LEGION (Phil Vincent) – Nemesis (2012)
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The prolific songwriting partnership of guitarist Vince O’Regan and vocalist Phil Vincent return with their band LEGION’s third album “Nemesis”.
Believe it or not this is actually the third Legion album in less than a year and a half.
“Nemesis” may not be as immediate as the debut but is a lot fresher and adventurous than the follow up. It’s dark and aggressive with plenty of old school metal guitar riffs, many times putting me in mind British classic bands.
I do think this album takes a few spins to truly appreciate but as a body of work I think this is Vince and Phil’s most accomplished piece yet.
O’Regan seems to revel in these huge bombastic riffs, while Vincent vocals contributes to fit perfectly the dark nature of the band.
The instrumental opener “Nemesis” utilises O’Regans trademark guitar sound before kicking straight into “Seems Like Yesterday” which is a full force rocker with a big chunky guitar riff. It may not have an instant chorus but it does grow on you although the groove laden guitar is instant.
“Lay It On The Line” has ’80s metal riffage akin to Judas Priest and a powerful memorable chorus, one of the more instant songs here. Impactful and direct.
“Sea Of Sorrow” is an effective brooding hard rocker with a nice break, followed by the midtempo paced “Never Enough” which features a wonderfully atmospheric chorus. I love the driving guitar riff in fact I love the overall feel of this very dark song.
The ballad “Lost In Love” has a thick groove, listen out for some really cool intricate guitar licks on this track.
“Just Because” is driven by a huge bombastic guitar riff and the chorus is powerful and epic. Vocally this is one of Vincent’s standout performances.
There is more classic riffage on “Walk Through The Fire” which is a high energy hard rocker with a pounding back beat and a massive chorus.
“Make Some Noise” is a swaggering catchy hard rock blast, with Vincent sounding particularly strong and impressive, and contains a gripping main riff from O’Regan. The album closer “Obsession” is another good, dark brooding powerful track that reminds me some melodic ’80s US metal acts where the melody was the rule.
“Nemesis” offers a ballsy slab of hard driving rock, combining powerful riffs, thunderous beats and brooding vocals.
Legion is a band with a sound and style placed at the harder end of the Melodic Rock scale, with bite but still hugely melodic, bringing to mind many ’80s US acts (most noticeably Dokken) but they will also appeal to fans of the likes of Pretty Maids and the more edged MR bands.
Phil Vincent’s vocal style has grown, delivering a powerhouse performance throughout the recording, and O’Regan provides tons of big rocking George Lynch-like riffs with energy.
Legion have come up with a release that is strong from start to finish and even eclipses their solid previous recordings.
A Rockin’ Goodie.
01 – Nemesis
02 – Seems Like Yesterday
03 – Lay It On the Line
04 – Sea of Sorrow
05 – Never Enough
06 – Lost in Love
07 – Just Because
08 – Walk Through Fire
09 – Make Some Noise
10 – Obsession
Phil Vincent (vocals, guitar)
Vince O’Regan (guitar)
Gavin Cooper (bass)
Steve Hopgood (drums)
Irvin Parrot (keyboards)
BUY IT !
www.nehrecords.com/SHOP/LegionNemesis.htm
