Released by: Dievebomb Records

Release Date: April 13th, 2018

Genre: Metal

Links: http://divebombrecords.bigcartel.com/

Line Up:

Leather Leone – Lead Vocals
Vinnie Tex – Lead, Rhythm and Harmony Guitars
Daemon Ross – Lead Guitars
Thiago Velasquez – Bass Guitar
Braulio Drumond – Drums

Tracklist:

01 Juggernaut
02 The Outsider
03 Lost at Midnite
04 Black Smoke
05 The One
06 Annabelle
07 Hidden in the Dark
08 Sleep Deep
09 Let Me Kneel
10 American Woman
11 Give Me Reason

For most metalheads, Doro Pesch is the Queen of Metal. And I’m not going to entirely argue that point. I am however going to mention that, had she gotten as much exposure in the press and on MTV as Doro, Leather Leone would certainly give her a run for the crown. Longtime vocalist for David Chastain’s metal band Chastain, Leone had one of the most distinctive voices in metal, having the vibrato of a Bruce Dickinson, the power of a Ronnie James Dio, and the gruffness of a Lemmy, Leather was a voice destined for metal greatness. After her solo debut in 1989 and the end of the tour for Shock Waves in 1991, she almost fell out of the music business until a few years ago, working with Chastain again and doing the Sledge/Leather album Imagine Me Alive. Almost 30 years later, Leather is back with her sophomore solo release entitled II, and it was well worth the wait.

Starting with the track “Juggernaut,” a befitting description of this album, to the final fading strains of “Give Me Reason,” it is clear that Leather Leone is at the top of her game, sounding as great as ever. Wherever she’s been during her hiatus, she’s not lost the power and edge to her instrument. Speaking of the instrument, complimenting her voice perfectly is the scintillating guitar work of Vinnie Tex and Daemon Ross, performing some blistering riffs and leads rivaling those of axe Phenom David Chastain. Though the bulk of the album is full-on, in your face powerhouse heavy metal, she even proves she has a tender side with the track “Annabelle.”

In the male-dominated world of metal back in the day (and still to some degree now,) females usually had to use their feminine wiles to attract interest, and most stuck with a safe kind of poppy hard rock sound. Leather Leone was one of the few women who didn’t give a damn about fitting an image. She was a gorgeous woman back in the day and still is today, plus she’s got bigger balls than most of her contemporaries (male or female,) belting out some of the toughest, roughest metal music out there. I’m so glad she decided to come back and lay to waste the idea that a woman has to be a certain way in the metal world. Leather’s album II proves that she is the personification of metal, and showing no signs of mellowing out any time soon either.