HE IS LEGEND

I don't know if you've ever come across an ostrich, but those fuckers can be pretty goddamned mean when they want to be. I often go back to a time in my childhood when I, dared by a few older, distant cousins, took it upon myself to taunt a few of them from the other side of an electric fence. Even with ten feet of steel coursing with high voltage protecting me, the veracity at which those angry bastards came at still sends a shiver up spine. Now imagine how I felt when I glanced at an album cover featuring one of the bastards shooting daggers at me with his eyes next to the words "IT HATES YOU" in bold print. To be perfectly honest, that 11-year old dumbass inside of me about shit bricks. A fairly menacing image to say the least, but does the music behind the art hold up? Much better than I would have if one of those damn birds would have made over the fence, to say the least.

In order to avoid getting lost in the screamo shuffle of their last couple of efforts, HE IS LEGEND have taken a decidedly more straightforward and raucous approach on "It Hates You". Not being a huge fan of anything they've done before, I welcomed the new risks taken by the North Carolinians. I imagine a combination of the departure of co-founding guitarist McKenzie Bell and the fact that the band jumped off the grid and hid out in the Carolina woods while working on this record had quite a bit to do with their new direction. Whatever it was, it's starting to work. Gone are any hints of the metalcore vibe that had the scenesters dreaming of a triple bill co-hosted by EVERY TIME I DIE and MAYLENE AND THE SONS OF DISASTER and good goddamned riddance. Turning up the stoner/southern-fried knob, cuts like "Dicephalous", "Party Time!!!" and "Cult Of She" bring enough big n' dirty groove to make up for the lesser effective moments. Picture heavy rock radio's bastard, gas-huffin' cousins raised in the swamps on a steady diet of Henry Rollins, GLASSJAW and C.O.C. you've got a decent idea on this disc's highpoints. Of course, this is no one-trick pony either as the band gets down right destructive during the closing seconds of "Everyone I Know Has Fangs" and hauntingly soulful on the bluesy acoustic "China White III".

Given the rock solid slate he has to stand upon, vocalist Schuylar Croom absolutely shines this time out. His raspy croon, sometimes reminiscent of Karl Agell's (ex-C.O.C.) contribution to "Blind", steals the spotlight. Not to say the rest of the band comes up short, but Croom's infectious chorus on "The Primarily Blues" is one example of a singer making a good song better. The same goes his emotive and trance-like vocals on "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions". By far the record's most adventurous track, this tune wanders through disjointed ambience before exploding into sludgy, post-hardcore with Croom spewing blood and tears over the whole thing.

I can't really say that HE IS LEGEND has completely re-invented themselves with "It Hates You", but they sure in the hell have struck out for more interesting pastures. The band's tendency to wander, aimlessly at times, is their biggest flaw. They've hit upon several niches that work well, but don't really stick with any of them for very long. The game of hop-scotch between heavy rock, angular punk and melodramatic post-rock really takes away from the album as a whole. On the other hand, I'm finally excited to see what this band will have to offer down the road.