Doom supergroup Legions Of Doom will be issuing their full-length debut, “The Skull 3” on September 13th through Tee Pee Records. The outing consists of material originally penned for what would have been The Skull‘s third studio album.
The untimely 2021 passing of that band’s vocalist Eric Wagner to a COVID-19-related pneumonia put an end to those plans, with the songs and Wagner‘s lyrics having since been repurposed by his The Skull (and Trouble bandmates), Lothar Keller and Ron Holzner. The aforementioned duo received the blessing of Wagner‘s family to complete this record.
To that end, they welcomed drummer Henry Vasquez (Saint Vitus, Pentagram, etc.), guitarist Scott Little (Leadfoot), and the vocal talents of Karl Agell (Leadfoot, ex-Corrosion Of Conformity, etc.) and Scott Reagers (ex-Saint Vitus). Sessions took place under Sanford Parker at Electrical Audio and Hyper Cube Studios, with Quentin Poynter mixing.
Holzner commented:
“Eric had a file on his computer labeled ‘New Skull Record’ with his lyrics allotted to these songs. I was lucky that his family was able to access the computer and share the files with me. There were extra lyrics and verses that I used to finish the songs. I wrote most of the lyrics to ‘Lost Soul,’ but I’m so happy that Eric’s family was able to access the computer and pass along the lyrics to me.”
He later added:
“Lothar and I wrote eighty percent of the record with Eric prior to him passing away. Karl, Henry and especially Scott Reagers wanted to finish it. Scott really didn’t want The Skull to end and insisted that we continue as The Skull as well as doing Legions Of Doom.
LOD will be the main focus from here out and The Skull will play once in a while. Lo and I finished the record with a collaboration with David Snyder (Trouble, Blackfinger) on the song, [and first single], ‘All Good Things’ and wrote the newest song ‘Lost Soul’ with Henry.
We also reworked Eric’s acoustic song ‘Heaven’ to go with his recorded vocals. The cover art was done by the legendary David V. D’Andrea (Samaritan Press). I told him I wanted something to represent moving on from The Skull and being reborn in Legions Of Doom…”
A stream of the track “All Good Things” from the outing has seen a release and will also be part of a limited-edition EP due out on August 23rd. That outing will be backed by a cover of Deep Purple‘s “Into The Fire“. Agell said of this track:
“‘All Good Things‘ holds great significance. It’s the first true Legions Of Doom song. I was granted the great honor of singing Eric Wagner‘s beautiful words which telegraph hope and redemption in the midst of pain and despair. It became a sort of collaboration beyond the grave, signaling a rebirth. ‘And so dear friends, you have to carry on. All good things come to those who wait.’”
“The Skull 3” track listing:
01 – “Beyond The Shadow Of Doubt”
02 – “All Good Things”
03 – “Lost Soul”
04 – “A Voice Of Reason”
05 – “Between Darkness And Dawn”
06 – “Insectiside”
07 – “Heaven”
08 – “Hallow By All Means”
For pre-orders for both the album and EP, head to linktr.ee/LegionsOfDoom.
09/12 Brooklyn, NY – Desertfest NYC pre-arty
09/13 Braintree, MA – Widowmaker Brewing
09/14 Raleigh, NC – Chapel Of Bones
09/20 Austin, TX- Ripplefest
