Nightfly Three years after their debut Berzerker Legion return with their second album Chaos Will Reign. I was very impressed with Obliterate The Weak and said in my review at the time that I hoped we would see a second album from them. My doubt caused by the fact that the band is made up of members of already well established bands such as Asphyx, Decapitated, Dark Funeral and Wombbath to name just a few. Fortunately they have managed to synchronise schedules and return with the same line-up.

Chaos Will Reign pretty much follows in the same footsteps as its predecessor. That’s to say melodic death metal though at the heavier end of the sub-genre. I’ve heard a lot of people compare them to Amon Amarth which I don’t really hear myself, Berzerker Legion being a heavier beast. Like the debut it’s good stuff though not as immediate which in itself is no bad thing but the hooks aren’t quite as strong this time around. The musicianship as expected is top notch. With the brilliant drumming of James Stewart and Fredrik Isaksson’s pummelling bass driving the band you can’t go far wrong and the dual guitar work of Tomas Ellofson and Alwin Zuur is a formidable team and pack a mighty punch. Jonny Pettersson’s vocals from a guttural growl to scream are also impressive and I prefer his work here to Wombbath.

A couple of forgettable songs like Eternal Void and This Is The End whilst far from bad lose the momentum a bit but you’re soon into something better and on the whole the standard remains high. The production is powerful though a bit on the muddy side and a bit more breathing space could have allowed the songs to shine that bit more.

Another very good album then and a worthy addition to your death metal collection if you liked the debut. I’ll look forward to album number three.

Nightfly You may not yet have heard of Berzerker Legion as they have only been active since 2016 and this, Obliterate The Weak, is their debut album. If you’ve had an interest in extreme metal at all though you’ll certainly have heard of many of the bands these guys either currently or previously played with in the past – Dark Funeral, Asphyx, Vader and Wombbath to name just a few. The list is endless, pretty much covering most of the gamut of extreme metal. No shortage of experience then.

Berzerker Legion despite the wide sub-genre experience stick to death metal, pretty much the old school variety with plenty of the melodic Swedish type thrown in. Speed is not the primary concern here, instead an emphasis on crushing riffs with groove and a good supply of melody serves them well on an album brimming with memorable songs that have you wanting to hit the repeat button, at least it would if I wasn’t listening on vinyl. It doesn’t get any better than the title track alternating between a slow crushing groove for the verse and a faster melodic death metal chorus. These guys seem to have a liking for Bolt Thrower too. There’s really no shortage of great music on offer here though with nothing coming across as weak or misplaced. Of course with this amount of experience the playing as expected is exceptionally good and the production is spot on for displaying the power of this band.

I know it’s still early in the year but I haven’t come across loads of great new death metal yet. This is by far my favourite so far. With these guys having so many other musical commitments I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be a one off as it’s a quality release and I’ll look forward to more from them in the future hopefully.