Metal na Lata
- 'Ambush (2020 Reissue)' Review
by Marcelo Vieira
The year started neither smooth
nor favourable for Tygers of Pan
Tang. Despite having released,
on November 20, 2019, the
impeccable “Ritual”, the group
entered in 2020 saying goodbye
to the main responsible for
updating their sound, the guitar
prodigy Micky Crystal. In
addition to the fall, the recoil
(at world levels): without being
able to tour or get together to
compose new music - and without
a substitute for Crystal,
although tests are already
underway -, Jacopo Meille
(vocals), Robb Weir (guitar), Gav Gray (bass) and Craig Ellis
(drums) decided to bet on an
early re-release of “Ambush”,
their 2012 album, with a new
remastering and four bonus
tracks.
In many ways - obviously
neglecting the unfair
competition that would be
compared to the classic
"Spellbound" and "Crazy Nights"
(both from 1981) - "Ambush" is
of paramount importance in
Tygers discography. First, the
record was the last with
guitarist Dean Robertson, who
would skip it the following year
after more than a decade of good
service. It was also the last of
the band produced by Chris
Tsangarides (1956-2018), a
professional relationship that
dates back to the beginnings of
the New Wave of British Heavy
Metal. On the other hand,
“Ambush” marks Gray's debut and,
from the point of view of the
art critic who lives in me, the
resumption of good taste in the
choice of cover - kept in the
2016 album of the same name, to
this day the best in the group.
Musically, "Ambush" shows the
first signs of the uneasiness
that would lead Tygers to seek
the middle ground between the
old and the new in the following
works. That said, part of the
repertoire leans on the proven
effectiveness, and sometimes and
inevitably, dated from NWOBHM
clichés, from primary riffs - if
that were bad, AC / DC would not
have had the brilliant career it
had - and built solos about the
pentatonic friend. In terms of
letters, maturity is much more
in content than in form, as when
great works of world literature
are summarized and adapted for
university students or those in
a hurry.
But without a doubt the biggest
attraction for those who did not
buy “Ambush” eight years ago is
the inclusion of the
unprecedented “Cruel Hands of
Time”, which, even under the
condition of a studio surplus,
outshines in quality at least
half of the sounds that compose
the original tracklist. See the
clip below, directed by Ellis,
try to argue against this one
that speaks to you, and fail
miserably: without knowing that
it was possible, Tygers released
one of the most exciting songs
in metal in 2020. Never before
in 2012, when it was cleaned
from the album , they could
imagine that.
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