Mean Mistreater – Do Or Die
Austin, Texas has always had an active metal scene stretching all the way back to the early 80s with the likes of progressive/thrash icons Watchtower and more recently being home to NWOTHM icons Eternal Champion, and in 2024 another of these modern yet traditional heavy metal bands, Mean Mistreater, emerged onto the scene with their debut album Razor Wire.
Almost exactly a year later they’re back with their second album, Do or Die, and as soon as the opening track, Killer Red, immediately kicks into 80s driving heavy metal we know it’s probably gonna be worth the listen. Next up, One Survivor, which is literally littered with great riffs and guitar solo work, brings down the pace a little with a slower hard rocking feel and then the energy is back in the song, Nothing’s Free, which gives us something that could be described as a mixture of early Mötley Crüe meets the NWOBHM with a dusting of Motörhead. The pacing is great on this album; it ebbs and flows, and the mixture of faster songs interspersed with mid-paced hard rockers has been well thought out. Walk With Fire, one of the stand-out tracks for me, opens with a classic 80s metal intro before developing into a dark, brooding almost doom metal track with more great guitar work, and then we’re back into fist-pumping heavy metal which really continues throughout the second half of the album culminating with the great finisher, Release The Wolf, to close out the album.
Both the songs and the production here have that classic late 70s/early 80s sound and feel and this album could easily be have been produced during the heyday of the early 80s NWOBHM. The production however could be better overall. The album is muddy in places; often the low mid-range is fat and cluttered and in parts the bass guitar sounds stodgy and ill-defined. The high end in the drums too could be improved with the cymbals often being too loud in the mix and the cymbal tone itself is also harsh in parts and somewhat ear fatiguing. That said there are some great production decisions too; the vocals sound fabulous and the modulation effects on the vocals are interesting and really drew me into the songs, and the guitars, in both tone and balance in the mix, are also very good.
Musicianship too is excellent; as I mentioned before, the album is literally awash with guitar solos and the vocal work of lead singer Janiece Gonzalez is fantastic, sounding like a glorious blend of Ann Wilson, Patti Smith, Sebastian Bach with the grit of Lemmy! It shouldn’t work but it really does.
This is a very good album and it’s all here; the songwriting, the musicianship, a fantastic vocalist and in the hands of a world-class engineer this could have been really excellent, but despite that this is definitely worthy of your listening time, and I for one will be eagerly awaiting the next one.
Rating: 7/10 – Very Good
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Wayne McAloon | Now Spinning Magazine
