As a teenager, nothing got me more excited than some good Black Metal, the darker, the more sinister and the more underground, the better. As the years went by however, the genre became saturated with at best, copycats, at worst, utter bullshit, so as you may have already noticed, I'm always apprehensive when I am entrusted with a Black Metal album, This one is interesting, it is actually a re-release of KOMMANDANTs 2008 debut. Now I must admit, this is the first time I've got a chance to hear the quartet from Chicago, Illinois, but I am rather optimistic, especially considering that this is a rerelease, which usually means there was something worth rereleasing.

We open with "Shiltron" which is the intro to the album, the intro however is a bit disappointing, because while it creates anticipation, the war drums and guitars are repetitive and at close to 2 and a half minutes overly prolonged, the intro leads directly into the title track, "Stormlegion" is a very high intensity opener leaving you without any doubt of what's to come, and if the opener was hard hitting, "Black Harvest" is a face smasher. This album certainly pulls no punches when it comes to speed and brutality, "Siege Engine" for example is a punk infused piece of utter viciousness, but despite its brutality, the album is very listenable as well, the riffing is excellent and it's easy to find the melody hiding within the chaos.

KOMMANDANT created a relentless album, not a single song crosses the 5 minute mark, as a matter of fact, and only one track crosses the 4 minute mark. Indeed, you won't find and melodic tracks or power ballads here, this album is for those who wish to have their heads bashed in with a songs that are fast, furious, brutal, short and to the point, An excellent album for any fan of the genre, especially considering that the band decided to forgo the crappy production values of some of their counterparts and create a well written, well played and great sounding album.