Lizzy Borden Murderous Metal Roadshow Review
Lizzy Borden
Murderous Metal Road Show Reissue/Remaster
Brutal Planet Records
2026
I don’t often get to drop truth bombs about bands that actually shaped my DNA, but thanks to Brutal Planet Records, that day has finally arrived. As part of their Exclusive Metal Icon Series, the label is unleashing a double-vinyl reissue of Murderous Metal Road Show by Lizzy Borden, and yes, this one matters.
There will be three variants, with the crown jewel limited to 200 copies featuring an autographed set list from Lizzy himself. The album has been remastered, preorders are live, and it hits at the end of May. If you’re even remotely serious about Heavy Metal collecting, you already know this isn’t optional.
Most real Borden fans already own this in every conceivable format - vinyl, CD, VHS, DVD.
Hi. It’s me. I’m THAT fan.
I’ve been devoted to this band since the debut of “Give 'Em the Axe”. Back in ’84, backed by Metal Blade Records, Lizzy and his band of axe-wielding maniacs didn’t just join the Metal scene, they carved their name into it. Every town, every stage, every night: total commitment. No half-measures. No pretending.
Sure, by modern standards the blood, guillotines, and theatrical Horror could be called cheesy, but that misses the point entirely. It was sincere. It was larger than life. And we Headbangers devoured it like starving animals and begged for more.
Let me be crystal clear: Lizzy Borden is one of my top five Metal vocalists and songwriters of all time. The operatic delivery, the glass-cutting falsettos, the instinctive melodic sense, the man was born knowing exactly how to command both a song and a stage. And decades later, he still sounds unfairly good.
This live record is proof.
I’ve owned “Murderous Metal Road Show” since 1986. My original copy is still pristine, and I grabbed the VHS and DVD the moment they existed. Collecting Borden isn’t a hobby, it’s a condition. My shelves are packed with everything I can get my hands on, and I regret absolutely nothing.
Now, about this reissue.
The original performance was recorded on a shoestring budget, meaning there was no money to fix mistakes later. No studio patch-ups. No safety nets. What you hear is exactly what happened - raw, dangerous and alive.
This is live Metal in its purest form.
The new mastering by Rob Colwell tightens and sharpens the recording without sanding off its teeth. It sounds bigger, clearer, but still appropriately feral.
The setlist pulls heavily from “Love You to Pieces” alongside the debut EP, plus a cover of “Live and Let Die”, performed years before Guns N' Roses made it mainstream Metal currency, and yes, Borden’s version still wins. The live versions of “Love You To Pieces” and what should be every Metal fan in America’s anthem “American Metal” are to die for… The closing studio tracks “Dead Serious” and “(Wake Up) Time To Die” remain a perfect teaser of what was coming next, exactly as they felt back then: promises of escalation.
Lineups have shifted over the decades, but the core of Lizzy and his brother Joey Scott has endured. And for my money, this incarnation captured on “MMRS” is the definitive one, the chemistry is explosive and undeniable.
Frankly, Lizzy Borden never received the universal reverence he deserved. I’ve never understood why. The voice, the songs, the spectacle, the commitment, what else could a metal fan possibly want?
Some bands are influential.
Some bands are cult favorites.
And some bands become part of your bloodstream.
Lizzy Borden belongs to the last category - a phenomenon that should have been celebrated worldwide, and for those of us who were there, always has been.
“You’ve got to bleed, you've got to bleed American Metal”!