LEGACY – Legacy

“Ever since I killed the old man and put my demons in the ground …” Just by their lyrics alone, Legacy isn’t your average hard rock band. You won’t get any songs about porking underage girls, boozing with their best friends, or the completely insane practice over-30 rockers indulge in by writing about their tough “high school days.” Legacy has a palpable dark underbelly, and from start to finish, you know that they believe in every note they play and every word they sing.

You can pick your poison on this CD. The song “Underdog,” is a great place to start, though. The song is about the futility of the downhill slide, or, as they put it, “it’s like rolling your dice in the mud, racing a horse in a wheelchair, or giving your money to God.” The entire song has a well-thought out sentiment, but this isn’t a sentimental song. It rips, it’s angry and it’s real. Think Brother Cane with a case of Henry Rollins fury.

Although the musicianship on this CD is potent and skilled, the vocalist Chris Roseberry is the bands most lethal instrument. He has tremendous range, a very bluesy voice, and the ability to throw real anger and pain into his delivery. Take for instance, the slower song “Autumn Rising.” When he wails the line, “Lay me down, in your heart forever, and I’ll stand my ground …” you will feel a real earnestness here, and although Oscar Wilde may not agree, it works.

The whole CD revolves around song five, “Mission of Mercy.” (You’ll hear a TNT “10,000 Lovers” riff at the beginning of the tune, on purpose or not.) This song has the best chorus, best guitar playing and best song structure on the entire CD, which is saying a lot. The vocals work perfectly with the music, with the lyrics, and the grinding pace of the tune. “I’m going back down south, I’m on a mission of mercy!” Wow. You have to check this song out, and again, you will feel a tinge of Brother Cane here.

The song that follows it is almost as good, called “Leave It Alone.” This starts off as a mid-paced rock song, and the beginning of this review is taken from this one. Again, it’s a blue-based rock song that gets mean at the chorus, a formula you’ll find throughout the CD that works every time. One of the most intelligently written lines are in this song as well: “’Cause I’ve seen myself in so many people, who’s lives are such a long and lonely walk … so I just want to run.” Good stuff. The song kind of fades away into an instrumental, and guitarist Jonas Hansson impresses.

There are a few instrumentals here, “2.4.1,” “Astral Sundown” and “Thank You.” Obviously, they want to be taken seriously as musicians, but their strength is honestly with lyrics and Rosenberry singing, so besides “2.4.1,” the others may be heard as filler.

“My Last Sunrise,” is a the last song with vocals on the CD, a brother of Sting’s “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” since they are both about vampires, at least with lyrics like “I’m not gonna die just yet … I’ll never get older … love fear in the victim’s eye.” Yeah, vampires. Like all good vampire stories, this has sexual under- and overtones to it.

Legacy is just a damn good band.