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SLEDGE LEATHER
Imagine Me Alive

Metal UP (2012)
Rating: 7/10

Sledge Leather is the new project from vocalist Leather Leone (Rude Girl / Malibu Barbie / Chastain) and drummer Sandy Sledge (Rude Girl / Malibu Barbie / Warbride). While neither artist became a household name during the 80s metal onslaught or the first coming of Bay Area thrash, they are both well revered as two of the best kept secrets from those eras. Being mostly unfamiliar with the ladies prior works, I was expecting something maybe Doro-esque or slightly edgier like, say, Femme Fatale. Sledge Leather though is the real deal, creating a dynamic and powerful metal album that reminds me more than a little of Iron Maiden’s most cohesive works.

The album opens with the driving title track that is inspired by the memory of The Rev (Avenged Sevenfold). It’s a track that gets straight to the point and establishes right away that these ladies are in it to impress. ‘Torch’ throws you for a loop next. It’s a purposefully poor sounding piano / vocal demo with a spoken word ending that confuses at first but really adds texture on repeated listens. Then it’s back to the full metal onslaught of ‘The Guy Upstairs Lied’ which calls to mind the classic 80s icons like Dio, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. ‘Her Father’s Daughter’ has a doomy guitar sound; a zombie walks its way through the song as a creepy bell-like piano weaves in and out along with the heavy as stink vocals. ‘Fast Forgiveness’ adds a thrash influence that puts modern day Anthrax to shame, twisting and turning between speed and heavy-footed groove.

There are some moments here that don’t fare as well as the songs mentioned above but, for the most part, this is a strong album with a lot to dig into both lyrically and musically. The interlude pieces between many of the songs create a great atmosphere, but over time get a bit distracting as well. Leather’s vocals are the clincher here. As a fan of female singers, I was surprised at how deep and aggressive her voice is. The vocals have way more in common with Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) or Ronnie James Dio (Dio / Black Sabbath / Heaven & Hell / Elf) than they do with Doro Pesch (Doro / Warlock) or even Sabina Classen (Holy Moses).

Sledge Leather has crafted a grandiose style metal record that will appeal to any fan of the classics for sure. Younger fans might not be able to latch onto this as easily, but the history these ladies have in the genre is reason enough for any fan of hard-edged music to at least give this one a shot.

Mark Fisher

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