Customer Reviews

Casting the Stones

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Looks like the reviews are mixed. In my opinion this is the strongest release since Fourth Judgement. Not that the other albums in between were weak by any means but this one everything just seems to come together. More pronounced keyboards in certain songs bring a depth missed in prior releases. Vocals (both lead and backing vocals) are stronger. Songwritting both music and vocal has matured and the band sounds like they all showed up on the same day. Tracks 2,4,6 and 7 are worth notable mention. Not every song is going to tickle your fancy. I don't like every song and there's other Panzer albums I like more songs but even with that said, this is their best "collective effort as a group" to date since Chris Broderick joined the band. This is certainly an album worth adding to your power metal collection.

After the brilliant 'Thane to the Throne' Jag Panzer slid done a bit to make the still excellent 'Mechanized Warfare'. Sadly, 'Casting the Stones' is a bit weaker then that album, so they're still slipping a bit, but the standard set by 'Thane to Throne' was too high to be maintained, and high enough to allow a bit of slipping while still making very worthwhile albums. 'Casting the Stones' isn't a brilliant album, but it's well written, well crafted, and definitely worth your time and money if you're a fan of the band.

Naturally, there hasn't been a severe reworking of the Jag Panzer, but this album shows some subtle changes. It's a bit slower and denser, more double bass and a generally darker, more somber tone to the whole thing. Still, the basics remain, with the wild, severely operatic vox, the mad shredding on the lead and the bruising, pounding riffs combined with some sharp, clean melody lines. No real innovation, for sure, but they refine and color their sound sufficiently to make this album plenty interesting.

There's no real specific way that I can think of to explain why this album isn't quite as good as the last two. Simply put, the songwriting just isn't as solid. Still, this consists of them moving from having half the songs being great, the other half merely good, to having a few great songs, and the rest just pretty good, with one kinda medicore track. The 'kinda mediocre track' would be the oft maligned 'Cold'. A little to repeptitive, and the chorus can kinda get on my nerves. Fortunately, everything else is worthwhile. 'The Mission' and 'Tempest' both standout in particular. 'The Mission' is totally classic JP, with the driving verses and the utterly epic, powerful chorus. Nice choral backing vox too. 'Tempest' is a bit different, a kinda nervy, cold and tense track with a great main riff and a fabulous vocal performance from Conklin. (His delivery of the line 'Heaven help us just to make it through this night' is particularly effective) The acoustic middle break is really effectively atmospheric, and fits the song very well. (Stuff like that is usually just thrown in there for the hell of it, but here it seems to really fit.) Nice solo too, but JP's solos are always awesome, of course. Other than those two we've got a lot of good, if not amazing tracks. 'Feast of Famine' is the fine opener, with another classic JP chorus and some nice, perpetual double bass work. 'Starlight's Fury' isn't one of the best tracks here, but it is sorta interesting, with a weird, morose tone and kinda spacy feel at times. Sorta reminds me of Control Denied. 'Precipice' is a good closer, another one of their slow building, partially acoustic epics. It didn't grab me completely at first, but it grew on me pretty quick.

Eh, I'm done with this review. I like this album. Get it.

Jag Panzer – Casting the Stones

Out of all the Power Metal bands today, Jag Panzer is arguably the most difficult to get into. .Their style has never been very accessible, they usually stay around mid-tempo with the occasional fast anthem, and Harry Conklin’s singing is not everyone’s cup of tea. To make things worse, their new album “Casting the Stones” is their least accessible album to date…. But does that make it a bad album?

Song by song review

1. Feast or Famine (04:14) – I did not like the fact they start with a mid-tempo song as their opener. If you are already a Panzer fan then you will instantly notice how much heavier and more layered this album is mixed. 6/10

2. The Mission -1943 (04:09) – Now this should have been the opener, the song grabs you from the beginning and it doesn’t let go. We get the usual great Conklin vocals. This song has a great bass line and I like how the lead guitar comes every so often. 7/10

3. Vigilant (05:03) – A more progressive side of Jag Panzer is shown in this song. Its kind of hard to get into it but after a couple of listens you should be able to enjoy it and understand its greatness. 7/10

4. Achilles (02:46) – This song is brilliant! BRILLIANT. Mark Briody (guitar) explained how this song was supposed to be an epic but they opted to make it different and make it a mini-epic (thus the very short length of it). Very melodic and catchy. 9/10

5. Tempest (04:40) – My personal favorite song of the album. This leans more to the Progressive side again, with its layered mix. This song has it all… Great vocals, detailed drum work, tight bass lines, and very cool lyrics. We get a nice acoustic section in the middle of the song before the awesome guitar solo. An instant classic. 10/10

6. Legion Immortal (04:31) – Classic Jag Panzer song. Not much to say except nothing really stands out in the song. 7/10

7. Battered & Bruised (04:46) – The song is upbeat and has nice riffing. Same as above, these two tracks maybe foreshadow are not bad songs but needed a bit more to make them more memorable. Catchy chorus. 7/10

8. Cold (03:36) – Ouch. This song is not very good, and the layered vocals don’t help much. The only sub par song in the album. 4/10

9. Starlight's Fury (06:18) – Fortunately we get an awesome song after the dreadful “cold”. This is classic Jag panzer progressive song. Excellent drumming throughout the entire song. 8/10

10. The Harkening (04:44) – This song brings back memories of the “Thane To The Throne" album in its song structure and the use of choirs extensively. This is a good song but nothing really stands out. 7/10

11. Precipice (06:26) – What would a Jag Panzer album be without a very epic closing song. This one doesn’t disappoint. This song is epic and catchy, closing the album well. 10/10

This album may take a few listens to get into and then you’ll be introduced to the genius of one of the premier US Metal Bands, Jag Panzer. I wouldn’t recommend listening to this album first as an introduction to Jag Panzer. If you’re new to Jag panzer then start with “The Age of Mastery” album, and then you might be able to enjoy this album more.

Final: 8/10

I have to admit that altough I liked Jag Panzer's previous works there still seemed to be something missing. There was always great guitar playing, vocals, and a killer rythym section. I always liked the style Jag Panzer played too being on the heavier side of power metal. Yet sometimes the songs seemed disjointed or at times a little cheesy as the previous reviewer stated.
No Longer! With 'Casting the Stones' Jag Panzer has matured greatly and recorded an album that lives up to their potential. The album is just as heavy yet a bit darker and more serious sounding than previous albums. Songs like the opener 'Feast or Famine' and the cutting 'Tempest' I hear a slight and welcome Nevermore touch. 'The Mission' and 'Batterd and Bruised' are straight forward and kicking metal rockers. The closing track Precipice has a stalking groove and a great chorus. The songwriting here is great and almost every track is catchy and flowing.
Definately a highlight in an already outstanding 2004 metal year! Megadeth even came out with a killer new album! Also check out the new Tad Morose, Symphorce, Pyramaze, and Eldritch albums. They are all great as well...........

Yeah the Panzer's previous releases have been pretty corny. But this one they have finally really matured. The lyrics are excellent, gone are the days of cheese. Tyrant's voice is still kinda out there but it's been toned down A LOT, it's not as cheesy now either.

I like their past releases too, but this one may be their best. Jag Panzer have such solid song writing skills, i find it hard to understand that anyone could not like them, whether they are corny or not. The riffs are just the most solid and memorable riffs of any band. The solos shred like nothing, amazing amazing solos are every where. And the drumming is so underrated and dang good.

Anyway, this cd is an improvement of their sound: it's gotten a little more complicated and progressive. and the riffs have gotten more crushing that past efforts.

highly reccomended.

After listening to this album more, I've updated my review and decided that this album definitely deserves 5 stars instead of 4, so pretend that the last star is filled in (since I'm too lazy to copy this review, delete it, then resubmit it.)

The strongest point of this album is the song variety. It's not the "let's be Dragonforce and write all our songs based on one melody" pattern. There are songs like 'Feast or Famine,' 'Tempest,' and 'Battered and Bruised' which very effectively combine seemingly dischordant styles. The high pitched vocals go amazingly well with the darker-sounding guitar riffs on said songs.

Yet, there are also songs in which the guitars sound more traditionally power metal-esque, such as 'The Mission' and 'Precipice,' while the vocals remain stunningly high-pitched, and the result is nothing short of perfection.

The drums and guitar usually aren't ear-shatteringly technical, but considering that Jag Panzer is a band more focused on vocals than instrumentation, this is forgivable. Vocalist Harry Conklin does an excellent job. He might not be a Matt Barlow, but he's still one of the best, and this album proves it.

If you like metal, then this is a good album to get. If you love Jag Panzer or power metal, then this is a must-have for you.

At first I wasn't too impressed with this album, but with each listen I love it more and more. There is not a single weak song here. Each song sounds unique. This is an excellent album.

Casting the Stones is a bit of a throwback album for Jag Panzer. They're going back to their old roots a bit on this one. The good thing is that they never let up. Track after track is brutal and with Harry just tearing his vocal chords apart. I like to think this album is a mix between Ample and Age of Mastery without all the themes and whatnot. Certainly a good album if you love the mixture of Briody and Broderick on guitar. They always manage to rip it up on each track.

My fav track would have to be "Achilles". I've always been fascinated when you can incorporate a story into your song and make it sound great. My only gripe is that it's too short, but that's quite alright as you can always hit the repeat button and play it over and over as do I.

4.5 stars. The highlights on this album are the amazing vocals of Harry Conklin (a Ronnie James Dio/Bruce Dickinson hybrid) and some amazing, often jaw-dropping lead guitar-work courtesy of Chris Broderick. These two elements alone make this an album that is easily recommended to all Power Metal fans. The negative aspects on this release are that Jag Panzer sometimes wears their influences on their collective sleeves (Iron Maiden, Dio). From the very beginning of "The Mission (1943)", for example, it is entirely obvious that they have been listening Iron Maiden's "Powerslave", the title track of that album an even more obvious template for the track they ultimately designed. The fact that they pulled it off so well, however, makes it hard to criticize too harshly. Then there is the slow beginning to the song "Precipice" which is reminiscent of Dio with his slow intros leading to a furious middle section before calming down for the final third act of the song (think "Holy Diver" or "The Last in Line"). The largest negative here is the tumorous track "Cold" which is simply embarassing by comparison to the rest of the album. That is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back and makes it impossible for me to give this album a perfect score. But there are so many excellent songs here with so many stupendous moments that any respectable Power Metal fan who does not own this album should be ashamed. On the song "Achilles", for instance, Harry Conklin carries most of the song with his superb vocal talent before ending with a sustained, full-throated siren's wail that had me shaking my head in appreciation. Outstanding! There is also a collection of blistering guitar solos from Chris Broderick that are intensely complicated and altogether amazing. The aforementioned middle section from "Precipice" is a prime example of his furious, fleet-fingered fretboard prowess. This particular explosion of frenetic guitar-work is the finest example of his abilities, but there are many other moments that simply need to be heard to be believed. The production value is also very high. Power Metal fans should snatch up this release without delay.

This is mild power metal, very melodic and with enough substance but lacking in strength in many areas. While that could be a problem to those who are expecting a more heavier approach, it should be noted that this is the style that Jag Panzer has adopted for their past few releases. The album still contains some interesting ideas, and the material can still be appreciated for its honest, simplistic style. Conklin's singing shines throughout the duration of the record, his voice is versatile enough to give power to those catchy choruses that pop in from time to time. Some songs, though, do not do much until you hear them for 3rd or 4th time. "Battered and bruised", for example, has one of the most interesting moments at the 1:40 mark that lasts for more than a minute and shows just how stylistically diverse they can be, while on songs like "Cold" the simplicity turns into a mediocre moment with a very standard verse/chorus pattern. It's not very often when a brilliant song like "Starlight's fury" works from beginning to end in all aspects. So overall, this record works on some levels, but given JAg Panzer's level of musicianship you kind of wonder how much more could have been done to make the album more enjoyable.