LEGION:RITUALIS – rites of futility – DIGICD

Presenting themselves as a “Neo Noir Music” project, Australian duo Legion:Ritualis invite us to an existentially resonant ritual.
The term “Neo Noir Music” is apt, given the duo’s original blend of musical genres. Martial Industrial, classical music (Bach, Wagner, Stravinsky, etc.), and Black Metal – in the form of guitar strings. This assemblage forms the core identity of Legion:Ritualis, with a few additional touches of Ambient, Neo-Folk (notably on the track with Kim Larsen) and Gothic to its overall atmosphere.

Shrouded in the aura of an aesthetic partly inherited from dark romanticism, “Rites of Futility” plays on contrasts and oppositions, and attempts to overcome them through the mastery of Form. Grandiloquence and intimacy, beauty and darkness, life and death, refinement and violence, melodies and hammering, masculine and feminine polarity mingle in the ritual trance perfectly sculpted by the duo.

The influences are palpable and recognizable -The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud, Christian Death and In slaughter Natives – but the originality of this project lies in its ability to blend these influences to create a captivating album with a sententious tone. An album that sounds like a warning, a solemn reminder: Memento Mori! “Rites of Futility”, at once elixir and poison, distills a fragrance with bewitching head notes that resonate tirelessly, guiding us to the next listen.