Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction (1984)Release ID: 3666
If I am going to listen to power metal, which I have started doing a bit more than I used to, then it is invariably the USPM version I turn to. I have come round to USPM rather late in life as I have spent an awful long time concentrating on extreme metal genres like doom and black metal, so I haven’t really got any contemporary history with the early USPM classics. The latter part of the eighties having saw me diving down the thrash metal rabbit hole and quickly abandoning traditional heavy metal styles almost completely. This is a great shame because there is a lot that appeals to me in any number of the earlier classics of the genre.
Standing tall amongst the formative USPM releases is Jag Panzer's debut full-length, “Ample Destruction”. It took the more uptempo riffs of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and, taking its cues from the energetic, fast-emerging thrash metal scene, cranked it all up to 11 and delivered an exuberant celebration of heavy metal thunder as a result. Any vestige of hard rock that had survived into the NWOBHM era had been well and truly exorcised by the Americans in this fresh new take on the traditional style, giving it a more epic, harder and just downright more metal edge as a result. The riffs come thick and fast and are generally memorable, fist-pumping bangers. When these riffs are then complemented by some electrifying and exhilarating solos and an effusive vocal performance by Harry Conklin, it is surely impossible for anyone with a true metal heart not to be stirred into headbanging ecstasy.
Coming to this after decades of being immersed in the extreme metal scene feels kind of liberating in a life-affirming way with the rediscovery that metal doesn’t always have to be po-faced and depressing or just so damned intense, but can actually be joyful and celebratory too, with absolutely no loss of integrity. It may sound a bit hyperbolic, but I am finding albums like “Ample Destruction” to be revelatory, their sheer infectious effusiveness providing some degree of relief from the daily assaults on mental wellbeing that modern living entails.
Look even diet Iron Maiden is still pretty damn good, and that's what this is. I would say the music is slightly more aggressive, and that the vocals are slightly worse, and the Steve Harris bass is completely gone. It's fun, you are going to have a good time with it, but absolutely nothing in here is going to blow your mind, and there is nothing in here that Iron Maiden didn't already do better. Throw it in your mix, and it's a nice visitor every once in a while, but listening to it as a start-to-finish album will wear out it's welcome.
This was truly heavy, and head bangable. Nothing extraordinary though, just metal. Better than generic, but also not overly rememberable. This isn't a bad thing, as I had a truly good time listening to this however it's not going to be a go-to album. There's some really heavy moments and I can even hear some thrash and speed in here. If anything, i get a good opener feel here where it gets me hyped up to listen to the next band or album like Maiden or Dio. Some really fun riffs, and good songwriting here.
Jag Panzer hail from Colorado Springs, having formed in the early 1980's with their brand of power/heavy metal getting them eventual attention from record labels leading to their debut being released in 1984. The five piece's first full length offering showed lots of promise and the band certainly built a career from this foundation stone having been active on the release front from the terrible follow up to this in 1994 right up until 2017's The Deviant Chord. For all of its promise there was also equal amounts of areas in definite need of improvement, with the vocal department about to fall under particular scrutiny on this review.
Vocally "The Tyrant" (Harry Conklin) is as over the top as his alias suggests. The trend at the time was for vocalists to be as aggressive as possible, regardless of range capability or any semblance of natural talent. Conklin certainly achieves parity with the trend of the time but it is does border on comedic on many occasions although I did find myself crudely tolerant of his vocals as the record went on. His gruff style is what all records like this need most definitely and considering this was their debut there is some slack to be cut him for trying too hard overall.
Thankfully, where the vocals manage to extend a negative influence on the entertainment value of the record, the instrumentation more than rescues proceedings. Continuing the macho themed approach to heavy metal the album is full of charging guitars with attack-minded riffs and blazing leads, all supported thunderously well by the equally domineering drums. In terms of rhythm the album is strong and has a real sense of full-on energy from more or less start to finish earning it's metal credentials well.
From what is a solid enough a foundation the band just go a little too over the top on the pomp on the vocal front but it is still near on impossible not to nod appreciatively along to it and stomp your foot at the same time. Turmoil in the band was to mean that nothing else came out until 1994 and frankly it took its toll most certainly, despite its flaws Ample Destruction still has much cause for celebration.
It hurts to give something like Ample Destruction a lower score, not just because it's a very well-regarded album in general, but because I can honestly hear all the skill and real passion that went into it. It's not an album that's coasting by on the bare minimum or simply riding a trend. But intent and core talent can only go so far, and I'd be lying and pandering to the heavy metal masses if I said I actually enjoyed this.
It's certainly not an unpleasant listen. It's big, bold, ballsy heavy metal from a time when new forms like thrash and power metal were just starting to emerge, and you can hear the influence on (or at least connection to) bands like Liege Lord or Virgin Steele loud and clear. It's still rooted in NWOBHM approach, but pushing things in terms of speed and epic sound, not entirely dissimilar to Manowar's works, but perhaps a tad more razor-edged and less theatrical.
But all that said, there's just honestly very little here that grabs my attention, every time I put it on it ends up being the very definition of background metal: fine to have on, but leaving no real impact or desire to return to any tracks or moments. It might in part be the production, which sadly lacks in weight, but it also feels like the song-writing just doesn't measure up to some contemporaries of the time. Jag Panzer have obvious capabilities, especially in Harry Conklin's outstanding battle cries and banshee wails, but the way it's put together and presented just does nothing for me.
Choice cuts: Cardiac Arrest, The Crucifix
