Legendry – Time Immortal Wept Review

There’s something to a well-worn paperback, creased from excursions to the beach, its binding bent and crinkled from adventures to the laundromat, its edges frayed from being swiftly and hastily stashed in the glove compartment, its cover faded from resting too long by the windowsill. Dog ears that always fold their way back when flipping through to the crumpled gas station receipt that marks the spot, that familiar perfume breezing from the elden manilla pulp of its pages. A glimpse into a multiverse of adventure found for a buck fifty (three for five dollars!) at a flea market stall.

When I first heard Legendry with their 2016 debut, Mists Of Time, I thought they were trying a little too hard to capture that pulp feeling–the production was a little too scrappy, the vocals a little too undercooked and drenched in a suspicious amount of reverb. Not that I hated it, mind you–they wrote some genuinely good metal tunes that sounded born of a genuinely good time in the garage. However, beneath the noble barbarian shadow cast by Eternal Champion’s The Armor Of Ire and Visigoth’s The Reverent King the year prior, Legendry’s destiny seemed bound for someone’s surprising bargain bin discovery years down the line. I didn’t keep up with their subsequent albums until deciding to check back in on the band with their fourth and latest full length, Time Immortal Wept. It was but a mere two songs in before I realized just how poorly I had initially misjudged this band.

It’s instantly apparent on the opening preamble, “The Bard’s Tale,” that Legendry have come a long way from the charming but flawed wood panelling basement jam room production of the debut. Utilizing the talents of the prolific Arthur Rizk behind the boards, the landscape ahead is clear, clean, and richly immersive. The woodwinds and clean strums of the guitars dance playful on lush, enchanted hills, bringing worlds pioneered by the likes of Uriah Heep into the not-so-distant horizon. Vocalist/axeman Vidarr’s voice–objectively a point of contention on the debut–no longer has to hide behind a veil of reverb. He’s far from the most powerhouse vocalist in the genre these days, true, but ripping the armor off and letting the soul shine was absolutely the correct move. His singing is a touch loud in the mix, presumably to focus on the bardic quality of lyrics as the second chapter of the band’s Earthwarrior trilogy unfolds.

The adventure–and the heaviness–kicks off with “Sigil Strider,” an anthem of olde drenched in mellotron majesty over steady, pounding groove. The wah effect on the lead adds to the acid-drenched, smokey haze of the music as it builds to the chorus I haven’t been able to get out of my head since first spinning the record:

“Guided by my sword, my steel shall be true (oh oh woah oh woah oh oh!)
The foretelling restored, the wise ones always knew
Live by the steel, my metal is true
The Horror you feel, remember that only Death… is real for you”

Every touch, from the warped sound of the guitar to the rolling fills from Kicker’s drums (that get tastefully more and more daring with each subsequent visit to the section), serves to make the song infectious as hell while taking the listener on a journey with the confidence, skill, and resolve necessary to embark on such an adventure.

A more than promising start, and I was already re-assessing my hasty judgement of the band at this point, but it was “The Prophecy” that made me stop everything and sink back into my chair. At best, I can describe it as an amalgamation of Uriah Heep, Built To Spill, Yes, and–perhaps the deeper and more on-the-nose nod–Connecticut’s cult classic Legend. I no longer saw Legendry as attempting to mimic the stardust of yesteryear, nay–this was that genuine paperback magic, folded corners, beat up cover, musk and all. I may have been seeking a barbarian when I should have been listening for a bard–all of a sudden it made so much sense to me. The violin and “Great Gig In The Sky”-esque backing vocals of Drea color the song with brilliant, intoxicating hues as the music’s spell expands over wide-stretched planes, rolling hills, and towering crags.

BOOM! We’re ambushed with the surprise attack of the speedy “Warrior Of Space & Time,” a rocketing number that brings the clashing of swords and shields, claws and scales, axes and armor into the fray. The synth and bass behind the guitar whirls like the magic of the world Legendry have created, grounded by the pulsing drums and keeping that setting of otherworldly enchantment alive and thriving as the Earthwarrior battles to achieve his destiny. This brings us to the halfway point in this segment of our hero’s quest–the aptly titled “The Winds Between Worlds” interlude that divides the A and B sides of the record.

The star climbing solo over the mighty weightlifting riffs of “Chariots Of Bedlam” exudes might and majesty before its flurrying conclusion that leaps directly into “The Bards Reverie,” keeping the momentum going into what may be my favorite one-two strike in an album littered with fanciful swordplay. The chimes echo as though from the highest turrets of a castle–it’s apparent Act III is nigh and the conclusion of this chapter of the Earthwarrior’s saga is approaching. Though there is still a circular structure in the songwriting in the refrains, it always feels like the music is pushing forward with the determination of a warrior who refuses to accept setback or failure. While I’d hesitate to call it a full-on, capital-P Progressive metal record, it’s a truly epic heavy metal record that will certainly appeal to fans of progressive rock, telling a story in the music regardless of if the listener is following along with the actual written tale or not. The final number, the title track “Time Immortal Wept,” wraps things up neatly, reflecting on elements that popped up through the record. Speed, acoustic guitar, chimes, synths, violin all dance together, woven with masterful songcraft that feels like the end of a chapter and a cliffhanger to lead into the final third of the Eatherwarrior’s tale.

Time Immortal Wept ensorcelled me, rolling a nat 20 on Bardic Performance. Despite my skepticism from my previous experience with Legendry, the record drew me in deep to the point I spent at least a week where I couldn’t stop listening or pull away, and, when the need for variety reared its head like a vicious dragon, their back catalogue stepped in to save the day. While I’d still consider Time Immortal Wept a substantial level-up, I discovered a whole fresh appreciation for this band. I grew additionally fond of their second work, 2017’s Dungeon Crawler, in particular for its bookend epics. All my criticisms of their Mists Of Time debut seemed to fade into the backdrop. I caught up on the Earthwarrior saga with The Wizard And The Tower Keep. It was one of those magic moments where all of a sudden everything clicks into place–like when you really start to understand an author’s voice.

I suspect that, despite the improvement in the vocal department on Time Immortal Wept, the singing will still be the greatest obstacle for unfamiliar listeners: to you I say, give it a fair shot, sit with the album in its entirety, let them tell their tale and see how it settles. They aren’t trying to be anything but themselves, it’s a part of their voice, it’s a part of the magic and the sorcery, and when it clicks this band has the potential to open entire worlds for those seeking the weathered majesty of perfectly imperfect paperback fantasy adventures in their metal. One for cozying up in front of a roaring fireplace and a hi-fi stereo in the long, dark winter nights ahead. Hails, Earthwarrior, I never should have doubted you. You have my steel!