TYGERS OF PAN TANG – Ambush

Shane | 28 September 2012 | Reply

Label: Rocksector Records
Released: 24 September 2012
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Whilst the A listers of the British New Wave Of British Heavy Metal have gone out of their way to distance themselves from the label (Iron Maiden, Def Leppard), it lies to the second level of those pioneers to continue to fly the flag for the late 70’s- early 80’s old school metal sound.

Of course, Heavy Metal circa 1981/1983 bears very little in common with the 2012 vintage – even AC/DC was considered “metal” in those days, whereas nowadays we’re all educated enough to know that we can call bands of this ilk hard or heavy rock if we want to avoid associating them with a thousand church-burning, satan-advocating, mask-wearing, sword-wielding gangs of crushingly extreme miscreants.

Tygers Of Pan Tang 2012 feature only guitarist Robb Weir from the very early days, but his steady hand ensures things stay authentic and the signature Tygers Of Pan Tang sound is adhered too, with able help from vocalist Jacopo Meille, guitarist Dean Robertson, bassist Gavin Gray and Craig Ellis handling drums & percussion.

With fantastic cover art courtesy of Rodney Matthews and the normal exemplary production from The Dark Lord Chris Tsangarides, Ambush is as good as anything these Tygers have served up over their long career.

Classy hard rockers These Eyes, Rock & Roll Dream, Man On Fire, the smouldering Burning Desire and Mr Indispensible all impress with their immediacy and vibrancy, Weir’s guitar shooting razor sharp solos and the band sounding like they know exactly where they’re going and what they want to be doing there.

Following on from 2008’s equally impressive Animal Instinct, Ambush finds the Tygers Of Pan Tang in rude health and amidst a very exciting career resurgence.

www.tygersofpantang.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tygers-Of-Pan-Tang/25781684638?ref=ts
Rocksector Records: www.rocksector.com