Chastain
Surrender to No One
Leviathan Records
2013
Out of nowhere, a few months ago it was announced that Chastain had reunited with Leather Leone on vocals and were going to release a new album with pretty much all the old members on board but the drummer with Stian Kristoffersen of Pagan’s Mind assuming those duties.
It came a bit as a surprise, but it wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise ever. Leather had become active again, but it was assumed that she was working on her sophomore Sledge/Leather project... while I am not really sure what the status of Chastain was, but with “The Reign of Leather” coming out a few years back, well it wasn’t exactly a surprise that David attempted to “go back” and continue with what was left unfinished sometime in the early 90s...
And hell, does the band sound every bit as good as you might remember them and even more energized and pissed? The production is OK, but very dry and the mix tries to keep the instruments too distinct and separated to the point where it’s almost not a mix! I’d rather have some of the instruments a lot lower, allowing for Leather to be easier to hear, she’s still distinguishable, but…
“Stand and Fight” is typical raise you fists and shout – 80s anthem complete with every cliché in the great book of heavy metal... Leather’s excellent Dio meets Blackie but from a chick vocals and Chastain’s awesome riffs and solos! Oh and the team of Mike Skimmerhorn & Stian Kristoffersen on drum and bass are just gonna beat you black n blue if you dare to resist them...
When Leather bellows, on “Call of the Wild”,: “Screamed from a voice, only they hear, Preaching of anger, murder and fear …” backed by a riff that’s heavy like a ton of stones, you cannot but be left in awe! It’s yet another awesome number, with the same cool things going on for it. I guess, the biggest difference would be the more modern style of SK, in the drumming department that sort of makes the whole band up their game a notch.
“Deep Down in the Darkness” is a slightly different track, more in the mid-tempo territory, again very heavy with another cool solo from Chastain (but then again, what would you expect?!) but it’s somewhat less impressive than the ones preceding it.
“Freedom Within” is getting things heavier and faster, well fluctuating speed actually and even has time to be playful with a couple of interesting ideas for a momentary change of pace in the middle, hehe, they may be a little too obvious, but still they work to great effect... before things go back to the norm for a dynamic conclusion!
“I Am Sin” is totally different to anything that has preceded it, being much much slower, with a far more melodic riff and Leather sounding very hypnotic and wicked, in her delivery… just for being this different and unexpected but also in a cool way it’s worthy. Yet another good solo is served by the hands of the “grand-chef” as you might have guessed it and it’s F#$@$@##@$ delicious, just as the short outro melody is as well.
“Rise Up” is powerful, call to arms, with a strong rhythmical presence that “gets recycled”... until it flattens down all resistance....
Next up is the pulsating “Evil Awaits Us” with its cool slightly eastern flavored riffs and sinister feeling...
“Feel My Wrath” is quite pacey... more rhythmical even if it starts up quite slowly... it picks up some steam along the way...
“Save Me Tonight” in many ways is however, a lot better than a few of the songs that precede it. It’s more dramatic, it’s more spectacular, more melodic and it manages to have real dynamics, that work well... combining the relentless riffing with more melodic phrasing and cool solos while Leather transforms from angel to demon between verse and chorus….
The title track “Surrender to No One” begins fast enough, only to slow down considerably but packs an incredible punch nonetheless capable to pulverize all these “wannabe” metal bands from hot-topic in a jiffy. This is how you do it… half of those extreme bands that jump up and down, playing boring riffs over repetitive drum patterns could learn a thing or two about songwriting, from Chastain!
Finally “Bleed through Me” is a slower but still ultra-heavy song, that could probably be considered as the heaviest “sort of a ballad” ever done… It’s more of a very melodic tune (but at the same time very heavy) that is telling of a tale (?) it sounds like some sort of a first person purging of negative sentiments from the past or something of the sort… I am not sure as the lyrics seem to be quite abstract, but it’s quite haunting...
All in all, the album is a worthy successor in many ways to the classic Chastain albums from the 80s, with Leather and should please all the fans of the band... it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, heck it doesn’t even try to sound contemporary, it just goes for the gut feeling of what it should sound like and achieves it, to a very high degree. Now is it better than the old ones, hm... unlikely.... although it contains some highly enjoyable tunes “Surrender to No One” probably fares a little lower than most of the classic albums by Chastain, but not by much, I am sure that with a bit of time to work and tour the whole band will get together and on say the “next” album they should be able to really perform to the max and really recapture the flag fully, but still “Surrender”… is a mighty step towards a revival...
It came a bit as a surprise, but it wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise ever. Leather had become active again, but it was assumed that she was working on her sophomore Sledge/Leather project... while I am not really sure what the status of Chastain was, but with “The Reign of Leather” coming out a few years back, well it wasn’t exactly a surprise that David attempted to “go back” and continue with what was left unfinished sometime in the early 90s...
And hell, does the band sound every bit as good as you might remember them and even more energized and pissed? The production is OK, but very dry and the mix tries to keep the instruments too distinct and separated to the point where it’s almost not a mix! I’d rather have some of the instruments a lot lower, allowing for Leather to be easier to hear, she’s still distinguishable, but…
“Stand and Fight” is typical raise you fists and shout – 80s anthem complete with every cliché in the great book of heavy metal... Leather’s excellent Dio meets Blackie but from a chick vocals and Chastain’s awesome riffs and solos! Oh and the team of Mike Skimmerhorn & Stian Kristoffersen on drum and bass are just gonna beat you black n blue if you dare to resist them...
When Leather bellows, on “Call of the Wild”,: “Screamed from a voice, only they hear, Preaching of anger, murder and fear …” backed by a riff that’s heavy like a ton of stones, you cannot but be left in awe! It’s yet another awesome number, with the same cool things going on for it. I guess, the biggest difference would be the more modern style of SK, in the drumming department that sort of makes the whole band up their game a notch.
“Deep Down in the Darkness” is a slightly different track, more in the mid-tempo territory, again very heavy with another cool solo from Chastain (but then again, what would you expect?!) but it’s somewhat less impressive than the ones preceding it.
“Freedom Within” is getting things heavier and faster, well fluctuating speed actually and even has time to be playful with a couple of interesting ideas for a momentary change of pace in the middle, hehe, they may be a little too obvious, but still they work to great effect... before things go back to the norm for a dynamic conclusion!
“I Am Sin” is totally different to anything that has preceded it, being much much slower, with a far more melodic riff and Leather sounding very hypnotic and wicked, in her delivery… just for being this different and unexpected but also in a cool way it’s worthy. Yet another good solo is served by the hands of the “grand-chef” as you might have guessed it and it’s F#$@$@##@$ delicious, just as the short outro melody is as well.
“Rise Up” is powerful, call to arms, with a strong rhythmical presence that “gets recycled”... until it flattens down all resistance....
Next up is the pulsating “Evil Awaits Us” with its cool slightly eastern flavored riffs and sinister feeling...
“Feel My Wrath” is quite pacey... more rhythmical even if it starts up quite slowly... it picks up some steam along the way...
“Save Me Tonight” in many ways is however, a lot better than a few of the songs that precede it. It’s more dramatic, it’s more spectacular, more melodic and it manages to have real dynamics, that work well... combining the relentless riffing with more melodic phrasing and cool solos while Leather transforms from angel to demon between verse and chorus….
The title track “Surrender to No One” begins fast enough, only to slow down considerably but packs an incredible punch nonetheless capable to pulverize all these “wannabe” metal bands from hot-topic in a jiffy. This is how you do it… half of those extreme bands that jump up and down, playing boring riffs over repetitive drum patterns could learn a thing or two about songwriting, from Chastain!
Finally “Bleed through Me” is a slower but still ultra-heavy song, that could probably be considered as the heaviest “sort of a ballad” ever done… It’s more of a very melodic tune (but at the same time very heavy) that is telling of a tale (?) it sounds like some sort of a first person purging of negative sentiments from the past or something of the sort… I am not sure as the lyrics seem to be quite abstract, but it’s quite haunting...
All in all, the album is a worthy successor in many ways to the classic Chastain albums from the 80s, with Leather and should please all the fans of the band... it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, heck it doesn’t even try to sound contemporary, it just goes for the gut feeling of what it should sound like and achieves it, to a very high degree. Now is it better than the old ones, hm... unlikely.... although it contains some highly enjoyable tunes “Surrender to No One” probably fares a little lower than most of the classic albums by Chastain, but not by much, I am sure that with a bit of time to work and tour the whole band will get together and on say the “next” album they should be able to really perform to the max and really recapture the flag fully, but still “Surrender”… is a mighty step towards a revival...