Legion Of The Damned

Emerging from Limburg in the Netherlands, the death/thrash quartet Legion of the Damned came together during the opening years of the twenty-first century. They rapidly secured support and touring opportunities alongside established acts including Cannibal Corpse, Kataklysm, and Sodom. The lineup featured vocalist Maurice Swinkels, guitarist Richard Ebisch, bassist Twan Fleuren, and drummer Erik Fleuren. After issuing five albums under the black metal-tinted banner Occult, the musicians adopted the Legion of the Damned name soon after Occult’s concluding release in 2003. Their debut full-length, Malevolent Rapture, appeared in 2006 via Massacre Records, after which bassist Harold Gielen (Inhume, Disgorge) entered the fold. A string of live dates and festival slots followed, among them an appearance at Wacken. Only a year later the group delivered its sophomore effort, Sons of the Jackal, which reached stores in early 2007. Touring commitments in support of that record paired the band with Celtic Frost and Kreator. The third album, Feel the Blade, surfaced in 2008 under a new co-release arrangement between Massacre and Nuclear Blast; the set in fact re-presented Occult’s final album, Elegy for the Weak. Cult of the Dead in 2009 and Descent Into Chaos in 2011 completed the Massacre contract. That same year proved difficult: guitarist Ebisch departed and was succeeded by Twan van Geel, while former bassist Twan Fleuren took his own life. In 2014 the group moved to Napalm Records, issuing its sixth studio album Ravenous Plague; five years afterward, Slaves of the Shadow Realm arrived in 2019.