Legion Within – The Empty Men Wretched World Music By Soup

There's something about the Pacific Northwest that makes it a perfect home for a thriving Goth/Industrial scene. Perhaps it's the rain making the collective unconscious feel darker and more receptive to macabre beauty. Perhaps one could go as far as to say that the Pacific Northwest is becoming the new Mecca for the gothicly inclined much as it was for grunge in the early Nineties. The fact that this year Portland will be host to Convergence 13, the largest Goth/Industrial festival in America certainly lends weight to this theory.    The Seattle band Legion Within certainly understands this relationship between the darklings and the music that drives them. They release their newest disc "The Empty Men" just in time to catch the wave. Short on time yet heavy on purpose and credibility, the release is a herald to traditional gothic rock mixed with an industrial sheen. Vocalist William Williamson even sounds noticeably like an American version of Peter Murphy. If the band is trying to get the atmosphere and musical tone of the early heyday of gothrock when bands such as Murphy's Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division dominated the gloomy dancefloors in the Eighties, they've succeeded with this offering.    The first track, "Fascisti" blends the sludgy grooves of bassist Erica "Raven" Butler with the synth stylings of Ed Severtson who makes his keyboard sound like a theramin pretending to be a creepy bomb siren. The guitar work of Shannon Cole grinds together with the percussion of Josh Van Winkle to give the song it's more industrial edge. Williamsom comes in with the classically gothic intonations on a track dedicated to trashing Bush and the Authority. The band continues on with "The Wrath of Empty Men" which sounds like a dark lullaby for putting the world to sleep, "Rise" which displays Williamsons love for Industrial pioneers KMFDM (who coincidentally also live in Seattle. Their connection momentarily), "She Chides" a mid tempo cybergoth love song, and "Led Astray" a nod back to the glory days with it's melancholy lyrics and dinge-rock layers.    With the exception of Lucia Cifarelli, the entire band of KMFDM has their hands all over "The Empty Men". Guitarist Jules Hodgson did extensive remixing and programming, Andy Selway lent some extra time on skins on the track "Led Astray", guitarist Steve White remixed the last track, "Glass Ships (Mutiny Mix)", which has the band's distinct sound and could be the hardest track on the disc, and industrial pioneer and KMFDM mastermind Sascha "Käpt'n K " Konietzko lends his power in remixing the track "Fascisti (Käpt'n K's Ultra Heavy Beat Remix) which, while undoubtedly retooled by the "Father of Industrial Rock", is more downplayed than remixes I've heard the Käpt'n pervert.    Legion Within is a brilliant ambassador for the Pacific Northwest's Goth/Industrial scene. With equal respect paid to the past of the movement as well as the future (not to mention with genre powerhouses behind them), this is a band to watch for if your tastes match the grey days and cold nights of our corner of the world.

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Published on: 2007-03-10 (3235 reads)