Chastain is a traditional heavy metal band, formed by Cincinnati, Ohio native guitar wizard, David T. Chastain, back in 1984. David is known as a pier to other guitar heroes, such as Steve Vai, Vinnie Moore, Joe Satriani, and their likes. He has also been in several bands, is a highly acclaimed producer, and has released a slew of solo albums. The band Chastain might mostly be known for the fact that it is one of the very few, and also one of the first, metal acts to have a female vocalist.

RULER OF THE WASTELAND (1986, 2008) SHRAPNEL RECORDS

Chastain is just one of many classic metal bands that I have been aware of since the 80's, but that I never got around to check out back then. Then HammerFall covered "Angel Of Mercy" from this album, and my interest was peaked once again. But getting my hands on the album, or any other 80's album with Chastain, turned out to be harder than I first imagined. Luckily Shrapnel Records reissued this gem in 2008. And with a little help from an online acquaintance (thanks, Tom!), I finally got a hold on the CD.

Chastain was a very typical 80's metal band, with some very a-typical features. The most prominent difference being "Leather" Leone's vocals, of course. She was one of the toughest sounding female singers in metal back then, only rivaled by Doro (Warlock), I guess. Then you have David's shredding guitar wizardry. He is just as good as some of his contemporaries, like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Vinnie Moore, to name a few. Still, David always remained the underdog. Perhaps that is due to his heavy music. Unlike most of the melodic neo-classical and/or instrumental shredding stuff these other guys were recording during the 80's, David's Chastain was all metal, through and through. Some of the songs are so heavy, one might even put a power prefix in front of  the metal tag too. Just listen to the title track on this, the bands second album. Yes, 'Ruler Of The Wasteland' is the real deal. This is pummeling heavy metal that hits you like a ton of bricks. There is a certain epic feel to the material, that suits the dungeons & dragon's imagery of the band, and the lyrics, just fine. "Leather" Leone lives up to her stage name, and delivers an aggressive vocal approach that doesn't stand back to anything her male piers did at the time, or have done since. In fact, back in 1984, if I didn't already know it was a female singer, I probably wouldn't even have thought twice about it. The songs are well written, and the memory ability factor is high. Most of the songs are of the speedier variety. But songs like "Angel Of Mercy" works well for balancing out the album's pace. I must also mentioned the skilled drumming from Fifth Angel drummer, Ken Mary. All this makes up for a brilliant heavy metal album, and I am definitely gonna be on the lookout for more titles from this excellent band.

The 2008 reissue that I own comes in a digi-pack, without a booklet, but with liner-notes and a song-by-song- rundown, written by the man, David T. Chastain himself, printed on the inside of the cover. There are also 2 demo tracks added as a bonus.

Killer tracks: Ruler Of The Wasteland, One Day To Live, Angel Of Mercy, The Battle Of Nevermore

Ken Mary guest appearances:

KenZiner - 'Timescape' (as songwriter and producer)

KenZiner - 'The Prophecies' (as songwriter and producer)

Ken Mary guest appearances:

Ken Tamplin - 'An Axe To Grind'

Vicious Rumors, Lääz Rockit, Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, Impellitteri, King Diamond, KenZiner