Non-Metal Reviews

Leadbetter Band - Howl - Album Review - Traditional Rock from Bend, Oregon, USA

Today we are featuring a promising traditional rock band, Leadbetter Band, from Bend, Oregon, USA, with, "HOWL", the latest studio album of the band.

Leadbetter Band is the new project of experienced award-winning songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Eric Leadbetter, and Howl is the second official studio album in their discography so far. My first impression of the band is quite positive. After seeing visuals of the band, they didn't surprise me with their traditional rock origins, but let me go into the detail.

Howl musically has traditional, blues, alternative, and country-rock influences in its origins, accompanied by beautiful nostalgic vibes, easy listening instrumentation, and a talented vocalist with the 90s traditional rock character in their sound. The album played from start to finish in the background while I was busy with something else today, and it gave me that feeling we used to feel while listening to some golden hard/rock blues records back from the 90s. Hearing Pink Floyd, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Clapton, and Gary Moore influences in one album is always a great pleasure, where the collective separates themselves with their psychedelic touch, progressive/jazz elements, and with their vocalist.

Technically, I am satisfied for the most part and agree with Leadbetter Band's decisions in the making except for a few things. The album, in general, has a beautiful natural and heartwarming feeling in its sound, stands out with its warmness. You can easily feel the live-performing feeling as well as the headroom, and the overly natural-sounding vocals.

Lastly, the music video was filmed and produced professionally which has the same traditional vibe just like the concept of the album. Watching good-looking gentlemen playing Waterdogs, live in a professional recording studio is always a good idea in order to have a low-budget but good-looking music video.

On the other hand, vocals in the mix also gave me a feeling that it gets out of control from time to time. In fact, everything is quite perfect with the vocal mix and blend until you hear that part where vocals get louder than it should, and penetrates the entire mix for a second or two. I am not sure how to put this down correctly as I am not an expert or producer, just I've heard it more than a few times while listening to the record.

When I take all these into account, I'd like to say that I've had a good time listening to Howl, by Leadbetter Band. They have the experience, and the foundations they need to play big in their careers, people who are into all kinds of traditional rock would be happy to have this record in their collections.

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Metalhead Community congratulates Leadbetter Band for their new album "Howl", and wishes them the very best in their future careers. Thank you for reading.