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██▌ Artist...: Leader ░▐██▌
░▐██ Album....: Out in the Wasteland ░██▌░
▓▐██ Year.....: 2021 ▓▐██▓
▓▐██ Rel.Date.: 2021-05-03 ░▐██▓
▐██ Genre....: Heavy Metal ██▌░
░ ██▌ Label....: Top Hole Records ██▌
▐██ Source...: CD ▐██
░▐██▌ Type.....: Reissue ▐██▌░
▓▄████ Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo ████▌░
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1. The Hunters 4:34
2. Fire 2:59
3. Eye of Tomorrow 3:02
4. Wastelands 3:55
5. Out of Control 3:29
6. Killer 3:38
7. Ride on the Wind 3:22
8. Wings of Steel 3:38
9. Neckbreaker 2:39
10. Shoot to Kill 2:58
------
34:14
The Netherlands, the forgotten place in the 80's metal scene brought
many, but unknown great bands, unfortunately. Bands like Defender,
Asgard, Mysto Dysto/Mandator or Martyr all got more or less the same
treatment ... And Leader were not an exception, which is a very sad
thing. This band we have right there, was without a doubt the best Dutch
speed metal band of the 80's decade, in my honest opinion. I mean, look
at this cover art, it's so good looking and attracting! The warrior by
the hills preparing to fight an army ... I began to listen to Leader way
too late in my life, and this is maybe a year ago? I didn't expect these
guys to be that good, and honestly, they really are. I will say it right
now before entering more into the album details ... I hate absolutely
nothing about this whole record, it is one of my favorite speed metal
album of all time as I write this review.
After releasing few demos, the sole and unique full-length album of
Leader titled "Out in the Wasteland" was released back in 1988. Back
when power metal began to be a thing, with the Helloween's Keepers
albums, and that thrash and speed metal was at its nearly end of
evolution. After releasing this album, the band disappeared without
leaving any trace... But a recent cool thing is the reissue of the album
released on past June 2017. What we have here is an album of incredible
variety on it, even if I say it's speed metal, it's not just
straightforward speed metal, it contains a lot of power and heavy metal
elements and also from the NWOBHM. Within its 10 songs, the album last
for about 34 minutes with tracks averaging the 3 minutes of running
time, which is quite short, I know. Few years back, I was not even
looking at albums like this, because I thought it would be a dull
record. Well, I was a lazy ignorant kid, that's for sure.
This album kick-off in a pretty fast mood, with the song "The Hunters",
in which the first minute of it is just pure speed metal aggression.
Then the song just switch into a heavy metal riff, and here, just note
how impressive the vocals of Keith Ellis (R.I.P.) are, the high-pitched
screams are incredible! The following tracks, "Fire" and "Eye of
Tommorow" are a great mix of power and speed metal, featuring melodic
and fast riffs. Interesting track we have here after is the song named
after the album title: "Wastelands". It's the longest track on the
record, even with its less than 4 minutes of length. With the other song
called "Wings of Steel", they are easily the most catchy songs of the
whole album. The choruses with melodic riffs and vocals are amazing,
this is where you can see the talent of the guitar duo of Richard de
Jonge (R.I.P.) and Oscar Carre. Well, despite its short length, the
instrumental "Neckbreaker" is also a great track to focus on those
guitars work.
As you will probably notice, the dominant aspects of this album is the
intense vocals and the proficient guitar duo. A great example is on "Out
of Control", while the song is mainly fast-paced riffing, the solos are
the most noticeable aspect on it, mixed with the vocals screams, it just
makes a perfect fit. However, the other instruments are also played
flawlessly, the drums doesn't sound that loud on the mix, compared to
other albums of the same genre, but the bass is excellent though, easily
heard and add great elements to the tracks. In fact, this record possess
a pretty unique sound that I didn't heard elsewhere. Some people may
think that the production is crappy, but overall, it just feels so good
in my ears, you basically just need to like 80s power and speed metal to
really appreciate this one. While no lyrics has been published on this
record, the subjects tend to be based on war, fights, violence and
murders. Nothing really special there, but what do you expect from a
power/speed metal band?
So, I really have nothing wrong to say about this album in general. All
the 10 tracks on it stands out in its own way, theres always something
special on them, even if the musical approach varies from track to
track. I definitely recommend this album to every people that like the
old school stuff from the 80s. As soon as you dig this album, you will
see how fantastic it is.
---
I'm pretty sure I stated it in my review for Defender's City ad Mortis,
but it needs to be said once again: the 80's Dutch metal scene that
seems to somehow get overlooked, had some phenomenal talent. Many of
these bands from Martyr to Picture, Proud Existance to Elise, Exises to
Defender and so forth, could not simply be classified under a single
genre. All of these bands seemed like they were truly reaching for
something out of the ordinary and unique, incorporating elements from
thrash to NWOBHM to just about everything, they were very original.
Everything describing this scene easily applies to Leader and this
amazing release.
Every member is easily above par. The unique vocals are definitely a
highlight. Keith Ellis, whom is now currently active with the band Mydra
(and it seems as if he hasn't aged at all!) sounds like a cross between
ex-Scanner vocalist S.L. Coe mixed in with Attack's Ricky Van Helden.
While Ellis sounds pretty comparable to them, he seems technically more
adept to his trait (amazing vocals on Killer). The vocals are extremely
diverse throughout this entire album and his shrieks are strikingly
powerful, his performance always seems to be at 100%. Both Erik van
Dijken on bass and Jack Schurer on drums stand out quite a bit as well.
They are both very audible and the drum work is pretty varied, flowing
perfectly with whatever their speed may be on every track.
However Oscar Carre and Richard de Jonge, the guitar team, are perhaps
the single most dominating factor here. They aren't relentless but they
stand out more than anything else, almost in a NWOBHM way. But when
these guys are this damn good and diverse its not a problem at all!
They've got styles of all sorts riddled throughout and not a single
genre is a barrier for them. While there are some definite unstoppable
shredding moments here and there with insane solo's, there are more than
a handful of tracks here that have softer, mesmerizing, and beautiful
melodies. If there's one thing that can really set this album apart from
others, this element could be it. One moment your face is being blown
off by the speed and the next you're lifted up into the air by the
melodies. These guys make it work flawlessly.
If there were one low point to this album, it might be the production.
Its a little murky and not too consistent, but I've heard far worse and
those who listen to a lot of older stuff probably won't be bothered by
it.
Above all this album is extremely dynamic and that's probably the best
thing about it. You're treated to flavors of many different styles,
sometimes songs change up unexpectingly, making it a fresh experience
and memorable. The musical consistency is very strong, from the get go
its intensely awesome and never stops. Killer is a definite highlight, a
masterpiece in speed metal. Lightning fast riffs, razor sharp shredding,
catchy chorus, over the top screaming vocals, everything you could ever
want in epic speed metal is there. Out of Control is pretty similiar and
does have those mesmerizing dual harmonies at the end. Shoot to Kill
relentlessly stands out as the fastest track here, blistering solo's
included. Fire has some of the best mid-paced melodic riffs. The slower
Wings of Steel and the instrumental Neckbreaker don't sound out of place
either. Truly every single song stands out quite a bit and it seems
almost impossible to pick just one favorite. This one gets an extremely
high recommendation. Those looking for over the top power/speed metal
with tons of originality and diversity should look no further.
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