Tygers of Pan Tang – Ritual

7/10

Tygers of Pan Tang is that classic middle of the road-band of the NWOBHM-bag, the one that’s neither one of the legends or one of the obscure diamonds, but just was always there, and was always great. So even these days, their 2016 release Tygers of Pan Tang was nothing but one of the very best albums in their career.  Ritual picks up on that track and gives us another album of melodic heavy metal with the right energy, the right sound and the right songs!

What strikes me are how memorable these songs are. Few bands who had their heydays almost 40 years ago can come up with hit tunes like Worlds Apart, Destiny, Rescue Me, Raise Some Hell, Love Will Find A Way and Sail On. But Tygers of Pan Tang pulls is off! Compared to something closely related like the latest Blitzkrieg album, this is way more memorable and not just a bunch of decent heavy metal tunes, but instead some really good ones!

There’s only one downside: the lack of variation. Because even though every song on this album is powerful and strong, it all gets a bit muddled together at the end. Most songs have the same build up and rhythm, and that only works in metal if you make a real powerhouse like Painkiller or Reign In Blood. But of course, I don’t ask of Ritual to be something like those albums. What I ask of it is simply to be a really good piece of classic metal, like a Tygers of Pan Tang album should be. And it is. So way to go, tygers, I’m so glad you are still around kicking ass!

Artist: Tygers of Pan Tang
Title: Ritual
Label: Mighty Music
Date of release: 22/11-19
Time: 52,59
Rating: 7/10
Standout track: Raise Some Hell