Mankind is committed to a cyclic process, making the same mistakes over and over again. This is one of the themes of this album and you simply know that it is going to be an angry affair from one glance at the striking Khaos Diktator Designed cover art depicting an apocalyptic image of a city in flames. Although quiet for some period of time there’s a chance you will remember Woe from their time on Candlelight Records. Spearheaded as a solo project by ex-Krieg multi-instrumentalist Chris Grigg they did evolve into a full band project. Now however no doubt partly enforced by isolation Grigg is back essentially working at it alone and Legacies Of Frailty strikes very much as an album borne out of his rage at “humankind’s self-centred propensity and ruinous tendencies.”
Six fairly lengthy tracks are presented here and after an eerie short intro the first, ‘Fresh Chaos Greets The Dawn’ furrows in. Musically this is a fast and propulsive affair full of tremolo flailing guitars, thumping drums and hoary, gruff vocal barks. It sounds angry but rather than chaotic it has well composed and intricate depth behind its multi-layered approach. Incredibly tight along with its ferocious snarling distaste there are some great underlying melodies once you get beneath the heaving tumult. Slower parts are also on hand to etch things with grace and as these unfold the melody is tarred with a sombreness and futility which is nothing short of (dare I say it) woeful. Keyboards are also occasionally utilised adding to the atmosphere as at the end of this first track leaving you with a feeling of despair before next track ‘Scavenger Prophets’ hones back in, vocals hollered out by a mad sounding end of day’s preacher. Little mercy here and it’s a fiery diatribe blazing with contempt acting as “a boot to quake the earth, a fist to wield the weapons of fate.”
Far from an immediate album you are likely to lose yourself among the complexities of songs like the 10-minute ‘The Justice of Gnashing Teeth’ a virulent pestiferous swarm that at first sounds like a plague of locusts stripping the land before the ruinous cleave is punctuated by some glistening guitar work tinging the dystopian tale with neglect and sorrow. Some keyboard work moans amidst it all briefly and catch attention before it stomps back in, then there’s a guitar solo unravelling in the background too. Plenty here to focus on but the apocalyptic vibe is never far away.
There’s plenty more velocity to come on the second half of the album and those that like the feeling of being caught in a whirlwind will be happy to be cling on and be thrown about whilst others may feel like they’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards by the brute unrelenting force. Even when it slows slightly the sharp and jagged guitars of ‘Shores of Extinction’ pierce and the mournful tones leave the listener with a sense of doomed failure and grief before we are plunged back into the darkness for the final assault of ‘Far Beyond the Fracture of the Sky.’
A warning of apocalyptic times that we seem to be close to the cusp of ‘Legacies Of Frailty’ could be looked on as a rallying cry to learn by those past mistakes before it is too late. However, anyone with any sense will realise this is not an album or theme that is going to give us a happy ending and the inevitable eventuality is nothing short of complete extinction. Grigg has certainly given us a musical vision that is quite clearly related here even if the stark truth of it all may be tough for those walking around with their heads in the clouds to contemplate.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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