Of Legions « The RingMaster Review

The past month going into the next has seen our friends at SaN PR send over a host of artists with new singles to tempt and rouse the senses. o we thought we would club the best together and give you the heads up on their striking propositions.

First up and coinciding with their next tour of the US, is British punksters Ghouls who have just uncaged their new single Be. An irrepressible slice of the raucously infectious and boisterous punk rock the Londoners are becoming keenly renowned for, the track just bounds through ears taking the spirit with it on a rousing stomp. Yet equally its heart and words reveal shadows and emotions to hook and captivate thoughts and imagination.

Formed in 2013, the quintet has earned a potent reputation and an increasingly growing and dedicated fan base through their songs and a praise wrapping live presence which has seen the band play numerous UK and international festivals and share stages with bands such as Less Than Jake, Slaves, The Skints, The Ataris, Sonic Boom Six, Random Hand, OPM, and ROAM. It is hard not to hear why the increasing attention on the band when hearing Be and also a handful of months back its predecessor, the similarly bold and compelling Internet Famous.

Be is an immediate blast of catchy sound driven by swinging rhythms and rapacious guitars. Just as swiftly though it is a bloom of imagination and unpredictability, calms and crescendos plus brass flames adding fun and adventure to its dynamic punk funk antics and though seemingly over before its time, the track is as arousing and manipulative as anything heard this year; simply a real gem of a song.

Next up is Dead Ground, an alternative rock trio from Exeter consisting of Ollie Harris, Edward Tucker, Jake Friese-Greene who has just released their new single, We All Feel The Same, another song rather hard to ignore.

Emerging in 2015, the British trio has earned plaudits through shows with the likes of Idles and Black Foxxes and are sure to again through their latest offering. It is a song which echoes inspirations which include Muse, Black Peaks, and Radiohead though it is the former which most comes to mind across the magnetic track. Even so, from its first breath and the strong lure of voice and guitar, We All Feel The Same shows the band’s music has its own unmistakable identity. The track is a calm yet eventful piece of melodic rock which never seems over busy or creates a tide of sound but is as rich in enterprise and aural intimation as a full on tempest.

With smart twists and little turns within its magnetic body, the track is another seriously enticing offering from Dead Ground and a potent invitation to newcomers.

The wait is over, British punks Eight Days have returned from their eighteen month hiatus and roared back with a major holler of a track.

Stray barracks and harries the senses like it is making up for lost time yet has an imagination in its creation which revels in the time taken to breed its angst bursting outcry. Equally is has a fresh breath to it which echoes the potency and character of the band’s very well-received 2016 EP More To Life but reveals a whole new thrust of energy, invention, and potential, maybe no surprise as Eight Days returns with new members offering new ideas and essences in creativity.

A fusion of punk, hardcore and alternative rock in varying degrees, the track immediately had ears on board as its opening lure of hook loaded riffs beckoned. It proved the prelude or rather lead into a tempest of ferocity and sonic tension but an emotion loaded storm ripe with swinging grooves, tenacious rhythms and subsequently unsettled calms and post hardcore-esque intimation.

The track is a fine return by the band and hopefully a hint of big things to come.

With their debut album of this year, Face Value, still luring new fans and plaudits, UK hardcore outfit Of Legions are poised to unleash their new single Vision Of Misery. A brand new track, it is a beast of a trespass, a cauldron of the band’s fusion of hardcore, punk, and metal which not so much warrants attention but orders it.

From Stoke, the quartet has steadily risen up the hardcore ranks since emerging in 2015. Embracing inspirations from artists such as Black Flag, Slipknot, and Parkway Drive, Of Legions has honed their individual sound across two EPs and that recently their highly praised album and earned a potent reputation for a live presence taking in shows with Silent Screams, Liferuiner, Martyr Defiled, Continents, Brokencyde, Sikth, and Loathe among many others.

Intimating a new wind of adventure in the band’s sound, Vision Of Misery prowls the senses initially, riffs a scowling predator against a rhythmic rumbling. A melodic tendril though lights its advance calming the intensity a touch before the shackles are off and the track invades. There is still somewhat of a restraint to its attack but that only accentuates its power and animosity.

Continuing to bawl and punish with its hardcore bred, metal infested confrontation, a contagious mix despite its punishing tempest, the track is a thick indisputable declaration of a band heading the way of major attention.

Be from Ghouls is out now.

https://www.facebook.com/ghoulsuk/ https://twitter.com/ghoulsuk

Dead Ground has We All Feel The Same on the loose now.

https://www.facebook.com/deadgroundmu/

Eight Days has Stray available now.

https://www.facebook.com/EightDaysUK/ https://twitter.com/eightdaysuk

Of Legions unleash Vision Of Misery November 9th.

https://www.facebook.com/OfLegions/ https://www.instagram.com/of_legions_uk/

Pete RingMaster 24/10/2018

With already a rather potent reputation for their voracious live presence, UK outfit Of Legion offer the fullest introduction to their hardcore ferocity with debut album Face Value. Enticingly irritable, enjoyably raw, and emotively abrasive, the nine track trespass is a potential rich suggestion of a band carrying all the qualities to make a lingering mark on the British hardcore/punk scene.

Emerging in 2015, Stoke hailing Of Legions have evolved a sound which could be said to have found its true roar around the release the following year of second EP,. They have continued to hone it with essences of metal, rock, and punk blossoming within and as evidenced by their first album, though it still feels like it has a way to go to fulfil its potential, it is a sound that has grown into one ear grabbing, imagination stirring proposal. Alongside, the quartet has further earned increasing plaudits with a live presence which has seen them share stages with the likes of Gideon, Desolated, Silent Screams, Liferuiner, Martyr Defiled, TRC, Machete 187, Continents, and Brokencyde. Now it is Face Value looking to push the band’s growing presence and fair to say it makes for one hefty invitation to ears and awareness.

The album’s title track opens things up, Face Value looming in from a distance with heavy coaxing riffs and crisp rhythms; already that multi-flavoured mix of sound grabbing ears. Once in full view, the initial vocal blast from Luke Mansfield triggers a rapacious surge of sound and emotion but one which prowls rather than violates to great effect. Swiftly it is all over the song brief but a great start setting up a real appetite for the rest of the album which the following Let Loose soon feeds. It instantly walls ears in a tempest of intensity and noise, the scything swings of drummer Nath McCue full of ill-intent next to the thick grumble of Ollie Lewis’ bass. With Mansfield venting with emotive passion, the guitar of Sam Morrey casts an enterprising web of intrigue and animus which just grips attention, the four way combination uniting in another two minutes plus of creative animosity and pleasure.

La Familia is another which prowls the listener, its threat and energy in check but fully felt as riffs and rhythms badger rather than strike the senses. With hungry hooks and rhythmic imagination at its centre, the song easily keeps predictability away before Worthless springs a bedlam of acidic grooves, vocal discontent, and rhythmic voracity. It similarly twists and turns with adventure and tenacity, blending familiar essences with real imagination carrying Of Legions individuality.

Grouchy bordering on choleric, Scum crowds and bullies ears next, Mansfield leading its corrosive holler with his throat scraping outpourings. Yet at its core is the most irresistible of grooves which inspires a similarly infectious lining across all traits as it leaves the senses withered, even more so with its final bearish incitement.

Even in their individuality, all songs to this point have their seeds in recognisable hardcore beddings but with Suicidal Thoughts the band really push themselves as progressive lined melodies and atmospheric intimation envelop ears as vocals share emotional scars. It is a compelling start which develops into a melodic rock/punk stroll, Morrey colouring it with some great fiery yet suggestive melodies. Leaving food for thought and a whole new current of potential flowing from the band it is another inescapably enjoyable moment within Face Value.

With the adversarial and constantly shifting dynamics of No Loyalty and the bullish rock ‘n’ roll of Hard Time, the album only confirms its potency if neither track quite stirs personal tastes as forcibly as other songs. Nevertheless, each only builds on the blending of styles the band embraces before Wormfeeder brings things to a close with its snarly intrusive quarrel. With death metal essences in its barbarous and suffocating tempest, the track is sonic pestilence and so easy to willingly succumb to.

Face Value is a great next step in the Of Legions’ growth, yes there are elements which might not grab as much as others but its promise is undeniable as too the enjoyment it delivers.

Face Value is out now.