Pros: Great riffs, orchestration, originality, and pure power
Cons: Not easy listening (takes a while to digest), last song is awkward
The Bottom Line: Great for people that think Dream Theater would be better if they were heavier. Love or hate Jag Panzer, there's no denying it's in a class of its own.
metalking's Full Review: Mechanized Warfare by Jag Panzer
For those of you who don’t know (which is many,) Jag Panzer is a progressive power metal band from Colorado. They use keyboards, pounding drums, a Rob Halford sound-a-like, pure metal riffs, and great solos. It all fits together very, very well. Every member just sounds great, and Mechanized Warfare is no exception. They like to use harmonies, both in the guitars and soaring vocals, while still maintaining originality. This band had moderate underground success in the 1980s and then disappeared. After a long absence, they resurfaced in 1994 with Dissident Alliance and have made plenty of solid albums since.
After looking at the awesome artwork and decent booklet, I pop in the CD. After many careful listens, here it is, track-for-track:
1. Take to the Sky- Wow. Starting out with a heavy riff on top of some keyboard, it gets into a solid groove almost immediately. Right away, you know what kind of music you’re dealing with here—original, progressive heavy metal. Harry Conklin’s Halford-like voice sounds flawless here. The anthem-like chorus shouts “Take to the Sky…….Ten Miles High.” This is one of the songs that delivers a good rush to the listener from the beginning. After five minutes, it fades out with the chorus, leaving you with the feeling of “Holy crap, this was money well spent.”
All right—let’s pause the review here for a second. Take to the Sky is probably the only song that will grab listeners on first impression. For the average listener, the other songs seem to fall flat, when in reality, they just take more spins on the CD to get used to. If you only like straight-up, simple metal, stop right here. In all honesty, Jag Panzer isn’t a typical heavy metal band; there are plenty of musical change-ups and complex structures that turn off quite a few people, which is why this band will never be a big name. I originally typed this review after two listens, and decided to let the impressions sit on me. In retrospect, my original review proved to be a bit too harsh than what this album deserves, and have revised it a bit.
2. Frozen in Fear- Switching gears slightly here, this starts out pretty fast with some complex guitar and drum work. This one leans more towards power metal with the long note being sung over double bass. Not an easy listen, as most of Jag Panzer takes a while to get into anyway. If you’re not in the mood for a busy song here, you might skip this one, but don’t ignore it—the guitar runs should have you raising your eyebrows when you’re ready to listen.
3. Unworthy- Completely different intro. Monk chanting of “Alleluia, Jesu Christi” fades into an acoustic guitar with a female voice flying above the guitar. You’d think you just bought a Cathedral Concert CD here until the dual lead guitars remind you what you’re really listening to. We then get a tiny verse of a power ballad, back to a little Monk chanting—and then wham! Heavy metal takes over here, and the best part is, while the harmonies sound they could be a page out of Iron Maiden or In Flames, it’s all very original, and in a class of its own.
4. The Silent- Very effective guitar harmonies—again, could sound like Iron Maiden or In Flames (or Megadeth as another online review mentioned), yet a style that stands alone very well in the hands of Jag Panzer. From thrashy to melodic and back, there’s plenty for the ear to digest.
5. Scarlet Letter- Very Judas Priest sounding of the Judas Priest songs that start off with vocals right away hissing an intro line. I dislike those songs that have to start off the vocals right away, but it’s tolerable. The vocals go for a swelling classical sound on the bridge of the chorus, which turned me off. Add in a highly repetitive riff and it’s a pretty mediocre song in my opinion, although most fans disagree.
6. Choir of Tears- Sebastian Bach is borrowed from here in the immediate lead guitar intro. Musically, it takes an about-face to a driving riff against a classical vocal line. There’s quite of bit of intensity captured in the recording, and it’s interesting. Plenty of musical change-ups go back and forth from one idea to another, and then back again. The change-ups are all good, though—just not easy listening. Listen for a neat musical nod to Dream Theater at 2:40.
7. Cold is the Blade (And the Heart that Wields It)- A lot of orchestration here, done very well. A typical mid-tempo metal intro is sprinkled with keyboard effects, complete with the complex rhythm changes. Frankly, this song wouldn’t have worked without the awesome production prevalent in this disc. Jim Morris at Morrisound studios complete the band’s slick sound. Halfway through, we’re treated to an excellent instrumental break here, with violins and Maiden-esque guitar harmonies. Lots and lots of music change-ups here, and they’re all great, but I’m repeating myself, and you’ve probably already guessed it. Here, it works well to escape the boringness of most mid-tempo songs in heavy metal that just seems to plod along.
8. Hidden in My Eyes- More of the same—lots of musical changes, but the tempo keeps a steady walking speed. Killer guitar solo in the middle keeps an otherwise fairly repetitive song fresh.
9. Power Surge- Judas Priest! From the main riff to the first vocal line, it’s Priest all the way. It then flawlessly merges into an all-original Jag Panzer sound, complete with a long guitar solo. I expected a song called “Power Surge” to bit a bit faster, but oh well—it’s still very cool.
10. All Things Renewed- Surprisingly, this is pretty flowery. John Lennon could have written this, and it sounds really out of place with the record. It blasts into melodic metal, then right back to flower-child song writing. The momentum is really awkward. Perhaps it’s trying too hard to be progressive? Ideally, a record should sag in the middle if it does, but it seems to come at the end here. If that weren’t bad enough, the 7-minute song actually ends at 5 minutes and 30 seconds. At 6 minutes and 13 seconds, I hear a crackle of an old record—it’s an old, folky arrangement of the melody, complete with an old piano! Ugh. Weird weird weird. A horrible, awkward, disorienting end to what was an excellent heavy metal album. Maybe someone was having too much fun the studio after hours? I don’t know.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.