JAG PANZER — The Scourge of the Light (review)

JAG PANZER — The Scourge of the Light album cover Album · 2011 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
The Block
The Book of Kells

It seems that today’s metal world is over stuffed with progressive, death, and power metal. With all this it is hard to find a band that is original, plays good, and makes you want to listen to them. After being around for 27 odd years, Jag Panzer has still found a way to do all these things, and it has accumulated into this: “The Scourge of the Light”.

With traces of bands such as Savatage and Iron Maiden it is hard not to like this album. What’s great about it, though, is not the sound, but the style. Jag Panzer plays power metal like the heavy metal of the 1980’s, but with a few twists such as great keyboard work by Mark Briody, that brings in an Iron Maiden like feel, and some nice clean guitars by Christian Lasegue. Another thing that I like about this album is that it is not cheesy at all. Every single one of the songs on this album are well thought out and don’t fall into any genre clichés that many bands seem to find themselves trapped in these days. But, I guess since Jag Panzer has been around for so long they can easily bypass these things.

One complaint I have is some of the songs, like ‘Union’ for example, seem a bit repetitive. They repeat the chorus a little too much and make the song just one big chorus. But, the vocals by Harry Conklin are top notch on this track, so it basically wipes out any complaints that I have. The 8 minute mini-epic ‘The Book of Kells’ is perhaps my favorite song on “The Scourge of the Light” mainly for the small bit of progressive leanings it has. The beginning vocals by Harry Conklin are top notch and blend nicely into the harmony section with what sounds like a chorus in the background. The guitars are also very good in this song, offering up a nice drive to it. The tempo of this song is also brought way, way down, really changing up the feeling of the album, and creating a nice creative tone.

The production is perfectly done by Jim Morris of Morrisound Studios, so there’s nothing more to say there except great job.

Not only has this album given me reason to look at Jag Panzer’s earlier albums, but it is also the best power metal I’ve heard this year. It has something for every fan of traditional heavy metal, power metal, or even progressive metal. For this great release Jag Panzer gets 4 stars.
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