Ligion Preview
Ligion
Austin’s, Libertyville
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Pearl Room, Mokena
Friday, February 16, 2007
Hard rock band H.I.M. sell records and concert tickets, but the real proof the Finnish group have “made it” is probably the fact they’ve spawned clones . . . Ligion, for example.
The sheer wimp-factor of H.I.M.’s “love metal” isn’t necessarily what is so bothersome about the band: Everything categorized as “heavy” doesn’t need to be Slayer. The problem is the resounding blandness of the group. Neutered *and* boring is a bad combination in this genre. That said, it should be surprising any band would want to imitate something so run-of-the-mill, but have you listened to the radio lately? Ligion aren’t complete sound-alikes on External Affairs, but the line is pretty narrow.
Every track among the 11 on this Maple Jam Records release is carefully crafted with modern rock radio in mind, which, depending on your opinion, can be good or bad. A few songs in particular — “Carry Me,” “Get Over Me,” “Lost My Car” — undoubtedly have the potential to be genuine hits and are likely crowd favorites when the Cleveland-born, Nashville-bred quintet play live. Too often, though, Ligion rely on rehashed hooks, blown-up choruses, and frontman Lig’s pouty vocals to carry their songs. To their credit they’re a far catchier act than H.I.M., now they just need to work on being more interesting.
Ligion open for Saliva; Crossfade also play.
— Trevor Fisher
Click here for streaming samples of External Affairs.
Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly
I don’t know if I was listening to my imaginary radio at the Pearl Room, but I was at that show, Ligion kicked Saliva and Crossfade’s ass. For an openign act I thought they were great, I even bought their CD and have been listening to it ever since. Maybe you should give it another listen, it is a great CD, especially today, in the era of slick, overproduced, so-called rock bands.