Customer Reviews

The Age of Mastery

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Best Metal Album of the 90's from the best Metal band right know! I nerver heard of Panzer till this album. Trust me it will blow you away. Its traditional metal with a moders sounds in it. Its simply amazing.

Actually, quite possibly the best current metal band. The only metal fan who wouldn't love this album is someone who only likes death metal. What does it sound like? Like good old-fashioned metal that made a successful transition to the '90s. Doesn't have the modern "mainstream" sounds of Metallica or recent Megadeth, but isn't stuck in the past. It's just how metal should be today. Not only will this CD not disappoint you, it will amaze you. It has everything a great metal album should have: excellent vocals, excellent guitars, great drums, and great songwriting. What more can you ask for? They deserve a lot more attention than they have received.

Black Sabbath's "Heaven & Hell" and Dio's "Holy Diver" are one of best true heavy metal albums ever written, right? "The Age of Mastery" will be a strong copmetitor to them. I would not say it is better, even though I almost wanted to. "The age of.." is a mixture of classic heavy metal and 90's power metal with some folk influence. They dont make much such a music anymore and it would be mistake to skip such a great masterpiece. It is a straightforward heavy metal for its truest sence! Do not be afraid of any cliches, it is fresh and strong. I love it!

Black Sabbath's "Heaven & Hell" and Dio's "Holy Diver" are one of best true heavy metal albums ever written, right? "The Age of Mastery" will be a strong copmetitor to them. I would not say it is better, even though I almost wanted to. "The age of.." is a mixture of classic heavy metal and 90's power metal with some folk influence. They dont make much such a music anymore and it would be mistake to skip such a great masterpiece. It is a straightforward heavy metal for its truest sence! Do not be afraid of any cliches, it is fresh and strong. I love it!

I've been a fan of Jag Panzer since Ample Destruction (which I consider their best work) and I must say that I was blown away with this album. The Age of Mastery has got everything that makes Metal great and more. The fact that this album is not commercial in any way only adds to its greatness. What makes this album especially good are the superb lyrics and song crafting. The Moors is one of the best tracks on the whole CD. This is a disc that I would recommend to anyone who appreciates good Metal.

Jag Panzer is a great group. What can I say? None of the songs sound the same, and I can't think of one I don't like. I looked all over for this CD and when I finally found it, it was worth it! It's a must-have for all true music fans.

Jag Panzer is a new-found treasure of mine. I came to the band via Mechanized Warfare (their latest), then Thane to the Throne because of a recommendation by Panzer guitarist Mark Briody.

Based on the strength of those two CDs, I ordered the rest of their catalog.

Age of Mastery arrived the other day...and it's been in my CD player almost non-stop since. This is incredible music, folks. Well played. Well sung. Well arranged. The guitar solos are a shred-fest. I can't believe I hadn't heard of these guys until about two weeks ago. Now I'm dying to see them in concert.

Age of Mastery is Jag Panzer's fifth CD. I think it is, anyway. I believe they started with a CD called Ample Destruction in 1984 (reissued in 1991). Then Tyrants also released in 1991. Then Dissidant Alliance in 1994. Then The Fourth Judgement in 1997. Then Age of Mastery in 1998. Then Thane to the Throne (2000) and Mechanized Warfare (2001). Please don't hold me to that chronology. But I think that's close to the way it goes. (Tyrants and Ample Destruction are out of print, to my knowledge.)

The Age of Mastery begins with a bang -- lots of guitar soloing. LOTS of guitar soloing. Lots. "Iron Eagle" is the first track and it's a massive song with blazing solos and a big, big rhythm guitar sound. "Lustfull and Free" is the second track, and it too is a huge song. Great air guitar riffing. And vocals that soar way above the music. An almost Judas Priest sound to this track. Great sing-along chorus.

The rest of the CD follows suit, with great guitar-heavy tracks that are more catchy than they are pulverizing, which is the way I like them. Guitars that are too loud or played too fast lose all enjoyment to me. Jag Panzer is the perfect balance between '80s metal melodies and 2002's production standards.

For example, "False Messiah," (track five) is a killer song with an '80s metal feel to it. (Very nice riff.) But it's still got that in-your-face production that's so common these days.

The title track (track 6) is an upbeat song with an melodic, driving intro and fantastic background vocals. Way cool.

If you like your riffs hard, yet melodic, your vocals powerful but clean and your solos plentiful and fast...Jag Panzer's The Age of Mastery is the CD for you.

I never heard of this band saw some reviews on amazon bought this cd ,and was blown away .Great vocals ,great guitar playing ,great songwritting ,this band has it all.From iron eagle to false messiah to twilight years ,to the age of mastery ,this cd has it all simply a great cd ,if you like heavy metal you cant go wrong with this one.I hope this review was helpfull to you.

Having first listened to this band with the excellent MECHANIZED WARFARE (2001), I decide to know some of their catalogue, and bought AGE OF MASTERY (1998).

This only served to respect and enjoy MECHANIZED WARFARE even more, since I was astonished to realized how tha band matured, evolved ande developed a sound of their own, even being firmly based in classic heavy metal.

AGE OF MASTERY is so cliched and juvenile that you'll have to be really patient to listen it entirely. The vocals are ridiculously over the top and annoying (incredible, since they are handled by the same Henry Conklin of Mechanized Warfare). All in all, a generic and medicore effort, although of course the guitar players clearly are very good in their business.

Living in Colorado Springs, I was introduced to vocalist Harry Conklin and the band at a local show through a friend of mine. Jag Panzer are highly polished, highly professional musicians, and the production on this album is excellent. Harry is an absolutely amazing vocalist, and the guitar work is phenomenal. So good, actually, that one of their guitarists, Chris Broderick (who appears on this album), is currently a touring member of Megadeth.

Panzer is heavy, melodic and well-produced. Yet it is the fact that their music is non-commercial that prevents them from being better-known and more popular worldwide--as they're hugely popular in Europe, but relatively unknown here, except by devout metalheads. Harry has retained his day job, because his previous record label did a lackadaisical job of promoting Panzer's music, and he continues to tour with his two other bands: "Titan Force", which he formed when he left Panzer to pursue other creative pursuits for a while, and "Mother Load", a local Colorado Springs metal cover band.

Maybe Harry likes being a "part-time rock star", even though many less talented than he have become multimillionaires with their music careers, or maybe, it's because for all their talent and songcraft, Jag Panzer's song lack "hooks" - the catchy melodies and memorable riffs that propel bands like Def Leppard and AC/DC into Gold and Platinum record sales over and over. Otherwise, why is it that Def Leppard, Metallica, AC/DC, and Megadeth have all had radio hits, but Jag Panzer almost never gets any radio play?

I believe that Panzer has that elusive goal within their grasp, if they just start writing more memorable melodies, because other than that, their material is fantastic.

And for those who think that bands like Metallica "sold out" starting with the "black" album, consider the following.

To paraphrase Lemmy Kilmeister of Motorhead, no one plays in a band to remain unknown or to not be as successful as possible. Power Metal can be commercial, and still be true to the intent of the artists who created it - these two are not mutually exclusive goals.