Review by Aiden
"Tales of the Newly Bereaved" is the debut from the UK's Undying Legacy. "Elegy Of The Romantic Cadaver" and the popular "Call For Silence" are nothing less than classic deathrock. "The Final Hour of Mystery" continues in the same, er, vein... with mesmerizing vocals and percussion that defies you to keep still. "Lady Winter’s Untimely Demise" has keyboards that provide a perfect counterpoint. Picking up the pace is "The Strange Case Of The Girl In A Cupboard" with a staccato percussion followed by one of my favorites, "Not Everything is As it Seems", which strongly reminds me of Rozz's Christian Death. The driving "Beloved Friend" follows, with a very cool bass line. I simply love "Chants For The Fallen"! Why this isn't a club favorite is beyond me.... The mood changes with the sombre and evocative "Destroyed Disillusionment". The stark, futuristic entro of "Beneath the Skin" breaks out into an almost martial anthem. The wonderfully dark "Dance Of The Dead" leads the listener into crypts beneath brooding graveyards. "Sombre Joys" has a poetic feel with vocals that soar into the distance, brought back by the steady percussion and bass, with fabulous guitar riffs. The moody "This Feeling" is followed by two very danceable songs, "Tragic" and the bass-driven "A Beautiful Savage". "Requiem" is as good as its name, a fitting end to an exceptional CD! I was fortunate enough to see Undying Legacy at the Drop Dead festival in 2004, which was their first performance in the US. The band has a new lineup with new material in the works. We look forward to it!

~review by Mick Mercer
Not many bands have someone in a song telling an admirer, “you see more than just slippery entrails,” so at least we know we’re on pretentious territory. Our singer sounds like a wilting, vinegary, quivering vampire soul, and that could all spell utter, face-reddening disaster, but…no! Seriously, they pull this off. Yes, they are thigh-deep in Goth-Noir-Horror kitsch clichés, in terms of the basic construct, but what they do in these songs – the important part - with a simpler booming bass and clattering percussion, squiggly thin guitar and unexpected twists or sudden dead stops, makes for a very nice change.
After the ‘Elegy Of The Romantic Cadaver’, ‘Call For Silence’ swaggers along with jutting shoulders and you’d could easily place them in the same territory at Sex Gang at their wriggliest. There is a warped passion at the heart of this, and despite having an awkward vocal presence it doesn’t piss you off because musically they have enough fluidity and warm depths to make this a burning whole, and you get used to his voice as the songs are strong. ‘The Final Hour Of Mystery’ even uncoils with a bright chorus.
Usually quite sumptuous, there is a chalky feel to ‘Lady Winter’s Untimely Demise’ which waltzes past murderously, and while the words aren’t as striking as I expected there’s some wonderfully wiry guitar and chiming keyboards, and they tumble into ‘The Strange Case Of The Girl In A Cupboard’, which is probably where the fans go mad live. The rhythm closes in and the mood is more claustrophobic in ‘Not Everything Is As It Seems’, and there’s a sense that anything could happen. ‘Beloved Friend’ could have done with a harsher production because this is a seriously lively bastard, but it still sweeps into your ears like boiling blood with hectoring vocals and the bass bulging while the guitar froths in the background, and ‘Chants For The Fallen’ is on the cute side of weird before chirping seductively.
‘Destroyed Disillusionment’ has quite a grand opening, but a muted feel and starker vocals, so that the moods keep shifting and adding to the overall charm, eve if that one doesn’t strike you so hard. ‘Beneath The Skin’ is almost am ambient exercise, until it shakes itself in a plain awakening, with great guitar presence. ‘Dance Of The Dead’ is a beautiful number and verges on the macabre Sex Gang/Brel feel except for a much tougher guitar undertow. ‘Sombre Joys’ is almost sweet and coy, with a simple thudding bass and light keyboard sparkle, and mad noises burrowing through its perfumed belly. The vocals get quite mad and sound wonderfully convincing nd compelling, so I think we can expect even greater things from this man in the future. Stately in a light rock sense, that song is very strange, despite seeming utterly conventional.
‘This Feeling’ is a somewhat groany distraction, ‘Tragic’ is cool, flash and twitching rock, ‘A Beautiful Savage’ is something of a mess on my CD, as it seems to be skipping and sliding unintentionally , then ‘Requiem’ glides out like a chilly bastion, as though the opening track has got a special ending for us. It actually hasn’t but not only is returning a clever idea, in topping and tailing such a stylish album, but it also reminds you instantly just how good this song is by itself, but also how strongly the character has permeated all of these songs, and rammed itself stage centre into your head.
Look beyond the image, if that’s the sort of thing to raise hackles and trust me, this is an exquisite album.