UMUR
"Legion of Torture" is the first demo recording by French death/thrash metal act Massacra. The demo was independently released in July 1987. Massacra formed in 1986 and released three demos before being signed for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Final Holocaust" (March 1990, Shark Records).
Stylistically Massacra play a very raw and brutal type of thrash metal which borders death metal, but considering the time of release, it´s not strange that the most extreme thrash metal releases from those days often feature elements which a few years down the line would be used by death metal artists. The riffs are crude, brutal, and raw thrash metal styled riffs and the same can be said about the drumming. The vocals are raw snarling/screaming rabid dog type vocals, and all 5 tracks on the 18:16 minutes long demo features this style with very few variations found during the playing time. This is very much in your face ripping brutal thrash metal (combine early Kreator with Possessed and you´re halfway there).
The sound production is raw and savage sounding, but perfect for this type of music, and considering the time of release, it´s certainly a decent quality demo production. All the raw energy and caustic aggression of the music is channelled perfected through these production values. Upon conclusion Massacra weren´t unique at what they were doing, as quite a few other contemporary artists played a similar style, but they deliver their music with the right amount of conviction and passion, and their songwriting is pretty decent and effectful too. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.