Legend - The Dark Place

This is not the progressive rock band of the same name, nor the American version, but rather a British band that have been doing this for quite some time now. When I put this on the player I was rather surprised to hear good old NWOBHM, a genre I am particularly fond of as I was 16 back in 1979 when this started to really kick off and is a genre that I spent a lot of time investigating. But, it was only when looking further into this band that I realized that they’re not just recreating the sounds of that time, but are survivors of that period themselves. I have scoured my collection and don’t appear to have any of their music, but according to ‘The International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal’ from 1983 (which has a wonderful picture of Mick Box on the cover), it says “Since releasing their first album in 1981 Legend have gone from strength to strength. Their work mixes nice harmonious guitar with some savage metal”. And in 30 odd years nothing has really changed. Singer Mick Leszala and guitarist Pete Haworth has picked up some additional bandmates over the intervening period, but what we have here is classic NWOBHM with some elements of Witchfynde, Witchfinder General, Def Leppard and White Spirit. I don’t know why they aren’t as well known as many of their contemporaries, but this is an album that made me smile and had me nodding along with the songs. Not exactly essential, but a fun experience all the same.