Powerdeath. That’s the genre tag attached to Legendarium’s fifth album For Eternal Glory, and one I’d almost certainly roll my eyes at, had I not been following this curious project since its debut LP. Through arcane magics of ancient origin1, I became aware of Legendarium, the brainchild of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Laurence Kerbov and drummer Stefano Vaccari, in its earliest stages as a charmingly amateurish blend of traditional metal and classic punk. 2022’s Death’s Hand in Yours changed their status quo, not only by amping up their power metal side and introducing death metal elements to the mix, but also by being the first Legendarium record to be legitimately good. For Eternal Glory is their logical next step. Like its predecessor, For Eternal Glory sounds like nothing else in metal. Unlike its predecessor, however, it transcends novelty status.
At its core, Legendarium’s heart is rooted in trad / trve metal, their straightforward rhythms and legato guitar lines rooted in grounded grandiosity. You wouldn’t know it from the introductory riff of opener “A Thousand Swords” though, which claims a tremolo-happy middle ground between Ensiferum and Dissection. This track makes immediate sense of the “powerdeath” tag, one which I find sells the Legendarium experience short. For Eternal Glory is showered with shimmering keys yanked from the 90’s symphonic black metal playbook, and while the occasional blackened vibe rears its head (“Nightfall in the Deep Woods”), the keys more frequently compliment tracks that remind of Manilla Road (“Crypt Crusher”) or Viking-era Bathory (“Tomorrow We Die”). I could namedrop bands all day, but what ultimately matters is Legendarium’s miraculous cohesion. No aspect of For Eternal Glory sounds forced or out of place; everything gels, a unified vision that delights in exploring the connecting threads of countless styles of metal.
For Eternal Glory by Legendarium
A record like For Eternal Glory only works if it manages to be more than the sum of its parts. While that certainly holds true, it inevitably feels something like a jack of all trades, master of none. The experience as a whole is engrossing and addictively catchy, but its steadfast baseline of quality means that there are no surprising standouts. The closest this record comes to throwing a wild curveball comes from the Unto Others-esque goth-pop-metal jam “My Life in Your Hands;” refreshing, but not exactly thrilling. While For Eternal Glory is far and away the superior Legendarium album to Death’s Hand in Yours, I miss the latter record’s big rhythmic and stylistic swings, resulting in odd, delightful surprises, even if they didn’t always work. It’s difficult to justify complaining about the lack of strong highlights, however, on a record with no identifiable weak links. On For Eternal Glory, consistency is king. It’s just missing a certain je ne sais quoi that would elevate it to the same tier as Legendarium’s most prestigious peers.
While my compositional nitpicks are nothing that should turn off prospective Legendarium fans, For Eternal Glory’s vocals may prove divisive. Kerbov’s harsh vocals manifest as shouty death growls, and while I love their distinctly unhinged timbre, his clean singing requires some acclimation. Kerbov’s confidence and control over his clean vocals have improved exponentially with each subsequent Legendarium release, but while his singing is a great fit for the slower, mournful “Tomorrow We Die,” his delivery on the record’s more intense cuts lack the power to be fully compelling. That being said, I find his performances on the whole to be more charming than detrimental, and really, this show is all about his string work. For Eternal Glory is one of those records where there is almost always something interesting happening with the guitars. Massive, effortlessly catchy lead riffs soar above just about every measure of this record, resulting in every single song being stuck in my head at some point during my review process.
For all of Legendarium’s genre-splicing inspirations, For Eternal Glory sometimes feels like an elevated jam session between Kerbov and Vaccari, and I absolutely mean that as a compliment. This record’s rhythmic simplicity forms the ideal platform for Legendarium’s exploratory nature to blossom. While I’d like to hear them further push the boundaries of their aesthetic, I’m also deeply impressed at how they have boiled down so many genres and influences into a formula that can only be described as the Legendarium sound. This is the first Legendarium record that I can easily recommend to basically any appreciator of traditional and melodic metal, and one which I anticipate being the ideal foundation upon which to further refine and propel their sound. And just in case the spectacular album cover did not make it immediately clear: Yes, you should buy this.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Fiadh Productions
Websites: legendarium.bandcamp.com | ampwall.com/a/legendarium | facebook.com/people/Legendarium/61559083652568
Releases Worldwide: November 8th, 2024
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