Jag Panzer

Jag Panzer probably doesn't need much of an introduction. While the legendary Ample Destruction has become a staple release out of the bands success, this EP rightfully gets quite a bit of acknowledgment from a lot of fans as well. Every band has a beginning and the dark venture here was this Jagdpanzer tank's intro to the world of stardome. (From here on AD = Ample Destruction, just to shorten it for simplicity).

This EP really is a great piece of classic heavy metal, a very essential release I'd recommend to any Jag Panzer fan or just metal in general. Very NWOBHM influenced with a tone of its own, this was somewhat of a precursor to what AD would become. The general feel to the music is rather dark and sometimes evil thanks to the production, which is extremely top notch for an EP. Most songs on here are heavy mid-tempo tracks and sometimes pretty fast for 1984, all the guitar riffs and rhythms come out very swiftly and are fairly original along with some great solo's. Then there's the almighty Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin whom I'm sure you've all seen me praise by now, but just like Cyriis on Agent Steel's debut, Conklin hadn't completely perfected his craft just yet and at times has these odd "raspy" notes that come out pretty weird. This is especially prominent all over Metal Melts the Ice (the screams sound really distant and odd too). Even so, Conklin delivers one hell of a performance and you just can't help but love the aggression he brings in to the music (check out that scream at the start of Death Row, "Hear the sound like a battering RAAAAM!"). Everything and everyone is definitely in place here.

Battle Zones, Death Row, and Metal Melts The Ice are great dark NWOBHM styled offerings, while I believe Iron Shadows hints to what kind of direction they'd take with AD. Somehow even Conklin's vocals tend to sound magically more professional on this track as well. The song is very driven by the guitars and the catchy mesmerizing harmonies, hooks, and leads, which was a huge focus for several tracks on AD, comparable to tracks like Warfare and The Watching. It might be easiest to say if this song appeared on AD, it wouldn't have been out of place at all. The final track Tower of Darkness I'm assuming was just copied over from their 1981 demo where it first appeared, since the production is a bit thinner on it. It's a simpler track and symbolic for its time, rockin' and really classy with some great vocals from the Tyrant.

For those who still haven't picked up Ample Destruction, the most common bootleg of that album these days is from 'No Posers' in which this EP is added to the disc at the end for bonus tracks. So if you don't have either I'd definitely recommend picking that up, doesn't fetch for a whole lot either. This is a fine piece of heavy metal history and should be looked into for fans of any kind. If you don't the Tyrant may hunt you down with his nail-spiked bat!