LEATHURBITCH
LEATHÜRBITCH “Shattered Vanity”
By Dr. Abner Mality
This band from Portland has quietly become one of the best exponents of traditional American metal around. They caught my attention back in 2018 with their “Into the Night” debut but kind of dropped out of sight in the ensuing years. Until “Shattered Vanity” again popped up in my listening queue. Despite a Spinal Tap style cover that would have been quaint even back in ‘86, this continues their excellent assault of classic American power metal.
LEATHÜRBITCH favors an image that brings classic hair metal and the Sunset Strip to mind, but once you actually listen to them, their sound is much closer to bands like JAG PANZER, OBSESSION and SAVAGE GRACE. Fast and classy, with plenty screaming leads and a sound with roots in PRIEST and MAIDEN but jacked up with an extra layer of speed and intensity. And those vocals! You just don’t hear a voice like this anymore! Joel Starr has a clear, almost operatic voice with a ton of drama...his falsettos are piercing but never reach the point of parody. Starr’s screams give LEATHÜRBITCH an extra level of “oomph”.
Most of the band’s material is in that nebulous speed metal/power metal zone and contains rippers like “Graveyard Eyes” (my pick for album’s best), “The Dark Mirror” and the title track. But whiffs of that sleaze metal style like early CRUE and RATT pop up, too...”Nasty Reputation” fits that description and it really rocks. The album stings all the way through and is a kind of refreshing take on the whole NWOTHM thing. The bondage chick on the cover is hot, but don’t judge LEATHÜRBITCH solely on that image, because this is American speed/power metal to the max!