Tygers of Pan Tang Tygers of Pan Tang 2016 Mighty Music Records Tygers of Pan Tang are a Heavy Metal band that rose to prominence in the highly influential New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement in the early 1980’s. With an ever changing roster of members, founding member and long serving guitarist Robb Weir now leads the Tygers of Pan Tang who are best known for releasing the NWOBHM classics, Wild Cat, released in 1980 and 1981’s brilliant Spellbound. Over the course of their career, Tygers of Pan Tang have disbanded and reformed multiple times, but since 2004, they have managed to keep a relatively stable line-up. Tygers of Pan Tang is the eponymous latest release by the band and their 11th studio album overall. Tygers of Pan Tang is also the follow up to the fantastic 2012 album, Ambush. The magic that was captured for Ambush is still present 4 years later with a line-up that hasn’t changed consisting of Jacopo Meille on vocals, Robb Weir and Micky Crystal on the guitars and Gavin Gray and Craig Ellis completing the rhythm section on the bass and drums. As with a lot of the NWOBHM bands recently, Tygers of Pan Tang have opted to produce the album themselves with a sound that oozes a classic NWOBHM sound with a modern twist. That aside, Tygers of Pan Tang is far from a nostalgia trip, it shows a band that isn’t content to rest on the laurels of the past with some tracks having a more accessible Hard Rock sound such as the infectious I Got the Music in Me, in which Meille shows how groovy and soulful his voice is. Only the Brave is the album’s opening track and the single from Tygers of Pan Tang. Only the Brave continues to capture the sound from Ambush with its hooks and extremely catchy and melodic chorus. Only the Brave treads a fine line between the Tygers of Pan Tang of the past and the modern sound, for the example, the riff is classic Tygers of Pan Tang, that wouldn’t be out of place on Wild Cat, however, Meille’s vocals are far superior to Jess Cox’s rather weak and weedy voice and it is this that once more, fully makes the album. As stated above, there are tracks on Tygers of Pan Tang that would be out of place on Spellbound, but there is more to Tygers of Pan Tang than just another NWOBHM band recapturing their youth. From the Mr. Big sounding Dust to the more almost Black Keys style breakdown in Glad Rags, purposely built for the live environment. There are songs on Tygers of Pan Tang which show a totally different side to the band, the sublime slow burning ballad, The Reason Why and Angel in Disguise not only show the experience behind Tygers of Pan Tang, but also shows that they are not afraid to try something a little different to what people would normally expect. In a year where NWOBHM bands have bounced back with a vengeance, releasing albums that not only challenge themselves, but lay down the gauntlet to the younger bands, Tygers of Pan Tang may not be as good as Diamond Head’s eponymous album or Steve Grimmet’s Grim Reaper’s Walking in the Shadows, but it is certainly up there. Tygers of Pan Tang falls just below their last album Ambush and that’s certainly not a bad place to be! 8/10 Adam Only the Brave (Tygers of Pan Tang)
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