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Review: Leathürbitch - Shattered Vanity
Leathürbitch
www.facebook.com/HeavyChains
Shattered Vanity

Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Year released: 2023
Duration: 40:42
Tracks: 9
Genre: Heavy Metal

Rating:
3.25/5


Review online: July 24, 2023
Reviewed by: MetalMike
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 4.27/5 (85.45%) (11 Votes)
Review

Shattered Vanity is the second album from Portland, Oregon's Leathürbitch, a name I don't think much of, but it does make crystal clear the point these guys are going for an '80s sound. Throw in the dominatrix on the cover and just like that, it's 1984. Musically, the band has stepped it up a bit from their debut, Into the Night, back in 2019, with more variation to the pacing, some better harmony guitars, etc. and even the singing has improved. Where on the last album, vocalist Joel Starr's delivery was consistently flat, he's at least in the vicinity of the right note more consistently. His screams are a mixed bag, sometimes he sounds a bit like Malice's James Neal, sometimes like someone stomped on his foot. Vocals aside, Leathürbitch go back and forth between early, US-style power metal, à la Malice, with sharp guitars and screams ("The Dark Mirror," "Betrayal") and hard rocking, LA-influenced tracks such as "Nasty Reputation" and "Shadow Mistress" that remind me of Keel and that lot. Shattered Vanity has some '80s charm in the rough sound and less than perfect performances and it is an improvement over the debut, but it still isn't anything to get excited about, even for those living and breathing the '80s traditional metal revival. Leathürbitch still has work to do if they want to be serious players in that scene.

More about Leathürbitch...
Review: Into the Night (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Into the Night (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Shattered Vanity (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
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