For their second full-length album Portland, Oregon-based heavy/speed metal quintet Leathürbitch continue to foster a unique combination of traditional heavy metal and hard rock convergence which relives the early 80’s zeitgeist through shades of nascent glam-level cockishness and the hairier approach of speed metal beyond. Thankfully ‘Shattered Vanity‘ doesn’t plainly amount to sub-genre combination so much as it delivers an experience ripe with over-the-top personality and sharpening songcraft worthy of their throwback sound. By going a bit darker, heavier and harder and keeping the thread going throughout they’ve delivered an experience which is appreciable for its bent upon tradition and impressive for its guitar-whipping altogether memorable pieces.

Leathürbitch formed circa 2015 more-or-less in the style of early 80’s heavy metal, speed metal and glam rock of the Los Angeles scene of the time where the ideal of ‘Defenders of the Faith‘ came across within a fair deal of crossover in those realms. While their sound does reach for the sleaze rock bop side of things it is a 1:4 dilution which breaks up their otherwise heavy/speed metal sound as it veers between typical NWOTHM revisionism and 80’s US power metal charm. Trad metal scholars will appreciate the exuberance of their debut EP (‘Leathürbitch‘, 2018) which impressed with its specific style but perhaps not as much as the power behind the vocals of Joel Stair who has only improved beyond that initial high point in terms of classic Halford influenced expression, setting their style nearby the first Jag Panzer record and the nearby debut from Savage Grace. We could pull from the rich pool of ’78-’82 heavy metal gone glam rock for more comparisons but those groups have different popular rock associations which stretch far beyond their point of origin (Quiet Riot, for example) and won’t serve the average listener well. At the very least I could mention they’d covered a Ratt song on their debut LP (‘Into the Night‘, 2019) but it is unfortunately not available online and I generally cannot access that provenance.

What makes ‘Shattered Vanity‘ such a compelling release for my own taste is that it leans into a lot of circa ’84 Metal Blade heavy/speed metal curation which tended towards early Priest-charged power metal more often than not. There were very few cases of heavy rock/metal bands who’d kinda tasted the Sunset Strip and spat it out in favor of heavy/speed metal with Riot marginally filling that slot upon their return in 1988 but this is far from the style and spirit of Leathürbitch, I’d instead point to Lȧȧz Rockit‘s underrated and kinda skanked first two records with ‘No Stranger to Danger‘ having some of that spirit and we could at least mention a groups like Agent Steel and Helstar for their similarly big, charged power/speed metallic fury a bit later on in the 80’s. Point being that we get a bit bigger, hornier personality from the band this second time around but also a heavier record overall. What they otherwise pull from like, W.A.S.P. and the harder-edged brunt of glam is lightened this time around, and now a few of the guitar progressions/riffs are maybe along the lines of the hookier pieces from ‘Diamonds‘-era Enforcer as we hit upon “The Invitation” and such. Otherwise the swinging “Nasty Reputation” from their first EP makes a return here alongside memorable staple “Morphina” from the ‘Shadow Mistress‘ (2020) single as the bulk of what takes us to that body fluid obsessed, spanking “sleaze” metal they’ve always been about. I’m here for the screamer and the riffs, though.

Of course the pleasure to yank from this type of traditional heavy metal record comes less in the exhaustion of the meta of retrospective references and more in the songwriting, this is where we can glean all manner of authentic modus per Leathürbitch‘s choices made in terms of sound design, guitar prowess and the vocalist’s undoubtedly charismatic delivery. I believe they’ve once again worked with Charlie Koryn on the engineering front, he is credit with “propulsion”, so, that could mean drumming as well. Either way the sound here is appreciably mid-80’s in terms of placement, guitar timbre, and a high energy scene that left plenty room for dual guitar shredding and blue-in-the-face wailing though the spatial relationships are not thin and flatly compressed as they might’ve been. Still, the tonal adjacency to mid-80’s speed metal leans more toward the punchier, sparking ‘Ample Destruction‘ rather than the rocking unto intensity of ‘No Escape‘; This allows plenty of room for what I’d consider a classic yet aggressive showing on the guitars overall where their feature is pronounced and entertaining enough to not take a full backseat to Stair‘s glass shattering use of vibrato and harmony to keep the dark yet anthemic arena-sized metal kick of the record stuck on its momentum. This type of interplay finds its greatest point of merger on “Betrayal” which to me has a sort of ‘Them‘-era King Diamond torment to its vocal cadence, marvelous leads ~3:17 and gusts of chopped-at speed.

Stomping balls, heel first. — This’ll have to be the rare case where having a good time and just kind of feeling it overtakes the need to pick at the lyrics and aesthetics of the band. Not that the sadomasochist biker gig and boners-out presentation isn’t appropriately classic or cool but (again) I’ve shown up for this release for its songcraft, guitar work and just how well they’ve nailed their own version of Priest-ly heavy/speed metal and how it ticks a bit of an 80’s power metal box otherwise. Getting your sleaze on is a freak flag to be waved proudly even if it isn’t my gig, and I guess in my mind it almost comes secondary to their exploration of lurid supernatural horror beyond the very direct “The Invitation” and nearby on the tracklist.

For my own taste the dark magick and inspiration to be siphoned from Leathürbitch‘s chassis comes in the first five of the nine total pieces, essentially Side A with one bit of spill-over, where opener “The Dark Mirror” sets the tone with a tale of murder and a seance which reveals the killer from beyond the grave. It is the most theatrically charged and varietal showing on the album overall though “Graveyard Eyes” does bring parity of energy and interest without as many tangents. Per my own experience this was a most classic corridor of focus which made a quick fan of me, not only for the brilliantly, appropriately over the top vocal performances but for juice they’d stacked behind each piece in terms of hitting a high quota of riff, finding the right place to set every single lead guitar blurb and making sure each piece was altogether memorable. It may sound trite to folks who don’t get the whole ’84 heavy metal vibe but this record really does just wail through its songs with the best (er, a most authentic) kind of confidence and energy. It is about as simple as that, just a great 80’s styled heavy metal record with songs that are worthy of the sound. A high recommendation.

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