With their 2024 self-titled debut album, Greek old school metalheads Leatherhead already made quite the impression on me, though my overall opinion of that album remains that it shows some potential that was yet to be realized. In all honesty, though, I did not expect them to live up to their promise this quickly. Less than a year and a half after their debut album, ‘Violent Horror Stories’ shows a somewhat more mature take on Leatherhead’s eighties speed metal and US power metal sound with spectacular results. And perhaps even more surprisingly: without sounding as derivative as most of their peers.

Greece has one of the most interesting eighties-styled heavy metal scenes in the world right now. Some bands in that scene model themselves after one or two bands very clearly. There are definitely some USPM and speed metal bands Leatherhead took influence from, but they aren’t a clear soundalike of one specific band. The darker, somewhat thrashy turn Leatherhead takes on ‘Violent Horror Stories’ has a bit of a ‘Nosferatu’-era Helstar character, though not quite as complex, while Attacker and Agent Steel always lurk around the corner. But their classy songwriting occasionally hints at more Metal Church-esque ambitions.

One ace Leatherhead has up its sleeve is singer Tolis Mekras. He could easily front any eighties band giving things another try this decade and fit right in. There are elements of Geoff Tate and Eric ‘A.K.’ Knutson in their younger years in his voice, though the singer he actually reminds me most of is Scott Huffman from Spirit Web and Twelfth Gate, and he knows how to dial up the intensity when the frankly awesome riffs of Thanos Metalios and Dimitris Komninos ask for it. It’s also not just thrash-light riffing they are good at; ‘Violent Horror Stories’ is full of well-constructed melodic themes and highly elegant guitar arrangements.

Another thing Leatherhead did really well on ‘Violent Horror Stories’ is simply how they structured the album. It starts the more direct, straightforward semi-thrashers ‘V.H.S.’ and ‘Summoning the Dead’, after which they subtly build towards their more ambitious material through the slightly darker ‘The Visitors’. The middle section of the album is reserved for more epic work, like ‘Crimson Eyes’ and the ominous semi-ballad ‘Children of the Beast’, and even the pulsating, uptempo ‘Incubus’ is remarkably dramatic. ‘Something Evil (This Way Comes)’ has a nice dark, almost Mercyful Fate-ish vibe, after which ‘Dreamcatcher’ closes the album in a concise manner.

Though their debut album was promising, I really was not expecting Leatherhead to be this good this quickly. Somehow, they managed to find a style that blends the best elements from all my favorite eighties metal styles, though it in a way that does not make them sound dated in the slightest. There is a sincerity and an energy to ‘Violent Horror Stories’ that makes it sound timeless, and the raw, but well-balanced sound of the album only adds to that. With ‘Violent Horror Stories’, Leatherhead is a force to be reckoned with, and hopefully, their future will have even more interesting albums in store.

Recommended tracks: ‘Something Evil (This Way Comes)’, ‘The Visitors’, ‘Incubus’