Heavy Metal Reviews, France -
'Bloodlines' Album Review
"What doesn't kill you makes you
stronger" .. you must know this
expression (courtesy of
Nietzsche and covered by
METALLICA in "Broken, Beat &
Scarred"). Well, that's kind of
what listening to a lot of
recent albums by old NWOBHM
bands does to me. Bands like
ANGEL WITCH, DIAMOND HEAD,
MYTHRA, TYGERS OF PAN TANG went
through a very long hollow
period between the mid/late 80s
and the 2010's…either without
activity.. or with uninspired
music and far from their nuggets
of the 80s. And then the miracle
happened and these legendary
bands returned to the front of
the heavy metal scene with
fantastic albums .. which we
hoped for more to be honest.
Regarding the Tiger of Pan Tang,
this revival of form began in
2012 with the excellent "Ambush"
followed by "Tygers Of Pan Tang"
simple and effective and
especially "Ritual" in 2019
showing a group at its best n
not hesitating to diversify
their music and make it much
more interesting while keeping
their heavy English touch which
made us fall for the group with
"Wild Cat" and especially
"Spellbound". The line up was
solid with in particular a
singer .. Italian Jack Meille
really excellent and with a
powerful voice, warm and full of
feeling and of course Robb Weir
on guitar and the only survivor
of the original line-up but
still finding riffs magical.
Compared to the formation of
"Ritual", 2 newcomers: Huw
Holding on bass and Francesco
Marras on guitar, replacing the
very good Michael McCrystal who
had nevertheless strongly
contributed to the return to
form of the group since 2016 on
the album " eponym ".
So, what is hiding behind this
very beautiful and quite bloody
cover and this album title
"Bloodlines"? Pretty blue flower
love stories? Certainly not...
and we are quickly set with the
1st title "Edge Of The World"
picking up the things where the
musicians had left off on
"Ritual": an epic and catchy
heavy that takes us on a journey
that is both disturbing and
interesting: the riffs are
heavy, Craig Ellis swings a few
double bass drum pedal strokes
sounding like machine gun fire,
Jack Meille's voice is slightly
distorted with effect but the
melody is beautifully found as
on this chorus, and then d At
the outset the group offers us a
nice break on rather Hispanic
acoustic guitar followed by a
succession of solos inspired by
the 2 guitarists. We are
immediately reassured; the group
is coming back stronger than
ever with an inspiration always
there.
No time to breathe, the riffs of
"In My Blood" spit in my
speakers .. and name of Zeus
what a title !!!! It's very
simple, it's one of my favourite
tracks of recent years:
everything is perfect with in
the first place this catchy
riff, this addictive pre-chorus
("in my blood") and then this
chorus crazy "I'm living a lie I
can't be saved" .. an instant
heavy hit with not very happy
lyrics! And what about the 2
six-string duellists Robb Weir
and Francesco Marras having a
great time, each with a very
different sound and allowing
them to be clearly
differentiated.
Do you miss speed? Well take
this "Fire On The Horizon" in
the gums, neck-breaking fire
just like "Raise Some Hell" was
on "Ritual" and bringing us back
to the best of NWOBHM, with this
time the bass highlighted . It's
good !
The quintet lifts its foot a
little on "Light Of Hope", which
is sympathetic but may be the
weakest track on the disc.
The serious things return with
the excellent groovy "Back For
Good" starting with the bass of
Huw Holding and these very
fruitfull moans of Jack Meille
before the heavy guitars of Weir
and Marras swing a damn good
heavy riff during the chorus.
The verses are calmer with
Meille's voice so beautiful and
full of feeling. A bloody catchy
title demonstrating all the
talent of composition of the
Anglo-Italians including this
riff once again .. which kills.
The tempo increases slightly
with the very catchy nervous
"Kiss The Sky" led once again by
a very good riff. A title on
which the rhythmic work brings a
lot with a devilishly effective
heavy rock'n'roll side. Hard not
to tap your foot while shaking
the noggin!
The group has shown us in the
past that it knows how to lay
down very beautiful ballads and
the musicians do it again with
the very beautiful and poignant
"Taste Of Love" fitting like a
glove to the voice of Jack
Meille. The sweet side is well
dosed with a heavy sound of the
guitars always present and a
feeling in the vocals making the
hair stand on end.
The group makes us travel again
with the very nice and heavy
"Believe" with slightly oriental
sounds on the 1st guitar solo.
What I love about the Tygers of
the last 10 years is its ability
to lay down unstoppable hits
that are both heavy and so
catchy, a bit as if the TYKETTO
from “Forever Young” had eaten
a… Tiger! And that's exactly how
I feel listening to the
fantastic "A New Heartbeat"
(already presented by the band
in 2022 on the EP of the same
name). This title is
irresistible, with this chorus
and these powerful choirs.
In 2019, the English left us on
"Ritual" with a sublime epic
piece of more than 7 minutes,
"Sail On". This time, our tigers
favour pure emotion with this
poignant "Making All The Rules"
with chilling lyrics telling the
importance and the harmful
influence that we can have on
our kids, their life being
shaped by the life we offers
them during their first years
(this theme is similar to that
addressed by METALLICA on their
latest album "72 Seasons"). A
very beautiful title starting a
bit like SAVATAGE's "Handful Of
Rain". Moreover, the calm voice
of Jack Meille on this beginning
of the piece is somewhat
reminiscent of that of Zak
Stevens on the background of
these guitar arpeggios. The
emotion is palpable in Meille's
voice on these not very happy
lyrics, then the big heavy
guitars arrive as if to
underline anger towards this
often unjust life. This moving
piece plays on the dynamics
alternating between these calm
verses stuffed with emotion and
these rises in power with these
heavy guitar riffs. The soli are
played while feeling and touched
in a 1st time before a heavier
part with the newcomer Marras
showing his talents of shredders
but always leaving an important
part to the melody in his
interventions. What a great way
to end a remarkable album,
because yes, TYGERS OF PAN TANG
have once again hit the bull's
eye, with a perfectly balanced
record summarizing to perfection
what the group has been for ten
years by offering the best of
what they have been able to
offer on their last 3 albums:
direct heavy and catchy songs,
more worked pieces with a light
epic breath and moments full of
emotions.
A magnificent opus, simply among
the best released by the group.
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