Back to the future: Jag Panzer - 'Decade Of The Nail​-​Spiked Bat'

Τον Οκτώβριο του 2033 η Century Media Records κυκλοφορούσε την συλλογή (αν και κατηγοριοποιήθηκε ως full length album) των Jag Panzer υπό τον τίτλο "Decade of the Nail-Spiked Bat". "Βγήκε" σε διπλό cd και διπλό βινύλιο και περιλάμβανε το ep "Tyrants", τον δίσκο (όχι απλά δίσκο, δισκάρα!) "Ample Destruction", το ακυκλοφόρητο (επισήμως τουλάχιστον, γιατί είχε "βγει" ως bootleg) "Chain of Command" και το "Dissident Alliance".

Όλα αυτά συν το τραγούδι "Forsaken" (το οποίο μέχρι τότε υπήρχε μόνο στην συλλογή "Metal-Rules.com Volume.1" που κυκλοφόρησε το 2002). Η ιδιαιτερότητα της κυκλοφορίας έγκειται στο ότι όλα τα τραγούδια είναι επανηχογραφημένα και αυτό γιατί ο Joey Tafolla δεν έδινε την άδεια για την επανακυκλοφορία των "Tyrants", "Ample Destruction", "Chain of Command" και "Dissident Alliance".

Το album "Decade of the Nail-Spiked Bat" κυκλοφόρησε σε ψηφιακή μορφή στα τελειώματα του περασμένου έτους, στις 17 Νοεμβρίου 2023 (Remastered Reissue) από την Golden Core Records και την 1η Δεκεμβρίου 2023 μέσω της Century Media Records...

Δελτίο τύπου: «One word best sums up the brotherhood of Colorado’s Jag Panzer: perseverance.

A cult legend of the American metal underground, the band - now in its third decade of existence - has endured multiple lineup changes and witnessed countless musical trends come and go over the years, yet they have always remained true to the classic, NWOBHM-influenced principles on which the group was founded.

Now, with the double-disc collection “Decade Of The Nail-Spiked Bat”, the quintet goes back to the future to give 20 long-deleted recordings a facelift. Not so much a retrospective as a modernization, the album features brand new, re-recorded versions of classic songs from hard-to-find releases of the band’s formative years.

Inspired by the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Accept, Mark Briody, John Tetley and Harry Conklin - then students in a Colorado high school - first recorded a one-song demo under the name of Tyrant in 1981.

Later that year, the budding band made another demo, which caught the attention of the editor of a prominent underground fanzine. He relayed the tape to a handful of independent metal labels, several of which quickly voiced interest in signing the band.

While mulling over contract offers, the group learned of another prominent act recording under the Tyrant moniker. After coming across a picture of a massive German tank called a “jagdpanzer,” the band adjusted the spelling for phonetic reasons, and Jag Panzer was born.

Their first official release was an untitled, four-track recording, commonly called the “Tyrants EP”, which surfaced in 1983. The following year, the group’s full-length debut “Ample Destruction” cemented their burgeoning reputation in the international metal scene.

A total of 11 tracks from these two releases are featured on “Decade Of The Nail-Spiked Bat”. Following a series of lineup changes that would have destroyed a less-committed band (including the defection of Conklin to Riot), Jag Panzer eventually regrouped with the help of new drummer Rikard Stjernquist.

Their second properly released full-length album, “Dissident Alliance”, did not appear until 1994, but it set the groundwork for a resurrection. While working on a 1995 demo, the band asked Conklin to provide vocals just for fun, but the end result was so inspired that Jag Panzer demos once again began to circulate and stir a great deal of interest in the metal underground.

Record companies also took note, and Century Media Records soon emerged as the leading bidder. The label subsequently teamed the group with legendary producer Jim Morris (Savatage, Death, Iced Earth) to record 1997’s widely praised “The Fourth Judgement”.

Prior to a European tour with Gamma Ray and Hammerfall, the band solidified its lineup with the addition of virtuoso lead guitarist Chris Broderick. Reinvigorated, the quintet soon recorded 1998’s “The Age of Mastery”, honored by Metal Maniacs as “one of the best power metal albums ever made.”

It was 2000’s “Thane To The Throne”, however, that fully emphasized just how important a creative force the group had become. A concept album based around the storyline of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, the recording stretched the artistic boundaries of heavy metal.

Perhaps even more widely praised was 2001’s Mechanized Warfare, lauded by publications ranging from Revolver (“tight, vigorous performances and punchy production…an album that seriously rocks”) to Hit Parader (“top-notch and eminently satisfying”).

Metal Maniacs, for its part, simply called it “the best traditional metal album of the year.” Marking the 20th anniversary of their first release, “Decade Of The Nail-Spiked Bat” - which includes the original “Tyrant” demo (“Tower of Darkness”), freshly and properly re-recorded versions of many of the band's classic tracks, and album artwork by the band’s original cover artist - firmly ensconces Jag Panzer’s place in metal’s history.»