(The living legend himself, Andy Synn, has thoughts about the epic new album from Vanum)
There’s this idea, prevalent among a lot of Metal fans (hell, among music fans in general, let’s be honest) that every band’s newest album has to be better than the one before, otherwise it’s considered a failure.
And I know what you’re thinking… of course it should be better. That’s just the way things should work. Only, no-one ever seems to want to take a moment to stop and think about what exactly “better” means.
Does it mean heavier? Faster? More technical? Does it mean more melodic? More popular? More accessible?
We always say that music isn’t meant to be a competition – but when we do so we’re usually talking about competition between bands, not about bands competing against themselves.
But the older (and, ahem, “wiser”) I get, the more I realise that the point of any album, any piece of art, is not to be “better” than the one which came before it, but to best represent the artist themselves, who they are and what they are trying to say (in whatever medium) at this precise point in their lives.
So when I say that Legend isn’t a “better” album than 2019’s Ageless Fire, I’m also not saying that it’s “worse”. It is, simply put, a perfect companion piece to it’s career-defining predecessor – one which showcases a more morose and melancholy side of the band – and a more than worthy addition to the group’s legacy.
