TYGERS OF PAN TANG
“A New Heartbeat”
E.P. Review by Iron Mathew

8/10

Tygers Of Pan Tang are a heavy metal band from the UK formed in 1978, right at the start of the NWOBHM evolution. As one of the era’s pioneering bands, Tygers Of Pan Tang were prolific during the eighties, releasing six albums – ‘Wild Cat’ (1980), ‘Spellbound’ (1981), ‘Crazy Nights’ (1981), ‘The Cage’ (1982), ‘The Wreck-Age’ (1985), and ‘Burning In The Shade’ (1987). Sadly, the band disbanded soon after.

Reforming to perform at the 1999 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, the bands performance was recorded and released in 2001, simply titled ‘Live At Wacken’. Receiving tremendous support from fans, Tygers Of Pan Tang resumed their career, releasing six albums over the next fifteen years – ‘Mystical’ (2001), ‘Noises From The Cathouse’ (2004), ‘Animal Instinct’ (2008), ‘Ambush’ (2012), ‘Tygers Of Pan Tang’ (2016), and ‘Ritual’ (2019).

Throughout their career, Tygers Of Pan Tang have endured numerous line-up changes, with founder, guitarist Robb Weir the sole remaining original member. The band are far from finished, with a new album already written – release date as yet unconfirmed – and have just released the four song E.P. ‘A New Heartbeat’, featuring two new songs, and two re-recorded songs off their debut album ‘Wild Cat’.

First up are the two new songs – the title song ‘A New Heartbeat’ kicking the E.P. off in a truly bombastic and heavy hitting nature. The smell of traditional metal fills the air as the band trot through ‘A New Heartbeat’ (the song) with energy and a melodious intent that is just off the charts! Picking up the pace and thundering off like a stampeding herd of rhino, ‘Red Mist’ is much, much heavier than the opening salvo, but loses nothing of E.P.’s melodious intent. Heads will definitely be nodding a lot harder to this one.

As for the two re-recorded songs, I’m not gonna do a comparison with the originals, I’ll just review them as they are now. First up is ‘Fireclown’, slowly coming to life through a wall of mellowness, building quickly to a crescendo, and then we’re off! Just about the fastest song so far, ‘Fireclown’ is one hundred percent the stuff of “foot on the monitor” – the band baring their teeth and showing their metal roots. The fourth and final song on the E.P. ‘Killers’ is also the longest, clocking in at five and a half minutes, and is a barnstorming gallop of heavy metal rock ‘n’ roll. The up tempo and bouncy feel of ‘Killers’ will surely bring a smile to the face of every traditional metaller everywhere.

Overall, four unabashed and unashamedly traditional metal romps to get your heads moving back and forth.

TRACKLIST

A New Heartbeat
Red Mist
Fireclown
Killers

https://www.tygersofpantang.com/
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