It’s refreshing to hear bands like Battlecross and now Legacy Of Disorder putting out metal albums with absolutely no gimmicks. They’re the kinds of albums that are pure thrash and all about the metal. On their latest, Last Man Standing, New Zealand’s Legacy Of Disorder come off as the second coming of Metallica with a slightly harder edge.
Air sirens open up “Thorns” and warns the metal community that LOD mean business as vocalist James Robinson does a Hetfield-esque growl to start. “Punish All” is where things take a turn towards the heavy with Robinson taking on a more guttural and menacing approach to the mic. “March To Death” sounds like that exactly. Guitarist Rana Freilich is a beast and switches between somber interludes to crushing riffs. Bassist Jason Keill and Matt Thompson prove to be a formidable rhythm section on that one as well as the pummeling headbanger of a title track. Later on, songs like “Break” adds some groove and mosh-pit ready breakdowns to the LOD sound while “Warrior Gene” should bear a warning that reads “May cause serious neck injury if you attempt to headbang to this!”.
If you like old-school thrash metal in the form of Metallica combined with the new school bite of bands like Trivium, then Legacy Of Disorder is the next logical step in your musical evolution and Last Man Standing is a must-have for your collection.
Last Man Standing is out now through Black Orchard Music. Catch Legacy Of Disorder on the “Fate Or Chaos” tour this fall with Gwar, Devildriver, and Cancer Bats. Click here for dates.
Grade: B