Review by JD on February 12, 2014.

A band that successfully mixes rock, hard rock and metal is a rare breed, and one bound to be a favorite no matter where they go. Motorhead, German rockers Gun Barrel and Past MD are just the few amazing bands that have done that, and they created pure musical GOLD! Out of the more extreme musical landscape of Poland, comes an act that is not doing the whole death/extreme metal thing, but bluesy party rock with a metal and biker edge to it all – and they are called Leash Eye.

Take equal parts Motorhead, early Black Label Society, Canadian metallers SFH or Pantera then the rougher edges of Southern metal and then put some NWOBHM style in there as well… add gallons of good alcohol… and you get the five piece rocking hard driving band called Leash Eye. Formed originally as a grunge act back when, thankfully their metal/party edges (and growing talent) took over and they put their blood and tears into growing to be the party metallers they are now.

You can’t help but get into the mood to party and thrash hard as hell given such ballsy tracks as the sodden "Me & Mr Beam" or the Motorhead inspired "Twice Betrayed". Each track is homage to their influences, and yet they never copy them and opted to breathe passion and personality that is clearly Leash Eye. Many other tracks are amazing as all hell – but these are the sentimental favourites on the disk.

This album will not change the face of metal, but it will be a good party disk, or if you go out and drive with it on. Leash Eye has brought back the fun, and left a piece of their selves in the process… pretty cool, if you ask me. I raise a frothy cold one and salute a band that can do all that. One more thing for all of ya – buy this album you lazy sods!!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 9
Originality 9.5
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.2 out of 10

Review by Felix on May 1, 2019.

Defleshed do not exist anymore, but they churned out five full-lengths between 1996 and 2005. After a bumpy start with a weak debut, the musicians pulled their socks up and Under the Blade catapulted them on the interesting side of those combos that combined thrash and death metal. The Swedish guys put a lot of energy in their tunes and made some heads burst. Even more than 20 years after its publication, Under the Blade is still worth a listen from time to time.

The album holds the best riffs of the entire career of the formation. The skull-splitting riffing of "Metalbounded" hits the listener like a heavy hammer and the same goes for the merciless rasping of "Entering My Yesterdays". This song knows the word "victims” but has never heard the term "prisoners". Both eruptions rush straight forward, but that's no feature which separates them from the other pieces. The whole material terrorizes the audience with an orgy of high velocity and shredding guitars. Before I am out on my next date with a nice girl, I want to have one of the pills that Defleshed consumed in the recording studio. (But only one, otherwise I fear I mutate into a violent humanimal and have a follow-up meeting at the local police station.) Anyway, the album's level of aggression is amazing. It appears only logical that the cover version of "Curse the Gods" waives the calm intro of the original. By the way, Destruction's early works have obviously been an inspiration for the Swedish ruffians, but Under the Blade is less technically precise. The thrashing fundament has been enriched by some blast beats and the big portion of brutality gives the output a death metal flair every now and again. Maze of Torment, another Swedish thrash / death combo which has broken up, and Defleshed lie close to each other in terms of style.

The constant screaming of the lead vocalist expresses vigor, vileness and hatred. Of course, his approach underlines the ruthless ecstasy of his band mates. Matte Modin tortures the drums and he does it in a merciless way. He was also involved in Dark Funeral, but Defleshed's material is free from black metal influences. Nevertheless, the physical activities of Modin are comparable with those he has contributed to Lord Ahriman's project. Even the songs with a pretty hymnal and almost solemn chorus, for example the title track, are mainly based on a full-speed-ahead-approach. This way of proceeding is supported by the intense and somewhat noisy mix. After the first half of the album, it gets a little bit strenuous to follow the last songs with full concentration, but the furious and fierce sound experience is just too strong to ignore it. Hyper-aggressive tunes such as the strangely titled "Cinderella's Return & Departure" and in particular "Walking the Moons of Mars" with its piercing guitar at the beginning make the day of every dude who loves radical metal sounds.

In short, Under the Blade shows an uncompromising and headstrong trio that did not attach importance to useless things such as variety or technical narcissism. Inter alia the closing cover versions makes clear that Defleshed were more interested in developing the maximum of pressure and the ultimate intensity - and they fulfilled their mission successfully. Or, to say it with the band itself: "Defleshed plays Solid Metal exclusively. No computers or other false tactics were used to fulfil this CD." Good to know.

Rating: 8 out of 10