Behold! The long-awaited return of master metalsmiths’ trio from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. After four years, LEGENDRY are finally ready to present the sequel to “The Wizard and the Tower Keep”. Their fourth full length album, titled “Time Immortal Wept”, will be released on October 27th by No Remorse Records and it I am pleased to say that it was surely worth waiting for.
Fantasy fiction and history have always been LEGENDRY’s main themes. In “Time Immortal Wept” they once again created a concept album based on a sword and sorcery novelette by D.R. Lackner – no other than band’s mastermind, Vidarr the Silent. The way they present it musically is astonishingly good and although following the structure and style of its predecessor, this second part of the trilogy known as “The Earthwarrior Cycle” is even better.
The sound is in contrast with the tale told, the second being a grandiose, high-fantasy adventure, while music, although as EPIC as possible, it remains earthy and unpretentious. Production helps a lot to create this very successful antithesis, achieving to emphasize both elements. So, it’s more like listening to a bard telling wondrous tales of heroism around a campfire rather than attending a royal orchestra playing an opus sitting in the opera balcony.
The album begins with -almost literally- the same way as in “The Wizard and the Tower Keep”; the crackling fire and the acoustic guitar of “The Bard’s Tale” serve as a perfectly fine introduction to “Sigil Strider”, which has been the choice for the one and only lyric video of the album so far (released on August 10th). All classic EPICNESS is let loose in this one: dark pounding verses reminding viking-era BATHORY, lyrical chorus and mellow guitar solo bringing the first golden years of MANOWAR in mind and although the vocals don’t have any impressive range and volume, their attributes are well fitting to LEGENDRY’s sound. It’s a really great song and it only gives us a glimpse of the musical saga unfolded in the album; if one thing is certainly true about “Time Immortal Wept”, is its diversity of vivid arrangements, both ambitious and impressive.
So, throughout the tracklist you may hear MANILLA ROAD’s old-school sharp speed and raw power revived, present-day epic heaviness, the kind of ETERNAL CHAMPION, MEGATON SWORD or MIDNIGHT FORCE also play, lots of medieval folklore flavor, and last but not least, eclectic 70’s influence – especially in “The Prophecy”, where classic rock vibes are excellent, livened by the superb backing vocals of Drea and the violin played by Dee C.
In this album, LEGENDRY had a mission: to set off for a heavy metal adventure and take us with them on their journey. I think that with some marvelous guitar work from Vidarr, playful but solid rhythm section from Kicker and Arcane Hammer, well-laid sounds of hammond organ, mellotron, mandolin and various percussions, together with the colorful lyrics, they undoubtably accomplished it. To hear the title track “Time Immortal Wept” is proof enough: a nearly 12-minutes metal recital itself, an album closure to remember!
“Guided by my sword: My steel shall be true” is heard during “Sigil Strider”. Well, that is rightfully said by LEGENDRY and none can’t take that away from them!
The album will be released on No Remorse Records, October 27th and you can pre order it here.
You can check the discussion about the album on our forum pages.
