Hailing out of Southern California LEGENDS NEVER DIE has released their debut album "To Purge An Empire." This album is a collaboration between Dustin Dauterman and LIGHT UP THE SKY and dives to the depth of depression and despair. This raw emotion creates an aggressive and dark sound that drags the listener to the depths of their pain. The sounds are raw, unrefined and at times vicious.

Diving into "To Purge An Empire" we are met with a dark melodic symphonic track with "Intro." This track puts the listener in the dark depths from the get go, setting up the foundation for the album. The track then breaks away from this into insane djenty guitar riffs to give the listener a taste of what the rest of the album holds. The vocals in this song are dueling high and low gutturals giving the track an interesting sound. "The Red In Their Eyes" is an explosive ride full of heavy guitar riffs. The vocals have predominantly high gutturals and screams but the lows do make an appearance later on in the song and dueling towards the middle of the track. The end of the track provides a brighter guitar melody giving the track an almost redemption quality from the darkness that is heard at the onset. "Killing Me" offers a different sound. The guitars have deeper, fuller tones while holding on to the Djent sound. The vocals take turns passing by each other before meeting up at points to create that dual toned vocal track. The lyrics in this track can be repetitive at times and slightly make the track a bit predictable but the guitar work remains solid through the track. "Broken Crown" uses an audio clip element of a distorted radio at the beginning of the song providing an interesting variety of elemental infusion. The track is heavy at times and bright at others, ebbing and flowing between tones. The vocals also have this quality as well, making the listener feel like they are in the middle of a chaotic ocean with tumultuous waves.

"Empire" adds to the constant build of layers in this album. The beginning of the track has an electronic element that runs through the song. This is my favorite track, and for me, it is well constructed, having many elements that make it very intriguing and unpredictable. The guitar work shines here again and that added electronic element brings an interesting variety to the album. "Through The Garden" rounds out the album with a meaty bass riff at the beginning of the track. Throughout the album, we have experienced the anger, sadness, and now denial of the stages of grief. The track continues on this path to acceptance of loss, something that is felt deep in this track. It's a good way to end the album.

To produce an album that is so raw and full of emotion is no easy task. To make it the first album is not only commendable, but extremely respectable. "To Purge An Empire" has a lot of good qualities throughout the entirety. For me the raw emotion makes this album so enjoyable. To be able to connect with the emotions that are presented in this album and how they are portrayed is very well done. This album gripped me a deep level and there are a lot of us that will connect with this music. So good job to LEGENDS NEVER DIE for producing such a real and emotional album!