One of the things that most struck us here at Sentinel Daily about Desolate Realm‘s 2021 self-titled debut was it’s unrelenting, airtight solidity. A literal granite cliff in heavy metal form, the duo carved a fine noise out of the base slab, but it just lacked a little… dynamism.

A year and a bit later, there are no such worries, as the band’s second full-lengther, Legions, sees them progress in leaps and bounds in almost every department. It’s a joy to hear the increased confidence in the Finnish pair’s delivery, with Matias Nastolin’s vocals in particular standing head an shoulders above anything on their last effort.

Tracks like Forsaken Ground in particular articulate this allround improvement; Nastolin adds urgent rhythm guitar work to the lithe drum performance of Olli Törrönen, and when he unleashes a commanding scream mid-way through the track it surely points to a band that have arrived where they need to be and are ready to start laying waste to some ears.

Overall,the musical postitioning – at the crossroads of epic doom and trad metal – remains the same, but the band have honed their skill sufficiently to define the two areas more sharply this time around meaning that – you guessed it – the heavy parts are heavier and the doom parts… you get the picture.

The hulking chug at the start of Revelation is a nice example of this, with Nastolin working a nice bit of unaccompanied bass into proceedings to mix things up a little; this is doom metal, nothing more, nothing less, and, thanks to a production job that allows everything to breathe, in the hands of Desolate Realm it has never sounded better.

Closing track Eternal Winter is the most ambitious piece of music the band has attempted yet, and at song’s end you’ll be left feeling amazed that such music has been made by just two band members. The ambition of the arrangement, the skill and sincerity of the playing – all point to a band with a bright future moving forward.

If there’s one piece of (constructive) criticism to be made it’s still that the songs lack the odd killer chorus to really drive their majesty home, but in every other respect Desolate Realm are now the finished, thunderous article. And that’s a joy to report!

Legions releases on March 17th.