Probably what is good in some of the older Metal bands is that they always come back even if they take a break or plainly just waiting between albums in order to tour. Sometimes the waiting is rather painful but this is the music business and we can't do too much about it. Same goes to the veteran JAG PANZER with the seven years wait for the new "The Scourge Of The Light" under their new German label SPV / Steamhammer Records. After some listens to this new US Metal release, I would say that the waiting was worth it.

Over the years, with their Heavy / Power Metal assaults, JAG PANZER have been trying out several of approaches in order not to be banal. Besides their changing themes, between Literature, wars and pure destruction, they have been restructuring their music in order to become more diverse. In addition, some parts of their riffs became more complex and the solo parts, that since 1998 were led by now's MEGADETH's shred guitarist Chris Broderick, were even more composite, yet, with a matter of taste.

On the new "The Scourge Of The Light", all of the former applies and it was also awarded with the great mind of Jim Morris on the production. However, on this album the band officially introduced Broderick's replacement, Christian Lasegue, that didn't fail to impress with his abilities. The written material on the album has great mementos of the 80s and has several cool fusions of both progressive type passages with traditional Metal straightforward attacks. Furthermore, the leading section of the album by the band's constant vocalist, Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin, keeps on being strong and amazing as if the years just passed him by. Those two members are only examples of how experienced and talented is the JAG PANZER crew that keeps the old school in American Metal alive.

Besides a few tracks that were slightly beyond average in their quality, "The Scourge Of The Light" offers a very nice load of tracks that will make a true Metal fans to bang his / her head with pride. Class act tracks "Overlord", "Condemned To Fight", "The Setting Of The Sun" are the reason why the preservation of old school US Metal is so important for the worldwide scene. Moreover, JAG PANZER let their the Metal world enjoy cool Metal anthems as "Union" and "Call To Arms", without a doubt those two will kick ass in their live versions. Generally, "The Scourge Of The Light", hopefully, inserted JAG PANZER back to the circulation of album making as their efforts are more than just another shout in the dark.