Review by Alex on August 17, 2020.

The outlaws are back in town, Siege Column that is. New Jersey's peace-defying parade of maniacs high on the thrill to kill and whisky. Back in 2018 they stormed through the city, harassing towns folk with Inferno Deathpassion, an album that was greatly overlooked due to so much happening at the time for underground death and black metal. But when starved of attention some bands only act out more violently, thus Siege Column reentered their lair to plan and execute their most vitriolic output to date, Darkside Legions. A thrashing surge of combative death metal featuring bottle breaking drums, whisky spitting vocals and high velocity, Tasmanian-devil style riffing. Altogether with and attitude that says fuck off and some samples of eerily played keyboard synth makes the visit all too ominous and nail biting.

Feel the sweat trickle from your forehead all the way down to your non-confrontational ass cheeks; posers retreat to their safe-spaces and cuddle in warm, fluffy sheets as the barbaric sounds of sirening-guitars and disastrous drumming lay a passage for the ring-leader to demolish the town with ball and chain throaty barks. Henchmen gather in support of the tyrannically adjudication instigated with opening track 'Devil's Nights of Hell', circling the listener whilst hooligans chant the deathspell. And bang! a shotgun of raw n' rugged death metal takes a pelt at the petrified.

Obscenities shouted, a cry for more barbaric demonstrations, and from the sulfuric tongue, 'Echoes from the Underworld' is provided. A mace-wielding, testosterone-drenched slob of medieval death metal completes with mayhemic guitars and rough-cut vocals; this joyride has just begun. Gratifyingly and suitably to match the ugliness of the title, 'Snake Skin Mask' hits like a warmetal brigade alongside a thrashing frenzy like a nomadic, once institutionalized, over medicated madman, diving dumpsters and upturning trash-cans. I mean what more brutal pieces can one think of than track titles and matching hymns such as 'Speed of Omen Winds' and 'Buried in Lava'?, those songs are downright mean and punishing. Not to mention how believable the musicianship backing them is. You get a crossfire of instrumental stalwart and prowess as a balance between sonic ferity and precision.

Written like royalty, the decree to pass judgement-on, and executed savagely by the swing of bardiche, mace and the tossing of mortars, Darkside Legions continues to advance further and more viciously with 'In the Stolen Tomb' and 'Gloves of Fire', both embodying and glamorizing the cover artwork accompanying the wild ride of a record. Amidst this predatory conduct, the songs here are seemingly more catchy than those of Inferno Deathpassion; the mid-paced groovy moments of 'Funeral Fiend', 'In the Stolen Tomb' and 'Buried in Lava', add a moody and melodic texture to the music also the efficient depth needed to translate the artwork on Darkside Legions.

The production used has not changed since Inferno Deathpassion, thus it has become one of the common grains used in the crafting of a Siege Column album. That said, their sound has a quality that stands out, it's easily recognizable which is a good asset to possess as to not get lost amidst the saturated scene. Apart from such, their production also matches the music they compose, and the themes expressed in their songs. Like a strange blend of urban decadence, deterioration and ancient dungeon-eque, primitive workings, Siege Column's music matched with THEIR production value has aided tremendously the band's identity and facilitated a basis for growth and development.

Still somewhat derivative of their earliest installments (Nocturnal Attack Formation etc.), Darkside Legions, goes beyond the threshold of Inferno Deathpassion, thus making the record, Siege Column's best uncivilized sacrifice to date. Out through Nuclear War Now August 15th, 2020.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Alex on August 17, 2020.

The outlaws are back in town, Siege Column that is. New Jersey's peace-defying parade of maniacs high on the thrill to kill and whisky. Back in 2018 they stormed through the city, harassing towns folk with Inferno Deathpassion, an album that was greatly overlooked due to so much happening at the time for underground death and black metal. But when starved of attention some bands only act out more violently, thus Siege Column reentered their lair to plan and execute their most vitriolic output to date, Darkside Legions. A thrashing surge of combative death metal featuring bottle breaking drums, whisky spitting vocals and high velocity, Tasmanian-devil style riffing. Altogether with and attitude that says fuck off and some samples of eerily played keyboard synth makes the visit all too ominous and nail biting.

Feel the sweat trickle from your forehead all the way down to your non-confrontational ass cheeks; posers retreat to their safe-spaces and cuddle in warm, fluffy sheets as the barbaric sounds of sirening-guitars and disastrous drumming lay a passage for the ring-leader to demolish the town with ball and chain throaty barks. Henchmen gather in support of the tyrannically adjudication instigated with opening track 'Devil's Nights of Hell', circling the listener whilst hooligans chant the deathspell. And bang! a shotgun of raw n' rugged death metal takes a pelt at the petrified.

Obscenities shouted, a cry for more barbaric demonstrations, and from the sulfuric tongue, 'Echoes from the Underworld' is provided. A mace-wielding, testosterone-drenched slob of medieval death metal completes with mayhemic guitars and rough-cut vocals; this joyride has just begun. Gratifyingly and suitably to match the ugliness of the title, 'Snake Skin Mask' hits like a warmetal brigade alongside a thrashing frenzy like a nomadic, once institutionalized, over medicated madman, diving dumpsters and upturning trash-cans. I mean what more brutal pieces can one think of than track titles and matching hymns such as 'Speed of Omen Winds' and 'Buried in Lava'?, those songs are downright mean and punishing. Not to mention how believable the musicianship backing them is. You get a crossfire of instrumental stalwart and prowess as a balance between sonic ferity and precision.

Written like royalty, the decree to pass judgement-on, and executed savagely by the swing of bardiche, mace and the tossing of mortars, Darkside Legions continues to advance further and more viciously with 'In the Stolen Tomb' and 'Gloves of Fire', both embodying and glamorizing the cover artwork accompanying the wild ride of a record. Amidst this predatory conduct, the songs here are seemingly more catchy than those of Inferno Deathpassion; the mid-paced groovy moments of 'Funeral Fiend', 'In the Stolen Tomb' and 'Buried in Lava', add a moody and melodic texture to the music also the efficient depth needed to translate the artwork on Darkside Legions.

The production used has not changed since Inferno Deathpassion, thus it has become one of the common grains used in the crafting of a Siege Column album. That said, their sound has a quality that stands out, it's easily recognizable which is a good asset to possess as to not get lost amidst the saturated scene. Apart from such, their production also matches the music they compose, and the themes expressed in their songs. Like a strange blend of urban decadence, deterioration and ancient dungeon-eque, primitive workings, Siege Column's music matched with THEIR production value has aided tremendously the band's identity and facilitated a basis for growth and development.

Still somewhat derivative of their earliest installments (Nocturnal Attack Formation etc.), Darkside Legions, goes beyond the threshold of Inferno Deathpassion, thus making the record, Siege Column's best uncivilized sacrifice to date. Out through Nuclear War Now August 15th, 2020.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on June 4, 2022.

Very few band names could be nearly as edgy as Shadow In The Darkness. It sounds like a song title I would have written back in 7th grade when I still thought Slipknot was a good band. Did that affect my willingness to listen to the band? Of course it did, because for some unknown reason, I am a judgemental fuck and have predispositioned thoughts about all things before I actually interact with them, but I assume that's just human nature. Anyway, the name doesn't matter, this isn't shitty metalcore music, this is some of the most frantic, razor sharp technical death metal I've heard in a while and the fact that this is just a debut gets me going.

On Erstwhile Befell, the debut album by Greek technical death metal band Shadow In The Darkness, we are greeted with a heavy dose of riff oriented tech death delivered at breakneck speeds, sprinkled with equally fast leads that create an experience not too far from those created by early The Faceless and The Zenith Passage. Remember when I said in my The Zenith Passage review that they were the next evolution of The Faceless? Probably not because I doubt anyone reads these, but that aside, Shadow In The Darkness is like the next evolution of The Zenith Passage. It has that somewhat mechanical feel, with start-stop riffing and explosive sweeps that'll make people consider giving up guitar altogether. Yes, this is mostly a guitar oriented album above all else, but they do a good job of carrying the music. The riffs are fucking great. Memorable and heavy, just how they need to be. The crazy lead work is flashy enough to be awe inspiring, but not too flashy that it just sounds like a musical jerk off session. The bass plays some good stuff but never really takes the stage alone at any points.

The drumming is, of course, inhumanly fast and ridiculously technical. Awesome! I don't want jazz drumming over this kind of tech death, they needed a drummer that can just blast until his heart fails, and this drummer does just that. The vocals are actually really good. Usually I brush over tech death vocals, but this guy has good range with some absolutely gnarly highs. Sounds like he's enduring the pain of a thousand lashes - at once.

The production is good. Moving on.

The songs themselves are really good, though at a few times it sounds like songs go on a little too long just for the hell of it. They'll have a moment that sounds like the song is going to end, and then you realize there's a minute of riffs still left, and it does that on a few songs. Is it a huge problem? Far from it. It does feel like the songs drag on just a teeny bit at times, but at the end of the day it's not severe and hardly detracts from the album.

Other than all that, there's not much more to say. Turns out there's only so many ways I can describe technical death metal albums before all my reviews start to read the exact same, but oh well. Point is, this is nowhere near as repetitive as my reviews. This is a really fucking awesome album and I'm glad I bypassed the eyeroll worthy name and gave this a try. It reminds me of a number of great tech death bands we've seen emerge in the past 5 years, all mushed together in a 32 minute long package (shorter when you take out the two useless interludes.) I think most fans of this genre will like this release and should give it a try. Definitely an unsung hero that deserves more praise than they've been getting. Super fast, technical and of course, heavy as fuck. We need more bands like this.

FFO: The Zenith Passage, The Faceless, The Odious Construct

Favorite song: 'Interdisciplinary Sectarianism'

Rating: 8 out of 10