It was December of 1990, and Thrash Metal was still king. Grunge hadn't gotten the traction it would soon receive, which would essentially push thrash out for the rest of the decade; yet it couldn't kill the genre. MEGADETH's "Rust in Peace" had come out that September, which I still feel is the benchmark that all thrash bands should be trying to beat, and SLAYER's "Seasons in the Abyss" had been decimating eardrums since that July. But December saw the release of "Mind Training" by Barcelona based thrashers, LEGION, which is now being re-issued by Dark Rails Records.

The original pressings of this now thirty-two-year-old record contained nine tracks of thrashing goodness, but this new version includes 4 extra songs, with each of them having Spanish titles, and all appeared on the live "Por La Cara" ep. Honestly, they could have stuck to the original 9, and it would have been better; these live tunes just don't have the strength that the rest of the "Mind Training" album possesses.

We are going to begin with the one cover song on this album, which is a Thrashed-out version of the QUEEN classic, "We Will Rock You".

I really enjoy it when bands will do a cover track that is outside of their chosen genre, and while "We Will Rock You" is a Rock and Roll track, it is most certainly not thrash. LEGION was able to riff it up, heavy it up, and overall they created a very nice version of this well-known song.

The opening track is called "Long Hair," and has a distinct TESTAMENT feel in the vocals and guitar riffs/tone, but the drums have more of a SLAYER influence to them that drives the energy to a higher level. The guitar solos are pure, blinding speed technical flairs that are incredible.

"Life Means This" is the next in line and brings the intensity up even further. This is classic era thrash metal in every way possible, from the production to the songwriting to the approach used on the vocals, plus those leads are spectacular once again.

"Circus of Fear" begins with a tom heavy drum intro before a galloping riff slides into place, and I have to say that this is the best intro on the album. That riff picks up speed as things proceed forward, and the verses and other sections are less speed oriented, but no less thrashy.

The original tracks close out with the excellent track called, "Shit in Your Veins". This, in my opinion, is more SLAYER influenced in parts, but still quite reminiscent of early TESTAMENT, which is one of the best of the Bay Area thrash bands. As with all the other tracks, I love the lead guitar playing, which is so old school, and so ahead of its time too. This closed out the original album perfectly, and I wish this reissue would have stopped there as well.

The internet has made it easier for music fans to find out about bands that we maybe wouldn't have heard 30 years ago, and LEGION is a perfect example of that for me. In 1990 I had no clue that this band even existed, let alone hearing their music, and the interwebs introduced me to them, and other bands such as MACABRE, SLEEP, PENTAGRAM, and many more. Now that I know about LEGION, I'd suggest that you should all check them out. "Mind Training" is an excellent example of what Thrash Metal was, and where it was going in Spain at the time. So, follow the link below, and give yourself whiplash headbanging to it. Enjoy!!!!