RAVEN – Leave ‘Em Bleeding

New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers Raven is back with their retrospective album, Leave ‘Em Bleeding on Steamhammer / SPV.

Brief Biography

Raven was founded in 1974 by John and Mark Gallagher. Many drummers had sat behind the kit before the release of their first album, Rock Until You Drop in 1981. During the early years, Raven’s intense high-energy live shows were characterized by band members incorporating sports gear into the live shows. Their shows were dubbed as Athletic Rock but in actuality were fusing Hard Rock into a louder, harder, faster style of music. Raven’s live shows and style of playing have been credited for heavily influencing Thrash / Speed Metal bands such as the Big 4 among other successful thrash bands. Raven is also known for taking Metallica and Anthrax on their first tours.

In recent years, Raven has continued to release a total of 14 studio albums. Raven had a steady lineup with Mark Gallagher, John Gallagher, and Joe Hasselvander on drums from 1987 to 2017. In May of 2017, Joe Hasselvander suffered a heart attack and was unable to return to the band. Hasselvander was replaced by Mike Heller (Fear Factory, Malignancy).

Leave ‘Em Bleeding

According to John Gallagher, “In a way, this record is a retrospective on the past seven years, which were hugely important to us, even if they haven’t always been easy.” Leave ‘Em Bleeding has twelve songs with a runtime of 49 minutes. “Top of the Mountain,” “Metal City,” and “The Power” are from the Metal City (2020) album. “Destroy All Monsters,” ” Battle March / Tank Treads,” and “Crash Bang Wallop” is from ExtermiNation’s 2015 album. The live version of “Crash Bang Wallop” was taken from 2019’s concert album Screaming Murder Death From
Above: Live…

The last six songs on Leave ‘Em Bleeding are a mix of covers and bonus tracks. Raven covers Montrose’s “Space Station #5″ and Thin Lizzy’s, ” Bad Reputation”. “Necessary Evil” on the Walk Through Fire (2009) album’ was one of the songs written after Mark Gallagher suffered a serious accident in 2001. “Rock this Town” is an unreleased song, according to Mark Gallagher, “Rock This Town’ was produced by Michael Wagner in Nashville in March 2018 and features us as a trio live in the studio. The recording is just too powerful to have it sit in a drawer and collect dust.” “Stay Hard” was recorded during The Vanguard show in Tulsa Oklahoma by a club employee and given to the band.

The Good

Raven does a nice job on “Bad Reputation,” making a heavy song sound even heavier. “Rock This Town” is a straight-ahead Heavy Metal song with a fist-pumping chorus that would make any Raven fan sing along. “Stay Hard (live)” is a catchy fist-pumping anthem with just enough sleaze to keep the male bravado satisfied. “Destroy All Monsters”, and “Metal City” are two of the top tracks from this collection.

The Not So Good

This retrospective album focused on Raven’s last two studio albums Metal City and ExtermiNation. It would have been nice to see more tracks from the early years to introduce younger fans and newer fans to Raven’s catalog.

Final Thoughts

Heavy Metal fans not familiar with Raven, Leave ‘Em Bleeding is a solid collection of songs to introduce fans to one of the founding fathers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal also including six bonus songs gifted to their loyal fans.

Tracklisting

1. Top Of The Mountain 3:38
2. Metal City 3:30
3. The Power 3.56
4. Destroy All Monsters 6:05
5. Battle March / Tank Treads 5:27
6. Crash Bang Wallop (live) 4:12
7. Necessary Evil 3.56
8. Space Station #5 4:03
9. Malice In Geordieland 3:04
10. Bad Reputation 3:09
11. Rock This Town 3:51
12. Stay Hard (live) 3:05

Album lineup

John Gallagher – Bass and Vocals
Mark Gallagher – Guitars
Mark Heller – Drums