Metal Nightfall, France
(Author: Dark Beagle) -
'Bloodlines' Album Review
Even if it means rambling a bit,
if the TYGERS OF PAN TANG have
long had cult band status, they
owe it to "Spellbound" which, in
addition to being a remarkable
album, is also a cornerstone of
the New Wave Of British Heavy
Metal (NWOBHM). What surrounds
it isn't fantastic and the
closer you get to the 1987
split, the worse it gets. When
Robb Weir decided to give the
beast a shine at the end of the
last millennium, many thought he
was crazy, especially since
"Mystical", released in 2001
with Tony Liddell on vocals, was
not as maddening as that. . But
Weir could count on the old
guard who had given him a
triumphant welcome at Wacken.
After a glaring casting error (Richie
Wicks) and a "Noise From The
Cathouse" which could have
caused the dissolution of the
group, the arrival of Jacopo
Meille behind the microphone
will have done a lot of good for
a formation which was losing all
its bearings. Better still, his
vocal abilities have made it
possible to reconnect with a
sharper style and to release
albums clearly stamped Heavy
Metal, more in line with what is
expected of them. Since "Animal
Instinct", the TYGERS are solid
and do not deserve even if
everything is not perfect. But
this institution is certainly
living its best life playing the
music it should have been
practicing after "Spellbound"
rather than giving in to the
demands of a record label that
knows little about respecting
fans.
"Bloodlines" is the feline's
thirteenth album, the fifth with
Meille on vocals. The cover
presents us with the famous
tiger, in a bath of blood as if
he had given us a feeding frenzy
like a school of sharks not far
from a shipwreck. This jacket
has a little disturbing side, a
kind of unequivocal crass
brutality. Especially since it
announces a color that the disc
does not quite have: it is far
from being as definitive and
bloodthirsty, far from it! No,
the TYGERS OF PAN TANG formula
is a very melodic Heavy Metal
that bridges a glorious past and
a more current sound.
Between "Ritual" and
"Bloodlines", there were some
staff changes, Michael McCrystal
(guitar) and Gav Gray (bass)
gave way to Francesco Marras
(SCREAMING SHADOWS) and Huw
Holding (known for having
frequented a few tribute bands
to IRON MAIDEN) without that
changing much. The group
continues in the line of
"Ritual", by refining however
what deserved to be. We thus
obtain a more solid album, very
varied since each piece has an
identity of its own. We quickly
guess the work put into the
composition so as not to offer
the same style of song twice and
make us travel throughout the
ten tracks.
"Edge Of The World" picks us up
cold and that's a good thing:
riff both classic and current,
vocals tampered with at times, a
luminous chorus that
counterbalances the darker
aspect of the verses... We have
one of the best pieces of this
2023 cuvée, which is not stingy
on this side. If the melody
remains the absolute mistress of
the Tigers (and not these evil
wizards, see the work of Michael
Moorcock), it can sometimes find
itself martyred when the group
decides to play it speed ("Fire
On The Horizon" and its side
JUDAS PRIEST assumed), or on the
contrary, honoured when he gets
down to a ballad or assimilated
("Taste Of Love", too classic,
but above all a "Making All The
Rules" successful from start to
finish).
Father Weir continues to have
strong ideas for his training,
he composes with one eye on the
rear view mirror and the other
well on the road that passes in
front of him, not getting stuck
in a bygone era to only vibrate
the fibre nostalgia, which is in
any case involved when we evoke
a group that has marked its time
in its own way. It would not be
honest to turn into a tribute
band of your own combo, so this
desire to move forward, to seek
to be current without forcing is
most appreciable.
"Bloodlines" is well thought out
in its evolution. The group
offers a lot of mid-tempo, an
exercise on which it is
particularly relevant, but it
varies the pleasures in terms of
pure writing. As we have seen,
the opening is intended to be
quite ambitious in idea, but it
is not symptomatic of this album
which will offer sometimes more
oppressive titles ("In My
Blood") to be more playful and
Rock'n'Roll as hell a little
further ("Back For Good").
Without going all over the
place, "Bloodlines" is very
varied, which makes it very
pleasant to listen to, without
forgetting that the musicians
deliver a very professional,
solid and efficient work.
We may criticize the production
for lacking harshness at times,
it remains very clean, a little
too much perhaps when we
appreciate them more organic; it
is counterbalanced by the ideas
which regularly fuse and which
reveal a group which is far from
having said everything in the
matter, between racy Hard Rock
and solid Heavy Metal. It is
only if we realize that Meille
has taken fifteen years in the
face since his arrival in 2008
as his voice is so fluid and
dynamic. He delivers, as usual,
a solid performance and if he
will always have trouble
replacing Deverill in the hearts
of old fans, he will not have to
be ashamed of his work within
the TYGERS.
More complete and interesting
than "Ritual", "Bloodlines"
proves that the feline still has
its fangs, that it is not ready
to stop its hunt. Some groups
have not had the success they
should have deserved at one
time, the fault of questionable
career choices or an inability
to remain interesting when the
musical landscape changes and
TYGERS OF PAN TANG is one of
them. But unlike some formations
that never really recover or
that disappear and sink into
oblivion, the Robb Weir band
proves that redemption and
recognition can go hand in hand,
producing solid and interesting
records, including this
"Bloodlines “is not just a
stooge.
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