Tsjuder - Legion Helvete
Season Of Mist
Black Metal
8 songs (39'54")
Release year: 2011
Season Of Mist
Reviewed by Alex

If you were a part of a loyal group following Norwegians Tsjuder I have good news for you. The band has reunited and has the first new full-length album since 2004. The even better news could be that the band returned with the same line-up and with the same purpose for being. With Tsjuder the more time moves on, the more things stay the same. Legion Helvete is still true Norwegian black metal to the bone, no deviations of any kind. No keyboards were rented, no female singers hired, and it is if this trio never took a break.

The label of less chaotic early Immortal with significantly cleaner production fits well what is unfolding on Legion Helvete. Songs like Fra en Ratten Kiste, in part, are less organized in riffing department, but Tsjuder did not forget their almost trademark warring, jab-like, quick cut & retreat circular riffs (The Daemon Throne, Voldsherskeren). The album’s production emphasizes guitars, while pushing drums in the back a bit, but the songs’ riffs are still prominent and stand-alone, Legion Helvete never becoming a constant buzzsaw grind. This does not mean Tsjuder 2011 vintage is not violent, the 10 min closer Vart Helvete is plenty furious and face-ripping. The beginning of Daudir is full of blistering blast, and Black Shadows of Hell will go over well with a live raging crowd due to its vicious tremolo and lashing rhythms.

A somewhat new element I don’t remember from Desert Northern Hell are randomly wedged black’n’roll sections. A few moments from Daudir and, especially, Slakt are quite rocking, pulsating and then toppling, reminiscent of Vreid or Khold.

The energy and desire on Legion Helvete are obvious, but the album did not grip me in the slightest. Voldsherskeren seemed to be a quick elevation mid-way through, its war marching changing over into the thicker denser melodic shroud creating an interesting moment. The album lasts just under 40 min, but somehow it dragged on and seemed to go on for at least double that. That impression might have something to do with the 10 min closing song (Vart Helvete) that never seems to change gears, but, truly, once Legion Helvete ends you will be forced to pick that defining moment why you want to hear it over and over again. This one is for true fans only, for those who missed this band almost on a personal level. Everything is done well here, and according to the code book, but that, in a way, is this album’s shortcoming as well.

Killing Songs :
The Daemon Throne, Voldsherskeren
Alex quoted 65 / 100
Other albums by Tsjuder that we have reviewed:
Tsjuder - Desert Northern Hell reviewed by Alex and quoted 81 / 100
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