Mean Mistreater Razor Wire CD/Vinyl Review

Earlier in 2024, the Texas band, Mean Mistreater released their debut full length album entitled Razor Wire. No doubt the band’s name was taken from a Grand Funk Railroad tune, which is a bonus to my old ass! For me this release was another one of those Holy Shit moments as the band is fronted by a female. I don’t want to make a big deal of it, but let’s cut the shit, it’s a joy to hear/see female fronted METAL bands. In the 80’s we had a few that were Glam oriented and while I do have a deep love for that, the heavier stuff like Warlock, Hellion and Chastain was some of the best stuff released in the 80’s from female artists, but I still don’t feel like they got the credit they deserved. Sadly, there haven’t been too many bands like Mean Mistreater that have made it past the Dive Bar stages, it’s always worth mentioning/celebrating when they get some credit and start making waves in the scene.
 
The band’s debut album, Razor Wire is 28 minutes of pummeling 80’s Metal akin to bands like Raven, W.A.S.P. and Lizzy Borden. It’s not for the faint at heart and if you’re looking for an album to hold hands and feel all mushy inside, this ain’t it! Razor Wire is all about power, fury and METAL! I catch myself bobbing my head and reminiscing the days of my youth where I’d just hang out in front of the stereo all day jamming on cassettes and records of W.A.S.P., Savatage, Dio and stuff like that.

Musically, Mean Mistreater reign down riffage in the vein of NWOBHM. If I’m being honest, you could’ve told me this album was released in 1984, and I wouldn’t have argued with you at all. If we’re talking current bands for similarity, Savage Master comes to mind save for the lyrical content – Mean Mistreater don’t do Occult type lyrics, it’s all about living life full throttle and the lifestyle of a Rock Warrior.

While this entire album is a highlight, the stand outs here for me are “Razor Wire”, “Waiting to Die”, “Let’em Roll”, “Bleeding the night” and “One by one”. But there’s not a moment on this album that you want to miss, this was without a doubt one of the best releases of 2024. And get this, the band self-released this album! And there’s records and CDS still to be had on the band’s bandcamp page. It was recently announced that the band will be releasing a new album in February of 2025 – “Do Or Die”! This one will be released via Dying Victims Productions. Do yourself a favor, check the band out, grab a record and dig in! Mean Mistreater is a band for real Metal fans, there's no growling, no hair spray and no gimmicks, just fist-pumping Metal!!!

~Black Angel