DEE SNIDER “Leave A Scar”

By Dr. Abner Mality

Mr. Snider is back to prove his last solo record “For The Love of Metal” was no fluke. That album took a lot of folks, including yours truly, by surprise with its robust heaviness and more modern approach to metal. “Leave A Scar” proves to be a sturdy followup, hitting many of the same notes and delivering a similar product.

One thing that dominates right from the start is how strong Dee’s singing is. This is as it should be, but the guy has never sounded better, even in his TWISTED SISTER days, and is arguably even stronger than on the last album. His vocals take more average songs like “Open Season” and “In For The Kill” and elevate them up a notch. On truly excellent songs like “Silent Battles” and “The Reckoning”, they reach a really high level of perfection. “Silent Battles”, in particular, is just an outstanding track, in terms of lyrics and emotion as well as metal prowess.

The heavy crunch of the last album is back again and cements the metallic pedigree of “Leave A Scar”. Dee’s surrounded himself with some top notch players here. Speaking of which, check out the grim growls of one Mr. George Fischer, also known as “Corpsegrinder”, on “Time to Choose”...the song is not death metal, but his grunts perfectly compliment Dee’s tones. Even on the album ending ballad “Stand”, there’s an extra bit of emotion from Dee’s singing that propels the tune.

So yes sir, “For the Love of Metal” was not a one and done deal. Looks like Dee’s got a whole new gig going down.

NAPALM RECORDS

DEE SNIDER