Search - Jag Panzer :: The Scourge of The Light

For the original band members Harry Conklin
(vocals), Mark Briody (guitar) and John Tetley
(bass), Jag Panzer has always been a matter
close to their hearts. We ve known each other
from our earliest childhood and have never lost
sight of the idea that this band is based on,
Tetley explains. I don t exactly want to use the
term spiritual , but the three of us are connected
with this band by a very special relationship.
You could say that our lives are inseparably
linked with the history of Jag Panzer. Basically,
this heartfelt passion has always been
apparent in their songs, however: the American
band has never sounded as impressive, mature
and accomplished as on their latest album The
Scourge Of The Light (out on 28 February 2011
in Europe, 25 February 2011 in Germany, and
on 8 March 2011 in the US).
The reasons? Well, there are probably a number
of them. Without doubt, the band s two
main songwriters, guitarists Mark Briody and
Christian Lasegue, have never been in better
form. Every one of their extremely dynamic
riffs sounds haunting, every melody cuts their
listeners to the quick. It may sound like a contradiction,
but since guitarist Chris Broderick,
who was a band member between 1997 and
2007, left to join Megadeth, Jag Panzer have
returned to their old forte. There can be no
question that Chris Broderick is an amazing
guitarist, and we were really happy for him that
he got this chance with Megadeth. But we feel
that thanks to Christian Lasegue, Jag Panzer s
classic, clearly more melodic power metal style
has returned and that the fans will definitely
be happy about this. Tetley may well be right
since Jag Panzer s most recent studio recording
Casting The Stones (2004) was criticised,
especially in Europe, for its noticeably harsher
direction. We knew that Christian was the best
man for the job, after all he was a band member
for three years in the mid-1980s. But there are
other reasons, too, why The Scourge Of The
Light sounds so impressive. Despite their
limited production budget, Jag Panzer spared
neither cost nor effort to give their ten fantastic
new songs a driving, but always transparent
sound. For this reason, they asked Jim Morris
to mix the recordings at his legendary Morrisound
Studios in Florida and sent the result to
New York s renowned Sterling Sound for mastering.
The result is a real earcatcher, without
any ifs and buts: I feel The Scourge Of The
Light is the best-sounding album in the history
of Jag Panzer, Tetley rightly expresses his
pride in the product of his group s labours. It
all started when Mark really pushed the
envelope during the guitar recordings.
And that our friend Jim Morris subsequently
helped with the mix is fantastic,
of course.