For the original band members Harry Conklin(vocals), Mark Briody (guitar) and John Tetley(bass), Jag Panzer has always been a matterclose to their hearts. We ve known each otherfrom our earliest childhood and have never lostsight of the idea that this band is based on, Tetley explains. I don t exactly want to use theterm spiritual , but the three of us are connectedwith this band by a very special relationship.You could say that our lives are inseparablylinked with the history of Jag Panzer. Basically,this heartfelt passion has always beenapparent in their songs, however: the Americanband has never sounded as impressive, matureand accomplished as on their latest album TheScourge Of The Light (out on 28 February 2011in Europe, 25 February 2011 in Germany, andon 8 March 2011 in the US).The reasons? Well, there are probably a numberof them. Without doubt, the band s twomain songwriters, guitarists Mark Briody andChristian Lasegue, have never been in betterform. Every one of their extremely dynamicriffs sounds haunting, every melody cuts theirlisteners to the quick. It may sound like a contradiction,but since guitarist Chris Broderick,who was a band member between 1997 and2007, left to join Megadeth, Jag Panzer havereturned to their old forte. There can be noquestion that Chris Broderick is an amazingguitarist, and we were really happy for him thathe got this chance with Megadeth. But we feelthat thanks to Christian Lasegue, Jag Panzer sclassic, clearly more melodic power metal stylehas returned and that the fans will definitelybe happy about this. Tetley may well be rightsince Jag Panzer s most recent studio recordingCasting The Stones (2004) was criticised,especially in Europe, for its noticeably harsherdirection. We knew that Christian was the bestman for the job, after all he was a band memberfor three years in the mid-1980s. But there areother reasons, too, why The Scourge Of TheLight sounds so impressive. Despite theirlimited production budget, Jag Panzer sparedneither cost nor effort to give their ten fantasticnew songs a driving, but always transparentsound. For this reason, they asked Jim Morristo mix the recordings at his legendary MorrisoundStudios in Florida and sent the result toNew York s renowned Sterling Sound for mastering.The result is a real earcatcher, withoutany ifs and buts: I feel The Scourge Of TheLight is the best-sounding album in the historyof Jag Panzer, Tetley rightly expresses hispride in the product of his group s labours. Itall started when Mark really pushed theenvelope during the guitar recordings.And that our friend Jim Morris subsequentlyhelped with the mix is fantastic,of course.
