Legendry have been plying their trade since 2015 and Dungeon Crawler is their sophomore full-length effort, following on from 2016’s Mists of Time.
The trade they ply can only be described as fantasy metal with a heavy dose of prog mixed in.
Most of their lyrical content is based upon the works of pulp fiction author Robert E. Howard. Howard, if you don’t know, is said to be the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre and Legendry buy into that wholeheartedly.
Having said that, the band never falls into unintentional humorous cliche, as others (Manowar) sometimes (often) did.
With a line-up stated on Facebook as consisting of Vidarr – vocals, guitars, and swords, Kicker – drums, percussion, and necromancy and Evil St. Clair – bass and possession, it may be easy to conclude that they have tongues firmly planted in their cheeks but whichever way you look at it these guys from Pittsburgh perform to the highest standard and kick out some great metal.
Dungeon Crawler is a great mix of long tunes and short, straight up rockers. The long tracks, such as the title track, along with “The Conjurer” and “The Edge of Time” are allowed to breathe and develop into fully fledged epic tracks. They are full of mystery and feeling, along with superb musicianship and solos courtesy of Vidarr which take you away to another world. You really can get lost in these tracks. These songs are where the prog rock influence lies, but Legendry manage to pull it off without crawling up its own ass in boring fashion.
The remaining tracks also possess top-notch guitar work but in a more traditional fashion. There is definitely a New Wave of British Heavy Metal influence in there, none more so than in “Quest For Glory”, with its great opening salvo which could easily sit on Iron Maiden’s Killers classic.
There is one cover track which sneaks onto the album in the form of “Swords of Zeus”, originally performed by the mysterious Lords of the Crimson Alliance. A bit niche I’d say but still a belting effort.
Vidarr’s vocals are actually quite understated with no screaming or histrionics, I feel he wants to let the music do the talking which it does to great effect.
Overall this album is a true champion of the genre, whether that genre is metal or prog. Raise your shield and wield your sword, you are in for a treat.
Dungeon Crawler is out on Underground Power Records and Non Nobis Productions. Enjoy.
BUY: DUNGEON CRAWLER
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiyVlhqfx_o[/embedyt]
