LEGEND PART III:I

"Legend Part III:I" is the 5th full-length studio album by American goth/ progressive rock/ metal act Saviour Machine. It´s the 3rd album in the "Legend" series of albums, which lyrically evolves around the book of revelations. The album was released in September 2001 by Massacre Records. The band ( with some lineup changes compared to the lineup who recorded this album) went on a successful tour in support of the album, which spawned the "Live in Deutschland 2002" live album and DVD. A 4th and final album in the "Legend" series titled "Legend III:II" was initially scheduled for release in 2002 ( that´s what the promo material for "Legend Part III:I" said) but the release date was postponed to July 2007. However in May 2007 lead vocalist/ main composer Eric Clayton released a statement citing that health problems hindered the release of the album. As of May 2011, we´re still waiting for the last album in the "Legend" series to be released.

The music on the album is epic/ goth metal with a progressive edge. We´re talking grand scale epic here, with orchestration, piano and grand choirs as part of the soundscape. Fans of a more gritty and darker Therion or maybe Amaseffer should take notice here. The focal point in the music is the voice and melody lines of lead vocalist Eric Clayton. The music on "Legend Part III:I" is rarely riff based ( it´s heavier and more riff based than the last couple of albums though) and the instruments are primarely used to create dark and heavy atmosphere to support the vocals. Eric Clayton delivers his semi-operatic vocals with a voice that can be described as a combination of David Bowie and Andrew Eldritch ( The Sisters of Mercy). I´m a great admirer of his vocal style and delivery. I don´t necessarily share his Christian worldview, but here´s a man who delivers with conviction, paatos and with great emotional depth. Another thing about the music that warrants a mention is the rather dominant use of middle eastern sounding guitar scales and melodies. We are of course talking lyrics inspired by The Book Of Revelations here, so those scales and melodies suit the concept very well.

As the two "Legend" series before it, "Legend Part III:I" is a very long album. 78:15 minutes is a very long time for any artist to captivate and entertain their listeners, but for the most part I´m well entertained with both heavy riffing, mellower piano/ vocal sections, epic orchestrated sections and a dark and brooding atmosphere. It´s not the kind of album where I´m gonna pick highlights as the album is meant to be heard from start to finish and the songs more or less all seque into each other to form a kind of epic cinematic concept. There are some parts here and there that drags a bit too much and some of the spoken word passages aren´t always exciting either but all parts do serve a purpose in the concept.

So if this turns out to be the last Saviour Machine album, they do go out with a minor bang. None of the "Legend" series albums have been able to impress me like the band´s first two albums and "Legend Part III:I" is no different in that repects. Taking into consideration the extremely high quality of the first two album, "Legend Part III:I" is still a very impressive release though and a 4 star rating is well deserved. This is the kind of album I have to be in a special mood to fully enjoy, but when it happens that I´m in that special mood, this is one of the most successfully epic and paatos filled albums I´ve yet come across and on occassion it even moves me emotionally.