movie, and then replacing His Spandex Majesty with Nils K. Rue, who is responsible for some of the most mind-blowingly progressive vocal performances in metal in the past two decades. What happens when such an experiment comes to fruition? Well, one would hope for either total transcendence or an absolute disaster. With so many killer riffs in the same room, there is, unfortunately, no middle ground in this scenario.
Not only is the album’s opening track ‘Sleep Eternally’ is utterly transcendent, but also hits you with a metaphorical fist approximately four seconds in, courtesy of Andy La Rocque. This is not the kind of band that starts off slow and builds tension by gradually increasing tempo and aggression. Instead, this is Mikkey Dee reminding everyone that, even after joining Motörhead and Scorpions, he is one of the best heavy metal drummers to ever play the instrument. The guy played drums in Motörhead. He plays drums for Scorpions. If I were to make a bet, I would wager that he is currently playing in both bands from a pool in the Canary Islands and still hits harder than anyone else. Talk about unfair.
Meanwhile, Rue, for his part, seems to have been saving up energy. If Pagan’s Mind is the progressive metal dinner party, this is the same vocalist deciding that it’s finally time to take the party to a cemetery. The harmonies in ‘Sleep Eternally’ are ominously beautiful – stacked and rich, the kind of harmonies that make your neck hair complain.
Second song ‘Gypsy Tears’ is the kind of song that many others could only attempt if they were given a month and a whiteboard. It is simultaneously eerie and rapturous, otherworldly and unstoppable. Blakk and La Rocque switch between melodic guitar leads so smoothly that one might wonder whether it’s just a case of muscle memory or the duo knows each other inside out – and guess what? They do. This is not an exercise in showboating or virtuosity. There are no seventeen-minute solos and no “look-at-my-sweep-picking-dad” breaks – just pure, horrifying taste.
That is the album’s defining characteristic. Each of the nine songs is arranged with an acute attention to detail. Every single note is placed in the right spot because it earned its spot there. In a time when heavy metal is sometimes viewed as a one-upmanship competition in a conservatory, with bands competing to see who can fit more notes into a song, who can use more modes and blast beats per minute, Lex Legion has arrived to quietly show that less, in the hands of artists with enough experience and talent to actually execute it properly, is still significantly more.
As much as Hal Patino’s bass deserves a mention in this context, it always has. Unlike other bands where the bass player is just there to carry the bottom end of the mix, the bass lines in ‘Lost Inside’ and ‘(I Am) The Resurrected’ are not merely supportive but also melodic and dynamic, with a clear opinion on matters. There is a certain pleasure in listening to a bassist who treats the instrument not as a metronome but as a voice in the conversation, and Patino, who has been providing King Diamond with monstrous bass riffs since the late ’80s, has certainly not lost his touch.
“This is totally unique. No one is writing this kind of music and there’s a big hole for us to fill.” — Pete Blakk,
The middle section of the album is quite enjoyable, showing the band navigating through different moods with the ease of those who aren’t trying to prove anything. The progressive influences emerge and disappear as needed. The tempo changes, but nothing overstays its welcome. ‘Saviours’ comes in just when it needs to, with an anthemic, melodic tune that avoids the pitfall of stadium-rock self-congratulatory behaviour that ruined too many otherwise decent metal albums.
‘Far Away’ concludes the album on a note that is, frankly, almost mean in how effective it is. Sure, you wanted it to go on forever. The album wasn’t interested in your desires. It has said what it needed to say, and now it is going home. And you’re left sitting in silence, feeling the shape of it.
La Rocque’s production is that rare thing – a modern album that sounds vintage without resorting to any of the obvious tricks. There is no fake tape hiss, no intentionally lo-fi mixing. Instead, there is a sound that is both warm and powerful, as if the artist knew precisely what he was doing when working on the record – and, as it turns out, he did. The people behind it are warm, powerful, and alive – and so is their music.
“It has elements of everything on the album, the right tempo and the right kind of vocals, starting out like a fist in your face!” says La Rocque.
The elephant in the room is the absence of King Diamond himself, whose contributions to Lex Legion are both noticeable and ultimately irrelevant. Rue is not imitating Diamond’s singing style; he is bringing a unique voice and theatricality to the table, resulting in a band that doesn’t sound like a cover version but rather as a fresh musical entity – one which isn’t afraid to admit that this is, in fact, a passion project by middle-aged men who aren’t afraid to take on a new challenge.
And as Pete Blakk noted in an interview, “Welcome to our new journey of friendship and hard rock.” This could easily be the most earnest statement by a heavy metal guitarist since 1991, or so sincere that it has come back to being cool. Either way, we’re talking about some seriously heartfelt art here.
We waited 25 years for this album. The wait was absolutely worth it.
Track List
01-Sleep Eternally
02-Gypsy Tears
03-When The Stars Align
04-( I am ) The Resurrected
05-Lost Inside
06-Darkness
07-Saviours
08-Life Eternal
09-Far Away
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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Jon Deaux and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
