Legacy of Brutality – Travelers to Nowhere

It is always nice when a band tries to do something out of their normal element and make a push to make an album memorable. In Spain’s’ Legacy of Brutality’s case, that is the massive epic that is ‘Travelers to Nowhere.’ Usually these guys are known for the regular roughly 35 minute Death Metal album that is melodic but also rough and raw (think a mix of Aborted meets Unearth meets Dissection). The songs are engaging enough, especially on the solo front, but also didn’t really have that wow factor. Taking a page from Opeth in 2023, Legacy of Brutality have really stepped up their game by shaking off the time limitation shackles and unleash a monster of a 20 minute track. Like Opeth on ‘Morningrise’ and ‘Black Rose Immortal,’ this will be a bit of a shocker and a little out of most Death Metal fans’ comfort zone as it takes a bit of attention strain to endure such a long track. And while Opeth had their Prog Death on their side with the mix of acoustic sections, clean vocals along with harsh, and other elements to make the music have more depth, Legacy of Brutality is more simplistic but still engaging. The result is a bit of repetitiveness with the riffs and vocal patterns, but the band does their best to mix things up, like the extremely melodic section at roughly 13 minutes in with its more Melodeath elements and dazzling solo. A little bit on the Prog Death side, but nowhere near Rivers of Nihil territory, this stretch of song is a welcome listen and shows quite a bit of growth for the band after 4 years.

The only downside to starting out with such a strong song is it makes the album seem a bit weaker with the shorter tracks, which sound like chopped off bits of the previous song. Tracks like ‘Bringers of Storm’ churn right along with speed, bellowed vocals, and quite a bit more pace than the first two track along with energy as there is little room for melodic or soft sections save for the guitar solos, but those who like more older Legacy of Brutality will find it more on par with what they are used to. ‘The Druid’ is chuggy, but more head banging and has more of that Melodeath slam to it in the vein of the likes of Hypocrisy meets In Flames. A little crunchier but still layered in melody when it comes to the guitars. Vocals take on more of that Hardcore scream similar to Heaven Shall Burn. Thankfully, ‘After the Forests Have Burned’ draws right back to regular Legacy of Brutality territory with the fret slides, that mix of harsh and melodic Death Metal, and that seamless flow of the song with layered bellows along the rather percussive drumming.

Overall, ‘Travelers to Nowhere’ is Legacy’s best work, not simply for the push for an epic track which they have never done before, and hold it well, but just to show that a band can do only 5 tracks but showcase just as much prowess as they did when they did 9 or more. Some might think the album is a bit short at first glance, but once they delve in the music is quite fulfilling and the time length is right on part with what Legacy of Brutality have done up to this point. Aside from the epic they don’t really showcase anything new, but so far they sound like they have been on track for the past 14 years since they started, and they don’t really show any sign of stopping. Rather, they chose to evolve with the times and push for something different without alienating their fanbase or changing their sound so much that it feels like a Machine Head ‘Burning Red’ moment. ‘Travelers to Nowhere’ is still solid, yet melodic, Death Metal.