Loud & Proud - 'Ritual' Review



We talk a lot about Brexit lately, but perhaps the most striking case of a successful collaboration between continental Europe (Italy, in this case) and the United Kingdom we have before our eyes. Let's take a step back, or rather two or three: at the beginning of the 2000s the Tygers of Pan Tang were living around, in the shadow of a distant splendor. Robb Weir had reformed the band after a break of more than ten years, but the success of the Eighties was little more than a memory. In 2004, surprisingly, the British band joined Jacopo Meille, an experienced Tuscan singer from the hard rocker Mantra. And, just as surprisingly, things start to work again, starting with the first ‘Animal Instinct’, a few years later. Fifteen years have passed since then, the records signed by Robb and Jacopo, with their - very valid - companions in adventure have become four, and neither energy nor enthusiasm hint to decrease. Energy and enthusiasm that come out of every single note of ‘Ritual’, a disc even more charged and groovy if compared to the previous ‘Tygers Of Pan Tang’. It will be the line-up, once fully confirmed, it will be the desire to return to compete on a stage as soon as possible, but today's Tygers have produced a direct and powerful record, in some ways almost gaunt, but as always very rich of melodies, those that make you want to sing all the refrains together with Jacopo. ‘Worlds Apart’ opens the album with an irrepressible grit, the same that we find in the more rollable ‘Raise Some Hell’ - also marked by the flamboyant guitarwork by Michael McCrystal. ‘Destiny’ is more immediate in its marked melodic lines, which prove to be winners instantly, like the crackling single 'White Lines', which sees the Tygers try their hand at more modern but always elegant atmospheres. Here, elegance can be the winning feature of today's band, with every musician who appears perfectly at ease in his role - Robb and Micky on guitars, Gav and the other veteran Craig on rhythm, Jacopo obviously at the voice ... And above all, today's Tygers of Pan Tang are always recognizable, despite their great sonic variety: they go from hard rock to melodic heavy metal without ceasing to convince - even the semi-ballad 'Words Cut Like Knives' is a center more that full ... When experience and compositional freshness meet, in the sign of the class, things can only go great. And "Ritual" is a record not only successful, but very successful. Appointment in front of a stage, don't miss it ...



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