RSS Feed


LEATHER BRIGADE
Pray To The Knife EP

Vicious Witch (2023)
Rating: 8/10

Boasting some killer artwork, Pray To The Knife is the new EP from Romanian upstarts Leather Brigade, a Bucharest gang of misfits who like to dabble in alcohol-drenched speed metal with punk aesthetics.

The band members go by such names as Victor Nekrohammer (vocals and bass), Tudor Speedboozer (lead guitar), Alex Fleshripper (rhythm guitar) and Cryspinel Nefuneraru’ (drums), and what you get here are five nasty tracks of familiar yet fiery blackened lumps of evil that nod heavily towards Venom, Bathory, Motörhead, Tank and just about every other raw, primitive and maniacal band which became so influential to the black metal scene.

Opener ‘Alcoholic Night’ features some great gang chants and typically rusty doses of reckless speed, but for me it is a song like the title track like where the band really comes into its own. This time the clan of cavemen delivers a nasty yet catchy riff built upon the clubbing actions of Cryspinel before the combo eventually goes full throttle into a vicious speed metal assault.

When one considers the hype surrounding contemporary acts such as Hellripper, I’d rather sit with this sort of now less diluted mayhem as ‘Mistress Of Hell’, ‘I Am The Night’ and the hilariously titled ‘Sex With Satan’ charge at the listener like a herd of murderous wildebeest. While there is little variety in the assault process of Leather Brigade, the band sure knows how to melt the ears with their brand of acidic spit.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share