Steel is a sucker for a band trying their absolute best to bring back the bountiful glory of the 80s metal sound. Enter Greek retro fiends Leatherhead and their second full-length crusade, Violent Horror Stories. I happened to stumble upon their lead single “V.H.S” while scrolling on YouTube and mistook them for yet another thrash revival group, but I was mistaken. Though this is often speedy, high-energy stuff, it plays out more like a loving nod to the salad days of US power metal than any kind of beer and BO thrash-fest. Over the course of Violent Horror Stories, the listener can expect to be reminded of early Queensrÿche, Agent Steel, Crimson Glory, even John Arch-era Fates Warning, but you know, faster. In short, this was not the sweaty leather I expected to try on for size this week.

Things open with the aforementioned “V.H.S.” which pays homage to all those “found footage” horror gems of the 90s and 00s while walking a fine line between an all-out thrash ethos and the over-the-top speed-power of Agent Steel. The guitar work is crisp, sharp, and reeks of early days Annihilator as frontman Tolis Mekras goes ALL in with his ample high-pitched vocal destruction. His enthusiasm and commitment to excess make the song all the more entertaining, especially as things speed up to the point where the band seems as if they’re losing control. After this jolt of high voltage, the pace dials back for the riffy and still quite zippy “Summoning the Dead,” before launching into the extra fun Agent Steel meets Savatage charge of “The Visitors,” which finds Tolis doing some Jon Oliva-esque oddball screams. This one is irresistible fun for one and all and I keep going back to it again and again.

The album’s big centerpiece is the 7-minute mega-epic “Children of the Beast,” where all restraint is jettisoned in favor of MOAR. Moar large scale vocals, moar guitar solos, more unchained emotions, moar of every fucking thing. And you know what? I like it! It rocks that same regal coolness that early Queensrÿche and Crimson Glory exuded back in the day, and it’s even more of a spectacle than Holdeneye at an $8 all-you-can-eat BBQ stand after a 3-day juice cleanse. Tolis delivers the goods with an emotionally-charged performance, building peaks and valleys as the guitar work impresses with its scope and scale. The last 2 minutes are like a rocket ride to Valhalla with an overserved Thor fighting a much drunker frost giant in the backseat while you’re trying to navigate, and you know that’s a good time! Elsewhere, “Crimson Eyes” sounds like something Sumerlands could have included on their debut, and “Something Wicked (This Way Comes)” sounds a whole lot like it fell off Agent Steel’s debut Skeptics Apocalyse. With no dead space or filler, the skinny 37-plus minutes of Violent Horror Stories is a fast-paced, high-octane spin with little getting in the way of a good time unless you struggle with high-register vocal antics.1

Tolis Mekras is the center of the Leatherhead experience, with his impressive, if not always completely controlled, vocals injecting themselves into your ears like an overpowered mining laser. He reminds me of Arthur W. Andersson of Trial at some points, and Alpha Tiger’s Stephan Dietrich at others, but the main point of reference has to be the ever-mysterious John Cyriis of Agent Steel. As with any vocalist of this ilk, he’ll be a love or hate factor, and he’s sure to alienate those who want everyone to sound tired and listless at the mic. Keeping up with Tolis, guitar tandem Thanos Metalios and Jim Komninos bring Olympian thunder down with a never-ending stream of 80s-centric speed, thrash, and classic metal riffs loaded with big hooks. There’s a lot of Jeff Water-esque noodling and speed-pluckery in the material, and it makes me wish Waters was able to write songs this entertaining after 1990.

Violent Horror Stories sounds like a bunch of friends having an absolute blast making unhinged metal for the filthy masses. Leatherhead have chops and an ear for hooks, and you will be entertained by the glorious end product of their labors. This pairs well with bands like Ambush, so don the appropriate headgear, put this on blast, and start smashing your skull into the wall in the name of all things metal. You won’t be sorry, but you may be unconscious.



Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: No Remorse
Websites: leatherheadgr.bandcamp.com/album | facebook.com/leatherheadofficial | instagram.com/leatherhead_band
Releases Worldwide: February 13th, 2026

Sacred Leather – Keep the Fire Burning Review

By Steel Druhm

I’ve never been to Indiana, so I’m not acquainted with how they do things. After listening to Sacred Leather’s sophomore outing, Keep the Fire Burning, I’m definitely left wondering if time moves differently there, though. That’s because this is one of the most retro, throwback-y pure metal things I’ve heard in some time, with a sound so hopelessly locked between 1983-1986, that I feel my back hair receding as my olde denim jacket grows new Venom and Motörhead patches. When I call this style “dated,” what I really mean is carbon-dated.1 Now, don’t take this as a criticism, as those years were some of the very best for classic heavy metal, and Sacred Leather do their damnedest to harvest the finest elements from a time when things were simple, pure, and still very based in hard-rock. As this album unspools, you’ll be whisked away to an age when Jag Panzer, Savage Grace, and Warlord ruled with a collective iron fist, and being labeled a poser was akin to a death sentence. Could you withstand the cred rigors of such a draconian time? Steel Druhm did once and would gladly do so again!

After a tasteful instrumental intro, Sacred Leather tan your worthless hide from point Ape to point ChimpanZee on “Spitfire at Night,” powered by the uber-period guitar work of J.J. Highway and Cvon Owens. It’s vintage metal with a speed injection, and it reminds me of long-forgotten German quasi-thrashers Vendetta mixed with Agent Steel. That’s 100% undiluted Steel bait, and the chum is thick and saucy here. Riffs churn and race, over-the-top solos stamp fat exclamation points, and frontman Dee Wrathchild screams and wails like a banshee on banshee meths. It’s a recipe for rowdy, high-energy shenanigans, and in the steady hands of Sacred Leather, this volatile brew sizzles and pops. “Phantom Highway (Hell is Comin’ Down)” delivers more lusty worship of excess. It’s a slick blend of NWoBHM and the most sturdy of mid-80s US metal, and it reminds me of Sumerlands. “Fallen Angel” channels the early days of Jag Panzer with big arena-ready guitars dueling with wanton vocals locked in overdrive as every ounce of meatheaded drama is wrung from the music. Sure, Mr. Wrathchild lets his voice get away from him at times, but that’s freaking metal, folks.

Song after song hits like a runaway freight train from 1985, and at no point will you want to step off the tracks. “Tear Out My Heart” feels like the bastard love child of Warlord and Savage Grace, with stunning guitars framing the kind of massive vocal drama that only 80s metal can provide. If you were looking for a burly, hard-as-nails breakup song for written for men who don’t cry, this is it. The title track channels the badass anthemic might of the criminally underappreciated Cities, and the band proudly honor their oath to keep the flame of the 80s burning bright. Just as you regain your senses, the big epic closer “Mistress of the Sun” arrives to make you love it or feel the wrath of Wrathchild. This is the same kind of larger-than-life metal tune as Krokus’ immortal “Screaming in the Night,” walking the line between anthem and power ballad and damn if it doesn’t tickle all the same nerve endings. There are no bad tracks, with each activating a major nostalgia bomb. So, what, if any, drawbacks will you encounter amid this most retro metal marination session? There are bits of bloat here and there, like on “Tear Out My Heart,” but not to the point where the songs are seriously undermined. In fact, at a tight 40 minutes, this thing feels like a fast-moving mission statement on how to properly worship the 80s, with a production about as trve to the time as one could hope for.

This is the kind of metal album that exudes guitar magic, and Highway and Owens spare no expense in decorating each song with the trappings of yesteryear. I hear many classic 80s albums referenced in their playing, and they really know the era they pay homage to. The riffs are energetic, beefy, and vibrant, and the harmonies and solos rock hard. Over the top of this solid foundation, Dee Wrathchild channels his inner metal god. Blessed with a broad range, he lets it all hang out, exploring his upper register freely and sometimes in ill-advised ways. He does seem to slip out of tune here and there when going all in, but I don’t especially care. Most of what he delivers is solid and commanding, checking all the boxes of 80s overkill and melodrama.

I love it when I blunder into some December release expecting little but getting my ass handed to me on a gleaming chrome platter. Sacred Leather bring the classic metal thunder, and if you love the sounds of the 80s, you should await the lightning strike. As winter moves ever closer, you too should Keep the Fire Burning. Any other choice would smack of flagrant poserism, and that would mean a visit from the Metal Inquisition. Be true to your olde school.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: King Volume Records / Wise Blood Records
Websites: facebook.com/leathersacredleather | instagram.com/sacred_leather
Releases Worldwide: December 12th, 2015

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Agent Steel - Unstoppable Force

Friday night - it’s time for a classic.

Alien-themed speed metal with outstanding vocals. I can understand when the voice is a little too much for some listeners, however IMO Agent Steel wouldn’t be themselves without John Cyriis.

Guitars are magnificent, too. You can still hear the NWOBHM roots (Rager), but also their transition to speed/thrash.

Altogether a blast from the past and a gem from the 80s.

https://tidal.com/browse/album/44633027?u

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Chuck Profus, drummer & founding member of Agent Steel, passes at 61

https://metalnerd.net/chuck-profus-drummer-founding-member-of-agent-steel-passes-at-61/

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CHUCK PROFUS – Founding Member Of AGENT STEEL Dead At 61

https://bravewords.com/news/chuck-profus-founding-member-of-agent-steel-dead-at-61/

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AGENT STEEL (NORTHERN METAL #13, 1986)

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🚀 Prepare for liftoff! AGENT STEEL's "Mad Locust Rising - Live At Hammersmith Odeon" launches on September 27!

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Evildead – Toxic Grace Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Though Evildead has existed since the late ’80s, most people recognize them by founding member and guitarist, Juan Garcia. After leaving Agent Steel in 1987 (and before his return in 1998), Garcia conceived a thrash outfit in Evildead. Though, many have asked, “why?” Unfortunately, the band never shared the same success as Agent Steel, partly due to the mediocre riffs and lackluster production of early albums Annihilation of Civilization and The Underworld. Not to mention the cringy lyrics that ranged from the environmental crisis, crime rate, and Middle Eastern developments of the time. After these two albums, Garcia returned to Agent Steel, only to leave again to surprisingly and unnecessarily reform Evildead with longtime vocalist, Phil Flores. They pushed the ’80s thrash scene back into our faces in 2020 with United States of Anarchy, and now they’re back with this year’s Toxic Grace.

Twenty-twenty’s United States of Anarchy picked up right where the band left off, continuing to deliver mid-tier West Coast thrash. Tossing aside any new ideas or modernization, the one-dimensional vocal style they’ve continued to utilize is, at times, just talking rather than singing in a classic thrash rasp or grunt. Unfortunately, this is one of the issues I (and many others) have with the band. With the debut record and comeback, you’ll find some vocal energy. However, subsequent albums lack the energy necessary to strengthen the weaker songs. Unfortunately, the same has happened in the case of Toxic Grace. The vocals and energy show up in some of the tracks, but many could—quite honestly—have gone without vocals entirely. This unfortunate circumstance makes the two-minute instrumental, “World ov Rats,” the best song on the record.

But in the vocalist’s defense, there’s not a lot of excitement when “singing” lyrics like this: “Posting something cool your number one priority / Platform steals your info, and your identity / It makes no difference to you with one million following / The Subjugated Souls from generation Z”. These poetic passages are but a few of the many cringy lyrics you can find in “Subjugated Souls.” Yet, somehow, it’s worse in the five-plus-minute track, “Bathe in Fire.” Using spooky guitar work and low, mostly spoken vocals, the song comes off like a bad King Diamond track. Not to mention, there are moments when they take the darkness further and unleash a forced death metal effort that sounds like something Autopsy tossed on the studio floor. “Stupid on Parade” has potential if its building introduction actually erupted into something headbang-worthy. Instead, the transition is equivalent to a teenage girl getting her boyfriend alone for the first time, only for him to bust his nut in two seconds. Not to mention that the “vocals” feel like that time Jon Schaffer lectured me when I listened to Sons of Liberty.

The better tracks on the album (outside the aforementioned instrumental) are “Raising Fresh Hell” and the bookends, “F.A.F.O.” and “Fear Porn.” I know what you’re thinking. How can a song called “Fear Porn” be one of the best songs on the album? Well, for better or worse, it is because it has the best riffs on the record. Even if the lyrics in the chorus are dreadful. The opener does a decent job of getting the album off the ground. So, I’ll give it some credit as the limited vocal style actually works well to emphasize the downstrokes and bass kicks—even if it doesn’t fluctuate much from the direction it takes throughout its three-and-a-half runtime. “Raising Fresh Hell” mixes a pleasant mid-paced, Exodus riff with an Annihilator-like chorus that at least keeps things interesting. And, though the backing vocals are weak sauce, the dual guitar work on the back end mixes things up nicely.

Having been around on and off for nearly four decades, the band has added a fourth full-length to their catalog. While they had some energy in the old days, it feels like it was completely squished out of them in the recording process of Toxic Grace. Each song (minus the bloated, meandering “Subjugated Souls”) follows the tired intro-verse-chorus-solo-verse-chorus-end structure, and rarely do we find a solo that’s anything better than mid. The only times the vocals shine occur in “Stupid in Parade” and “Fear Porn.” The former comes in the form of some clean vocals toward the end of the song—that work pretty damn well. Whereas the vocals on “Fear Porn” deliver a classic, vocal-chord assault. Though I can support the band for being one of the OGs of its time, Evildead is showing its age by continuing to venture down a path that the more successful thrashers have expanded on or abandoned entirely.

Rating: 1.5/5.0
DR: Stream Stuff | Format Reviewed: Look Left
Label: Steamhammer Records
Websites: evil-dead.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/evildead.official
Releases Worldwide: May 24th, 2024

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