Dogface

Every once in a while I come across an album that appears to be a lackluster or even lousy hunk of garbage, but for some reason I can’t help but purchase it anyway because it is reasonably cheap, and also to see just how bad it actually is. With the single full length release by the little known American outfit Leash Law, all of the visual elements and the lineup stats were in place for an easy whipping boy in the vain of Motley Crue’s “Generation Swine” or some other crappy half breed modern rock and 80s metal offspring. But much like the shockingly amazing Winter’s Bane release “Redivivus”, this outfit completely threw my premises for one chunky, riff happy as hell loop.

The kind of metal that actually unfolds on here is a brilliant marriage of classic US brand speed metal and a slight helping of tasteful down-tuned guitar goodness. There are commonalities to be heard with Jonny Lindqvist era Nocturnal Rites, particularly “Shadowland” and “New World Messiah”, as well as heavier ended power metal acts like Heed and the before mentioned Winter’s Bane. There is also a slight bit of mid-1990s Yngwie Malmsteen on a couple of these songs, as Rick Renstrom will often tend to emulate the Swedish born shred god during his solos and Wade Black tends to sound like a combination of Mike Vescera and Rob Halford.

It is important to state for the general record that up until hearing this Wade Black never really impressed me as a singer, despite his famed collaborations with well respected outfits, or actually I should say because of them. When you step up to fill the shoes of singers like Midnight and Michael Olivieri, I don’t care how technically good you are or how much emotion you pour into your work, the fact that you are not that person is going to cost you before the first note hits the microphone. His brief collaboration with Seven Witches was his first opportunity to really establish his own identity, and despite Jack Frost’s newfound love for mixing modern rock in with orthodox speed metal on the album in question, he was able to step out of the shadow of the elites that he was often accused of poorly imitating.

In fact, the main reason why this album is such an exciting listen is because there aren’t any expectations getting in the way, and it reflects in the music. It’s not just limited to Wade Black’s vocals, which do not sound forced like they normally do, nor with Renstorm’s riffs or any of the other individual musicians involved in this. There isn’t any second guessing implied on any of these songs, everything unashamedly relies on raw energy and a freshness that is more befitting a band that is much younger than the style that influences them the most. There is no processed feel to the structure, no slick production gimmicks to give the impression of a matured version of itself, only a singular mission to kick as much ass as it can in nine four to five minute beat down sessions.

There aren’t any highlights to speak of; this whole album is one giant chunk of grade A US power metal, with a few distinct variations. There is equally as much enjoyment to be gotten out of mid-80s inspired Rising Force speed metal like “Fight”, mid-90s Malmsteen ballads of Shakespearean love with a harpsichord and a heavy as hell bottom end guitar sound like “Banyan” (which to most sounds out of place on an album titled “Dogface” and sporting the album art it does), or even epic quasi-symphonic power metal songs in the vain of Virgin Steele like “Hail to Blood”. Sometimes I don’t know if there should be an ancient warrior or a winged demon on the cover art, but either one would fit the feel of the music on here more closely than the metaphorical political cartoon-like image they went with, which only really applies to about half of what is on here lyrically.

If you like your US power metal heavy and you can forgive the band for a kind of lame album cover; then this is definitely something you’ll enjoy. If experience teaches anything, it is that there are plenty of good cover arts out there hiding some fairly crappy musical blunders. But other than maybe Twilightning’s “Delirium Veil”, this is my first experience discovering a great album that has been hidden behind a lousy cover art. It is a genuine shame that these guys only lasted one album; although this may have been partially due to the fact that this was a redundant project that Rick Renstrom ultimately decided to remerge with his own solo band, which contains nearly every member of this outfit. Hopefully the next album he puts out with Wade Black and company under the Renstrom name will sound similar to this.