ALBUM REVIEW: Legends Of Valley Doom Part 2 – Marius Danielsen

Three years after part one came out, the long awaited sequel of Marius Danielsen‘s Legends Of Valley Doom has been released. While the first record was a decade in the making, the wait has been much shorter for Legends Of Valley Doom Part 2, picking straight back off where Marius left off.

The new record kicks off with King Thorgan’s Hymn, with an epilogue forming the intro telling the listener about King Thorgan, leading into a homage to him.  The monologue fades as a gentle drum beat and acoustic guitars blend together to transport you back to the middle ages. Marius’s vocals set the tone and are quite soft, with the track fitting in with the title of being what you’d expect to hear from a hymn.

For those who are expecting a fast paced power metal record, your wishes are granted in the second track Rise of the Dark Empire. The guitars are prominent right from the off to gradually build up the track, entwined with the backing vocals, then the drums of Ludvig Pedersen add the tempo and sure enough that classic symphonic power metal sound comes into play. The riffs are hard and fast, and Marius does well to change his vocal style from soft to epic power metal, and when it all comes together you have a real power metal anthem with all the ingredients – what more could you ask for?

Unlike a lot of records which either start with a heavy number or, in this case, a gentle opening track before throwing you straight into it and maintaining that sound and style for the majority of the record, there are a lot of changes in this record. The following two tracks from Rise of the Dark Empire revert back to the softer style we experienced at the beginning of the album, before going back again to a heavier metal and power metal sound, which makes it a bit hard to follow.

It’s only when you start to look at this record as a story though that you realise why the sound changes so much – it’s very rare these days you get many albums that tell a story from start to finish, and it is quite refreshing and shows how much hard work and thought has gone into the production of the album.

If you are mainly interested in the heavier power metal tracks that feature on the album there are plenty in abundance, but it is worth listening all the way through so you get to enjoy the tale of Legends of Valley Doom Part 2, and the ones that stick out in particular are Visions of the Night and By the Dragon’s Breath.

On the whole then it is a solid sequel, and those who listened to and enjoyed Marius Danielsen‘s Legends Of Valley Doom Part 1 will be very happy to have the second part to add to their collection. As a stand alone album it works well too, but it may be worth listening to both albums so you get a grasp of the storytelling aspect of the record from the very beginning.

Rating: 7/10

Legends Of Valley Doom is out now via Crime Records.

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