German band In Legend tries to challenge the traditional concepts of metal with their piano based sound on their debut album ‘Ballads ‘N’ Bullets’. Devoid of guitars, the piano drives the melody accompanied by heavy drums and bass.

‘A Hanging Matter’, one of the highlights on the album,  begins with a piano intro that sounds like the notes from a fairy tale where someone is tip toeing around on grass before entering  a dark dangerous forest.  The lyrics tell a similar story of a stranger coming to town, refusing to conform and have to face his defiant doom as a result.  The piano and vocals come together to tell the story in a compelling way.

‘Healer (incl. Remedy)’ is one of the tracks that make the most out of the piano. The outro has a classic rhythmic feel to it and rounds off the song so well that you almost wait for the moment when the outro kicks in throughout the song.

The choice of leaving guitars behind sometimes fails to give a track the metal anthem feel it aims to achieve.  Starting off with a cheering crowd and lyrics saying “we want you all to mosh with us”, ‘Vortex’ is meant to be a rowdy live song. Without the extra force a guitar could bring, ‘Vortex’ is not the wild song it could have been.

On its best, the piano riffs on ‘Ballads ‘N’ Bullets’ successfully draws the listener into a different experience of metal. However, the similar structure of almost every song makes it at times a monotonous listen lacking the raging power needed.