[Improvised after 'bout 5 listens. Originally written for metal-archives.]
Nice, but nothing special. – 68%
Title pretty much sums it up. Admittedly, Мифы Древности is quite a solid traditional/power album. The riffs are tight n’ catchy, the vocals are strong and enthusiastic (kinda similar to the guy from Axel Rudi Pell, albeit with a lower timbre), the keyboards are sprawling all over the songs with their happy-go-lucky sound, but at least they don’t dominate the whole instrumentation part à la Sonata Artica & friends. In short, this is one of those decent yet derivative 80s-inspired melodic metal albums out there that get buried beneath their own sheer numbers because, despite of each one’s decency, none really stands out at all.
Therein lies the problem. Why bother searching for this, Legion’s latest work, in the first place when you’ve got loads and loads of stuff within your reach that sounds more or less the same? Frankly, if there are actually some stand-out factors in Мифы Древности that can justify this action, they’re all lost to me. Don’t get me wrong though – if you do chance to see this CD in a store and fancy it, go ahead. It won’t disappoint, but then it won’t make you bang your head on the floor kowtowing and gasping “HOLY SHIT” in awe either.
But wait! There is actually one reeeally awesome moment in this album, namely track number 6, Икар – Сын Дедала (i.e. Icarus – Daedal’s Son). This song, from start to finish, is Russian hard rock/metal at its fickin’ best. Not the same old Euro metal with Russian lyrics thrown in like the other tracks, but pure Russian metal. I can’t exactly describe this latter “genre”, but to put it in a few words, it (the “genre”) always evokes in the listener a feeling of… nostalgia. Seriously, every time I listen to the damn chorus of this track 6, images of St Peterburg back in the good old USSR days, or of the blissful Volga River in twilight, instantly spring up to fill my mind and won’t be shaken off till the song itself is over – it’s that moving… But enough of this; one spectacular song can’t decide the general impression towards a whole album, can it?
Bottom line: for fans and collectors only. Otherwise, go download Icarus and leave the rest be. So yeah, 60 points overall, plus 5 bonus points for Icarus and 3 for the artwork, which itself is pretty sweet.
68/100
