Just in time for the release of their highly anticipated upcoming album, “The Poison Chalice”, Dutch death thrashers Legion of the Damned unleash their third brutally infectious single, “Contamination”, together with a hauntingly oppressive official music video, produced by frontman Maurice Swinkels himself! The new full-length, “The Poison Chalice”, drops tomorrow, June 9th, 2023 via Napalm Records.
“Contamination” takes no prisoners – the track attacks mercilessly and kills everything in its path. With this release, the band once again proves that they are at the top of the scene. As shown during the live premiere of the song at Rock Hard festival, fans can look forward to their furious sets at the biggest metal festivals this summer, such as Wacken, Summer Breeze and Graspop.
Legion of the Damned on “Contamination”:
“Contamination deals with the appearance of a new plague, a manifestation of one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. A rapidly spreading, horribly lethal disease causes dilemmas and ruthless restrictions. Mass death occurs and societies collapse, deprived from their commodities. The title for this song was already floating around for previous albums, but never made it, so it was not directly inspired by the Corona pandemic. It is fair to assume more and perhaps more gruesome plagues will come and cause havoc on mankind. Remember the mass death during the ages of the black plague.”
Founded in 1990 as Occult, the thrash machine around founding members Maurice Swinkels and Erik Fleuren was reborn as Legion of the Damned in 2005. Conquering the European charts for decades, the LEGION crowned itself at #17 in the Official German Album Charts with predecessor Slaves Of The Shadow Realms (2019). For almost 35 years, they have formed their aggressive signature sound from the most horrific ingredients of thrash and death metal, combined with brutal blackened influences, resulting in one of the most defined and unique sounds in the scene. On The Poison Chalice, the band unites with Fabian Verweij as second guitarist beside Twan van Geel, and conquers hell together with bassist Harold Gielen.
photo credit: Stefan Heilemann
