Metal A Day - 'Ritual' Review


TYGERS OF PAN TANG HAVE ALREADY BEEN A WILD CAT - NOW THEY ARE MORE A TEMPERATED FAMILY THAT WAS ABLE TO SHOW, SMOKE SMOOTH AND SHUT THE CLOTHES IN A CHANGE.


Ritual is more bleak and dark than the self-titled predecessor of 2017. It is seen both on the album cover and heard on the songs. It dresses them with more heaviness, and thankfully the songs are still easy to sing along to. It's clear that Tygers Of Pan Tang can still do their stuff.


Although there are many good uptempo rock songs with excellent guitar solos and lyrical passages, fortunately there is room for the quiet ballads "Words Cuts Like Knives" and "Love Will Find A Way". They are graceful and adorable like "Angel In Disguise" and "I Got The Music In Me" from the self-titled predecessor.


Already on the first track, "Worlds Apart", you feel the band's presence and energy.
On "Spoils Of War" the drums especially play a dominant role. There are old marching drums, which might sound like something Sabaton had just made better. The guitar solo also takes cones - there's almost a strike.
"The Art Of Noise" is also one of my favorites because it perfectly shows how "noise" turns into art.


There is only one original band member left from 1978 and the debut of Wild Cat (from 1980), which is the one guitarist Robb Weir. The other four have come along, most recently the second guitarist, Micky Crystal, who stepped aboard in 2013. The number of former members rounds up as many as 20 (!) Different people. That's because there have been four vocalists, four bassists, five drummers and seven guitarists. It is a bit overwhelming, so you may want to discuss whether it is still "Tygers Of Pan Tang" or whether they should have changed their name along the way. But that's just a detail.


Tygers fill their own shoes, which one would think they never wore other footwear. With this record, I also do not think that they put the clogs just for the time being. But can not hear at all that these are some half-old men, and this is their 13th (!) Studio album - they still have a playful joy and talent, so you would think they were still in their 30s - also live . At Nordic Noise 2017 and 2019 I saw Tygers and I was very impressed with their level. Their genre "new wave of British heavy metal" (NWOBHM) may not be so new anymore, but they still play as if they were in their twenties.


Tygers Of Pan Tang is classic "father-rock", but not in the lazy, semi-boring, deceptive, flat and brooding way - but the cool way in which the father plays music from his youth to his child. Such a father you want yourself.


At Ritual, Tygers are in top form with speed across the field and in full jump, but they are also a bit cryptic, mysterious and hidden, which are good qualities for a tiger and a rock band.



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