Metalcore mob The Legion:Ghost claim to be “what modern metal sounds like”. If that’s true then metal hasn’t moved very far in the last 10 years. Real modern metal innovates and sadly there’s little sign of progressive thinking behind With Courage Of Despair. It’s lucky that their choice of genre has appeal; throaty screams, breakdowns, triggered riffs and vocal melodies release the inner metal beast and when it clicks, especially on the bludgeoning The Counterweight, these Germans sound impressively tight. But using a rinse-and-repeat formula, their platter of uninspiring albeit well-produced love letters to Soilwork and Trivium with angry lyrics about the media and personal issues reminds us of something we already know: modern life can be hard. But modern life is also built on ingenuity and With Courage Of Despair is not.
The Legion:Ghost - With Courage Of Despair album review
Teutonic metalcore hopefuls fail to get with the times
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