Check this out,if you are passionate about those classic Scorpions and Dokken albums.
Known among many, principal songwriters for Legion continue to be Wolverhampton based guitarist Vince O’Regan (Bob Catley / Eden / Pulse) and American vocalist Phil Vincent (Solo / D’Ercole). Joining them to fill the band for this chapter, entitled ‘Nemesis’ are Dianno rhythm section Gavin Cooper (Lionsheart) on bass and Steve Hopgood (Jagged Edge) on drums. Despite the revolving lineup, the quartet is celebrating their third album in four years with ‘Nemesis.’ Legion made waves in the Melodic Rock scene back in 2009 with their self-titled debut and sophomore effort in 2010 with ‘Code Of Honour.’ 2012 confirms that the band is still going strong with not only a new album (and renewed contract with Z Records) but an appearance at this year’s Z Rock festival.
Their third release in four years, ‘Nemesis’ is teeming with '80's rock attitude comprising elements from bands like Scorpions, Dokken and Lynch Mob. Unless both the music style and recording techniques were a conscious effort to pay homage to those glory days of yore, the production is altogether unappealing and negatively impacts the songs. As compared with the depth and clarity of recent albums from Giant ('Promise Land'), Work Of Art ('In Progress') and Toby Hitchcock ('Mercury's Down'), the album does not sound much better than a collection of demos. The drums lack depth, the guitar and vocals are muddy and the overall sound is flat. Furthermore, there are crackles of distortion throughout the album which further distracts you from the musical content (I even received CD quality files with 16bit, 44.1kHz resolution).
'Lay It On The Line' features a lively, Jake E Lee 'Bark At The Moon' style rhythm. Lynch Mob's classic tune, 'Wicked Sensation.' comes immediately to mind with the riff from 'Just Because.' 'Sea of Sorrow' possesses a great hook and memorable riff and could easily be found on classic records like 'Under Lock And Key' (Dokken) or 'Savage Amusement' (Scorpions). The guitar prowess is strong but suffers a bit from originality due to the overwhelming similarity to George Lynch. Although 'Never Enough' is a well composed, mid-tempo rocker, its lacklustre production impedes its impact.
Production aside, the album fits the style but ultimately fails to separate itself with other genre-defining bands of the past. However, if you are passionate about those classic Scorpions and Dokken albums, you have to check this out, as Legion offers you ten songs that will take you back to the gilded age of Hard Rock defined back in the 1980's.
Brent Rusche
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