The Swedish band Leach has released their fourth album overall on 19th April 2024. On that date, the melodic death / thrash metal quartet is sharing New Model of Disbelief with their fans. I had the opportunity to have a listen and share my thoughts with you.
Leach – About The Artists
Leach have been founded in 2003 in Boras in Västra Gotland, Sweden. However, it took the band until 2012 to release their debut album Blindfold. After that, two more albums and an EP followed. The last album release of the band has been in 2021, when they shared Lovely Light of Life. They are currently a quartet, with long-time members Markus Wikander (vocals, guitar), Anders Nordlander (bass) and Joachim Dahlström (drums). The latest addition to the band members is Tobias Oja. A fun fact about the band is that their website is password protected – this sounds like very explicit contents.
Leach – New Model of Disbelief – Track by Track
The nine song album lasts 42 minutes.
1. Gone To Waste
Melodic, thrash and death metal – does that work? The Scandinavians reply “yes” to that question and already illustrate it in the opener Gone To Waste. The smart composition smoothly moves between different elements, driven by the husky voice of Markus Wikander, who is sometimes sharing dialog-alike parts with his bandmates. The opener is definitely promising and makes you look forward to the eight following tracks.
2. Under Siege
After the mix of genres in the opener, Under Siege presents a rougher and also faster sound. Joachim Dalström has a busy time behind his drum kit. The middle of the song also features a longer instrumental part featuring a riff firework. A treat for metalheads.
3. Slice Of Life
The three single releases of the album so far are all featured in the first four songs of the album. Thereby, Slice Of Life has been the latest publication of the band (in mid-March 2024). After the fast metal song, the track is slowing down the pace a bit and thereby has a more groovy touch. This is working out nicely, also due to the variable performance by Wikander on the microphone.
4. All Rise
All Rise comes with a catchy, rather hymnic chorus, which is driving the song. The guitar is going for a more melodic approach in this song as well. Again, the band is working with backing vocals again, which leads to a nice touch.
5. Pulse Of A Revolution
What would a metal album be without an epic track? Leach invites you to a seven minute listen for the fifth track of New Model of Disbelief. A rather quick, marching rhythm is driving the song. Overall, it stays on the rather dark side of the album. The song has a rather straight touch. A deeper plot would be favorable, though. After some five minutes, you keep enjoying the listen, but also count down the remaining time.
6. Nocebo
The style of Pulse Of A Revolution continues in Nocebo. However, with some four minutes, the sixth track is significantly more compact. The song feels more easy to digest, as it also comes with some nice melodic elements.
7. Throw The Torch
Throw The Torch might irritate a bit with a short, slow start – but just seconds later, Joachim Dahlström switches the drums to machine gun mode and the band drives the seventh track. The song tuns out being one of the gems of the album, showing a nice leverage of death metal and melodic elements. Nonetheless, there is a lot of energy in this track.
8. Chemical God
By adding some industrial metal sounds, Chemical God adds a nice additional flavor to the bouquet of the nine songs. The song has a slightly more sluggish touch, which does not harm an enjoyable listen.
9. Apathetic
Apathetic closes Leach’s 2024 album in a forceful way. A song which is made to push the crowd to metal ecstasy in one of the band’s shows. The 5:35 minute track has a lot of elements to have fun – including some sirens in the background.
Leach – New Model of Disbelief – Spotify
Here is the album on Spotify:
Leach – New Model of Disbelief – Track by Track
New Model of Disbelief is a really nice musical vital sign after the band’s 2021 Lovely Light of Life. Markus Wikander and his bandmates lovely compose different elements to a characteristic, forceful, but also very versatile sound. This overall leads to a very fluent and enjoyable listen. The album might not reach the Olymp of metal, but is much better than solid.
Favorite Song: Nocebo
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