Re-charged Orange County CA metal mavens LEATHERWOLF have released a video for the title track of their forthcoming new studio album, Kill The Hunted, set for release November 11 via N.I.L.8 and Rock of Angels in North America and Europe, respectively, November 14 through Hellion Records in South America, and November 17 on Rubicon Music in Japan. The video can be viewed on the band’s YouTube channel at:
Showcasing the band’s innate ability to create hard driving anthemic metal, Kill The Hunted was conceived in 2008 by drummer/producer, Dean Roberts, but not revisited and completed until some ten years later after the band fractured in the wake of a short European tour. “I starting writing the lyrics in 2018, prompted by what led to the split with our old singer. So the song is very personal to me but it could apply to anybody in a similar situation,” reflects Roberts. “The lyrics are really about self-discovery – discovery about all the negative stuff that was around me. And that I had to do something about it and make a change. The second verse, “I can feel the darkness that surrounds me / killing everything that I create / wasteland’s rule by death and the forsaken / bind and tie the blood that runs within” speaks to those feelings. In the final verse, the song conveys a more positive, self-empowering tone though. I gotta give props to Rob (Math) and Keith (Adamiak) who helped finish the song in the studio and helped me telling that story to myself. It really made me realize that I needed to move on.”
Kill The Hunted, which was mixed by legendary producer/engineer, Randy Burns (Megadeth, Kreator, Helstar) and mastered by Tom Baker (Judas Priest, Mötley Crüe, Pantera), introduces powerful new vocalist, Keith Adamiak, alongside long-time guitarist, Rob Math, young shredder Luke Man who first joined the fold in 2017 as a touring member, founding member, Dean Roberts, veteran bassist, Barry Sparks (MSG, Dokken, Yngwie Malmsteen), and guitarist/keyboardist, Wayne Findlay (MSG, Slavior, Vinnie Moore), to complete the vaunted Triple Axe Attack. The current LEATHERWOLF live line-up which had its baptism of fire earlier this year at the M3 Festival also features bassist Brice Snyder, on loan from OC thrashers Art of Shock.
The ‘Kill The Hunted’ single is now available on all major digital platforms and is the follow-up to ‘Hit the Dirt’ and ‘The Henchman’, the latter featuring a guest appearance by Whitesnake’s fleet-fingered axe wizard, Joel Hoekstra. Lyric videos for both can be found here:
Long before British metal legends Iron Maiden picked up on the concept, a pack of Huntington Beach, CA-based teenagers, collectively known as LEATHERWOLF, pioneered and perfected the heavy metal three guitar assault, nicknamed the Triple Axe Attack, while sharing the bill with Orange County contemporaries Metallica and Slayer at long since defunct venues such as the Concert Factory, Radio City, and the Woodstock.
Their much lauded eponymous 1984 debut EP for Tropical Records, expanded to a full-length LP, titled Endangered Species for international release, and a pair of stunning albums for Island Records, Leatherwolf (’87) and Street Ready (’89), which yielded the MTV videos ‘The Calling’ and ‘Hideaway’, respectively, saw LEATHERWOLF fly the flag for decidedly European rooted metal amidst a sea of formulaic L.A. glam and sleaze.
After a self-imposed break during the 1990s grunge and alt rock craze, the band’s classic line-up resurfaced in 1999 with a storming live album, Wide Open. In 2006, LEATHERWOLF emerged with a revamped line-up to once again turn the metal world on its ear with the well received World Asylum, the band’s heaviest effort to date, mixed by Danish studio whiz Jacob Hansen of Volbeat fame. It was followed by the quasi Best of’ Unchained Live in 2013.
Having survived line-up shake-ups and the Corona pandemic unscathed, LEATHERWOLF are finally set to unleash their long awaited fifth studio album, Kill The Hunted, a record as uncompromising and deadly as the title suggests. It marks the latest chapter in the band’s storied history as founding member/drummer Dean Roberts and long-time guitarist Rob Math are joined by fierce new vocalist Keith Adamiak, young shredder Luke Man, guitarist / keyboardist Wayne Findlay, and bassist Barry Sparks, the latter pair alumni of the Michael Schenker Group.
