Damn, I missed another new release! Did you know the Tart has a special place in her heart for industrial, dark, gothic rock? Yes, as much as I love sweet gooey love songs, I really need a jolt of this on a regular basis. Legion Within is just the shot we all need in times like these. Their fourth album, Mouth of Madness came out on June 16 and I’m listening to it now with great curiosity. Give “Mouth Of Madness” a listen; be drawn into their synthy goodness, their bleak, dramatic vocals.
This is a band that wears their influences on their sleeve. You can hear David Bowie, Bauhaus, Gary Numan, Love & Rockets, The Chameleons, Brian Eno, and Pink Floyd in these songs. Yet none mirror any particular influence. William Wilson, the creative force behind the lyrics of Mouth of Madness, gives these songs a darkly political immediacy, fitting for the recent economic downturn and resulting collective despair. The band’s bio describes him as “graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a double major in Political Science and Film/Media Studies. The double major was borne from his inability to escape awareness of the manipulation and control via The Media that feeds into political corruption and oppression. Wilson expresses these frustrations and passions fluidly thru Legion Within’s music.” Indeed, these are not pointless lyrics, though they might be a bit tongue in cheek.
Mall Cops of Freedom
Take off your shoes, step right this way
There’s no need to panic, just be very afraid
We are the knee-jerk Gestapo, too little too late
We are the window dressing for your Draconian state
We are the Mall Cops of Freedom, so do as we say
We are here to protect you, you are here to obey
The airport Stasis, the TSA
We are the hall monitors for the USA
With 10 tracks, Legion Within presents a variety of tracks on Mouth of Madness within which to lose yourself on a cool, dark evening. “Memories of You” is perhaps, my favorite song. It blends soaring synthesized sound with Wilson’s droning, deep voice into a velvety love song. Yeah, I guess even with my self-confessed need to escape them, I can’t tear myself away from love songs. But it’s really “Mall Cops of Freedom” that catches my attention with it’s quasi-rockabilly riffs and that smooth deep voice delivering biting sarcasm in a perfectly Cruella De Vil way. Opening track, “Someone’s Speaking” will find its way onto dancefloors this year, no doubt. It’s everything there is to love about techno/goth music.
Facebook ….. buy Mouth of Madness here, at KMFDM records ….. MySpace
Legion Within: Wilson (vocals, guitar), Shannon Cole (guitars), Erica Butler-Branch (bass), Aaron Nicholes (percussion) and Jasyn Byrum (synth)
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