Review LEATHERWOLF ‘Kill the Hunted’

‘Leatherwolf’ and especially ‘Street Ready’ belong to the best US metal from California offered. Even though both albums achieved remarkable success, Leatherwolf always remained in the shadow of other great bands. The band broke up in 1991 and also an alternative called Hail Mary did not last.

The band returned in 2006 with their ‘World Asylum’ album, but consistency was not the main theme this time either, as the wait for a new album was again extremely long.

16 years after the release of ‘World Asylum’, Leatherwolf have now managed to record a new album after all. ‘Kill the Hunted’ is the name of the album, which contains eleven songs.

Even though Leatherwolf are known as triple axe attack, it is drummer Dean Roberts who is the only founding member of Leatherwolf. Besides the drummer, Rob Math, Luke Man and Wayne Findlay are also part of the line-up, the already mentioned triple axe attack. With Barry Sparks, the band also has an experienced bassist on board and since 2019, the position on the microphone is also staffed with Keith Adamiak.

Already when listening to the great opener ‘Hit the Dirt’ it becomes obvious that Leatherowlf have not lost any of their power. Crashing riffs and a lot of enthusiasm, that’s what the start of the album reflects. Leatherwolf pair the power of metal with good melodies and hooks without slipping into musical no man’s land. The well-made title track is a sparkling example of this and also the gloomy ‘Only the Wicked’ shows the power and diversity of the band.

Already released as a single is ‘The Henchman’. With more than six minutes, the track is the central piece on the album and shows the versatility of Leatherwolf. Especially the vocal performance of Adamiak should be mentioned here praising, who gives the song with his shouts and also his raspy voice a great variation and hardness.

The tempo is increased in ‘Road Rage’ and in ‘Lights Out Again’ the power of the three guitars comes fully to effect.

‘Kill the Hunted’ is another return of Leatherwolf and even if there were many years between the releases, Dean Roberts has managed to transfer the class of the band into the present time. Nothing has changed in the foundations of the band and that’s a good thing. The triple axe attack strikes again.