If great hard rock / metal anthems are your thing, they are Legion and they have many.

I've lost count of how many times I've written about Legion singer Phil Vincent in these pages, the prolific jack of all trades who's released countless solo albums and multiple releases with band projects Tragik and Circular Logic. It seems his latest bands, D'ercole and Legion - the latter his collaboration with UK guitarist Vince O'Regan - are adopting the same workaholic traits with both releasing their second albums mere months after the debuts (D'ercole's 'Rock Scar' is also reviewed elsewhere in these pages). 

Whilst everything Vincent has been involved with has had definite Dokken influences in there somewhere, Legion have even more and are also the heaviest project of his career. The dense George Lynch-like riffs and arrangements from O'Regan are definitely more 'Tooth And Nail' than 'In My Dreams', the heavy hard rocking guitars of songs like opener 'Steal The Show', 'Long Way Down' and 'Hard Times' taking them more in a metal direction than the melodic hard rock you would expect. However, Vincent's trademark vocal melodies are all over the choruses, giving most of the songs more melodic parts than the heavier verses. That's not to say there isn't any variation, the stop-start riffs and Dokken-esque chorus of 'Riding In The Wind' is another highlight, as are the classy power ballad 'Love Ain't The Same' and the highly commercial 'Take Your Time', which is probably the catchiest tune here.

There are other highlights in the excellent rockers 'Down In Flames' and 'All Is Forgiven' but O'Regan and Vincent, aided by (just guessing here as I haven't been given any information!) bassist Gavin Cooper and drummer Steve Hopgood, have come up with a release that's strong from start to finish and even eclipses their well-crafted debut.

With a record deal for five albums it'll be interesting to see if this project will morph fully into a proper band, but on the evidence of 'Code Of Honour' and their impending appearance at Z-Rock 2011, it looks to be well on the way. If great hard rock/metal anthems are your thing, they are Legion and they have many.

Phil Ashcroft