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Monday 2 October 2017
ALBUM REVIEW: Pänzer - "Fatal Command"
By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full
Length
Date Released: 06/10/2017
Label: Nuclear
Blast
“Fatal Command” CD//DD track
listing:
1. Satan's Hollow (4:04)
2. Fatal Command (4:57)
3. We Can Not Be
Silenced (3:32)
4. I'll Bring You The
Night (5:29)
5. Scorn And Hate (5:26)
6. Afflicted (4:42)
7. Skullbreaker (5:44)
8. Bleeding Allies (4:38)
9. The Decline (And The
Downfall) (5:16)
10. Mistaken (4:54)
11. Promised Land (4:21)
The Review:
Pänzer came to prominence a
couple of years back as a super group of sorts with members of Accept
and Destruction
combining to produce an album which sounded... mid way between those two bands.
And very good it was too! The sophomore album by the band has seen Hermann Frank sadly depart, but the
core of the band remain the same with Schmier
and Stefan Schwarzmann still proving
the thunderous underpinning to the band's sound. Pontus Norgren and V.O.
Pulver fill out the line up this time around and the Swede/Swiss axis of
metal works wonders.
The
record is perhaps more anthemic than the debut “Send Them All To Hell” but it is just as metal; if not more so.
There is huge choruses’ here- the opener “Satan's
Hollow” is pure heavy metal, the following title track is more of the same.
Big production and Schmier's manic
vocals make this record feel energised and, in the right way, both retro and
state of the art.
This
is a harder proposition than Accept's latest (superb) album, but not at the
level of intensity offered by Destruction. Schmier pushes and expands his vocal limits- as you can hear on “We Can Not Be Silenced”- and his
willingness to turn in this type of performance says a lot about not resting on
his laurels and giving his all to the record. There are mid paced chuggers like
“I'll Bring You The Night” that
nestle alongside more melodic and dynamic fair such as “Scorn” and “Hate” and
you also get the pure heavy metal, verging on thrash, of “Afflicted” and the record is only half way at that point!
There
is plenty of variety- “Skullbreaker”
is a creeping and menacing track- not like the breakneck paced track I expected
from the title. “Bleeding Allies”
provides a stomping burst of pace and plenty of twin guitar work. The harder
riffing of “The Decline (And The
Downfall)” may please fans of Schmier's
main band, but there is still a sense of metallic melody through the verses.
The
final stretch of the album takes in the widdly “Mistaken” (great) and the fast and furious “Promised Land” (even greater!) and really closes on a strong
statement for the record. This is a similar beast to their debut- powerful but
with melody, hard driving but never out and out thrash. If that sounds like
your bag- or for reference if you are a fan of Priest, Hammerfall, Accept and of course Destruction,
there will be plenty for you to enjoy here. Classic heavy metal with a modern
stainless steel sheen.