Ample Destruction (studio album) by Jag Panzer

From Repo 12/24/2022 12:53

'84:h Ample.
Aka Even MORE Maiden Worship!!!

Actually, it’s weird now. Because it gets a lot press. People call it a classic. BUT, if you go back to the time, it came out the same month as Ride The Lightning. And it absolutely did NOT get the same reviews as Ride The Lightning. It was NOT an Album of The Month in any magazine. It was just considered your basic, good album. – Mark Briody, Jag Panzer's guitarist, on Ample Destruction’s critical reception back in 1984.

Well, that’s kind of an awkward confession. I feel his vulnerability. But, Mark’s right. Ample Destruction is not Ride The Lightning. Not even close. Nor is it Powerslave. Or Don't Break The Oath. Or any of the other albums that will eventually make my Top Ten of 1984. BUT, it’s a vey cool minor opus that certainly goes an ample enough way to giving 1984 it's peculiar charm and making it one of the best years in metal. Jag Panzer were an amalgamation of a bunch of threads that were just starting to cohere. And why they are not quite great at any of them, it's an interesting starting point. Especially when one looks backward now and sees where these threads would lead.

A couple of weeks back I wrote about how Omen's Battle Cry is really, really GOOD. BUT, it's essentially just rough & raw, underground Americanized Iron Maiden worship. Omen's passion and ferocity totally make up for it being a bit of the "Which Maiden song did they steal that riff from?" game show. And God knows we needed more bands that wanted to mine the rich NWOBHM ground of the early 80s. By 1984, most bands were all too eager to jump on either the Thrash Or Hair Metal trains, completely missing the potential that England's NWOBHM had brought to the fore. Luckily, there were just enough of these kind of bands to create a scene and the beginnings of American "Aggressive" USPM As Gowi pointed out just a couple of weeks ago, Maiden and Priest were its raw products with different bands throwing in different stuff.

What made Jag Panzer special were two things. Secret weapon Harry “The Tyrant” Conklin, who could ape BOTH Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson (as well as having a few shades of one of my personal faves from this scene - John Arch of early Fates Warning fame.) “The Tyrant” would soon enough be plucked like a flower by the one American band who had a hand in the NWOBHM sound back in the late 70s & early 80s - Riot. Secondly, they were FUN! Demonstrative, bombastic, and even a bit ridiculous. They were just a bunch of young diehard metalheads geeking out and taking inspiration from their heroes. And that enthusiasm is infectious. Take the song "Generally Hostile” for example which foreshadows the whole Viking thing. You can just picture Harry “The Tyrant” grabbing a mead (and a dino-sized turkey leg!) and leading a hall of merry revelers in this raucous song after battle. So grab a turkey leg!!! And go “No Mercy” on that tasty & charred little bugger!

The Verdict: Like Anvil’s Metal on Metal or, yes, Omen’s Battle Cry, Ample Destruction fleshes out its year in metal history, but hardly defines it. Or… is that the wrong way of looking at this? Think Is the better, more accurate story, of metal's evolution told by the “B Movie” bands. Bands like Omen and Jag Panzer. AndAnvil and Tygers Of Pan Tang in the years before them?

ps: Ok. If I had to choose between Battle Cry or Ample Destruction, I'd definitely take Omen's Battle Cry. This should NOT be surprising. I mean it's essentially Maiden's Killers dosed of with some Speed Metal! Yum!!! Twisted Evil

From Graeme2 04/25/2020 10:23

Another great metal record with a low rating on here. I guess this is power metal? Anyways it's very enjoyable, fun, melodic, energetic and OTT, which is what you want from something like this. Not wholly unlike Maiden from the same period and not much less in the way of quality. Unfortunately nothing near the recognition. Maybe it doesn't have the massive standouts and isn't as memorable but definitely a great overall standard throughout.