Anvil

Legal at Last

BY Jack KelleherPublished Feb 17, 2020

6
Legal at Last is the latest album from longtime Toronto heshers Anvil. Formed in 1978, the band had a significant, if not understated, influence on speed metal and the burgeoning thrash metal scene.
 
Their new album is swimming in the same primordial soup of metal that Anvil helped stir back in the day. Legal at Last features cuts of speed metal, hard rock and Sabbathian proto-doom with a keen European edge similar to Accept and classic Scorpions. The two preeminent bangers of this album demonstrate Anvil's range of metal. "Plastic in Paradise" is a deliberate and infectious anthem, while "Food for the Vulture" is an unbridled assault of speed and early thrash.
 
However, while Legal at Last has good variety between songs, it gets bogged down by repetition. Most verses are variations on the chorus riff, and there's a lack of bridge sections to keep things interesting. Songs feel undeveloped and by the end have overstayed their welcome. It compares unfavourably to Judas Priest's Firepower, which wowed listeners in 2018 and earned its place in the band's discography.
 
Legal at Last will please fans, but its lack of ideas will cause it to flounder in Anvil's career.
(AFM)

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