TYGERS OF PAN TANG RETURN WITH RITUAL

Here are some of the new releases that drop today.

Tygers Of Pan Tang – Ritual

A few years back the band shocked me with the release of a self-titled release. What’s typical for bands of their pedigree is to release a paint by numbers album that copies what made them popular back in the day.

For the second release straight, I am pleased to say they have not. Ritual is a continuation of their self-titled album from back in 2016. It goes straight for the jugular as if they’re a band that’s still hungry and out to prove something.

Which to me is highly commendable, and a reason for me to have a hard time taking the album out of my daily rotation. Great vocals, great guitar work, great everything, what more could you want?

A must-have for anyone that’s a fan of the band.

Void Vator – Stranded

We usually list re-releases and EPs at the bottom, but Void Vator’s Erik Kluiber has been all over my podcast and Talking Metal for a year, so I figured, why not help an old friend out? The EP was released earlier this year on various streaming services, and it is now available as a physical release.

It also features two new tracks that were previously unavailable. This is the band’s heaviest and rawest release to date, if you’ve dug their music in the past, this one will really get you.

Skyblood – Skyblood

You’ve heard Mats Leven lend his vocal talents to bands like Candlemass, Therion, Krux, Yngwie Malmsteen, and At Vance, but Skyblood is his first solo album. We featured a video for the track “The Voice” a few weeks back. This is just straight-up heavy metal with Mats’ signature sound all over it. Check it out if you’re a fan of his previous work.

Avatarium – The Fire I Long For

How many times have I brought up in the past few weeks a great Swedish band that I’m just finding out about? Here’s another, they’ve been around for six years, and are listed as a doom metal band, but their leanings are more of a hard rock or heavy metal band from what I’ve heard off of The Fire I Long For.

There are plenty of other women that are fronting metal bands, but there are so many clones, what I like about Jennie-Ann Smith’s vocals is they’re unique, it’s something you wouldn’t expect from a band this heavy, and it just works. Dark, heavy, yet melodic, and captivating vocals, no matter what label you place on it, it’s just good music.

This is the band’s fourth full-length album, and to add a little back story, the band was started by Candlemass’ Leif Edling, and was originally supposed to have Opeth’s frontman Mikael Akerfeldt within its ranks.

Redline – Gods And Monsters

Any time a band says they’re from Birmingham, England there are going to be comparisons to some of the biggest names in hard rock and metal. When your hometown has sprouted Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest, you’re always going to be fighting an uphill battle to carve out your own niche.

The band has done just that, taking what is old, and makes it new, they sound closer to a hard rock band like Dokken from a musical standpoint than any of the bands I’ve referenced above. But they’ve put a modern twist on the sound of their music, without sounding like corporate radio rock.

The vocals are unique sounding, without being able to pinpoint an exact influence, but the power is closer to Graham Bonnet or a Geoff Tate, than a Don Dokken. The combined sound is very unique.

Here are some other releases that may interest you.

William Patrick Corgan – Cotillions

Lindemann – F & M

Junkyard – Old Habits Die Hard

Dog Fashion Disco – Tres Pendejos

Child Bite – Blow Off The Omens

Crystal Viper – Tales Of Fire And Ice

Magic Kingdom – MetAlmighty

Sleep Token – Sundowning

Strigoi – Abandon All Faith

Grave Pleasures – Doomsday Roadburn

Sodom – Out Of The Frontline Trench EP

Leaves’ Eyes – Black Butterfly EP

Blood Eagle – To Ride In Blood & Bathe In Greed III EP

Charm City Devils – 1904 EP

Iron Maiden – Dance Of Death Reissue

Iron Maiden – A Matter Of Life And Death Reissue

Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier Reissue

Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls Reissue

Chris Poland – Return To Metalopolis Reissue

Evergrey – The Atlantic: A Collectors Edition Reissue

Asphyx – Crush The Ceneotaph Reissue

Queens Of The Stone Age – Rated R Vinyl Reissue

Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf  Vinyl Reissue

Bob Seger – Against the Wind 40th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue

Atreyu – In Our Wake Vinyl Reissue

Between The Buried And Me – The Great Misdirect 10th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue

The Beatles – The Singles Collection

Necrophagia – Here Lies Necrophagia: 35 Years Of Death Metal

Article by Victor M. Ruiz of Mars Attacks Radio & Podcast, and Galaxy Of Geeks Podcast.  Connect with him on Twitter:  @vmr907