Chastain - Surrender to no One
Chastain - CD Review
Surrender to no One
CD Info
Genre: Metal
Label: Leviathan Records
Tracks: 11
Total time: 53:50
Rating: 8 of 10
Long before bands like A Sound of Thunder and Benedictum were doing their thing…long before the bandmembers of those first iconic European femme-metal bands even thought to pick up an instrument…metal band Chastain was kicking ass in the ‘80s, with the formidable voice of Leather Leone leading the way. Among a handful of women in the metal scene who dared to defy the testosterone-riddled scene of the time, Leather was a respected metal vocalist who is still emulated to this day.
Like most metal bands from the ‘80s, the shift in musical direction in the following decade caused Chastain to sort of fade away, as the different members each went their own ways and towards their own musical projects, and Leather Leone dropped out of the music scene altogether for more than 20 years. Chastain went through most of the ‘90s and ‘00s with another singer, but in the early ‘10s, Leather made a return to music and a return to Chastain. Surrender to no One is the band’s first album with Leather since the ‘80s, so how would they sound after all those years apart? It’s always best to let the music do the talking, so let’s get started, shall we?
The album is basically a full-on heavy metal assault from the opening track, “Stand and Fight”, to the title track “Surrender to no One”. There are a few “slower” tunes such as “I am Sin” and the closing track “Bleed Through Me”, but even those do not lack heaviness or aggression. For the most part, this album is balls-out, face-melting, headbang-inducing heavy-fucking-metal from start to finish. Leather’s voice roars like a fierce lioness; showing she can hold her own with any man in the business and probably give them a run for their money, besides! (Phil Anselmo? Yeah, right!) David Chastain’s guitars are all that soaring, blistering metal goodness that made “true” metal so awesome in the ‘80s; but none of this sounds dated by any means. And in true old-school metal fashion, you have your anthems that are sure to get the crowd going at a live show; aptly-titled tunes like “Rise Up” or “Fear my Wrath” being among those.
So if you’re the type of metal fan who has missed the old-school sounds or do not feel it’s being done enough in the femme-metal genre, then cheer up, because Chastain is bringing it all back! If you are one of those folks who were not around in the ‘80s and don’t know who Chastain is, then this is a good album with which to make your acquaintance. The music positively rocks throughout and there is no “filler” or “down time” whatsoever. So if you’ve been looking for something new to blast through your speakers while headbanging on your way to work or after a tough day, Surrender to no One is just what you need!
