JAG PANZER - Historical Battles: The Early Years 4LP BOX HRR 289, 4 x Picture LP Boxset, ltd 500, 80 pages hardcover book, 16 pages A 4 booklet SOLD OUT!

Jag Panzer is one of the most legendary US Metal bands of all time! No doubt about that. This magic vinyl box set entitled »Historical Battles« is a fitting tribute to the early days of their recording career. The band's actual roots go way back a long time. Not a lot of people know that before they christened themselves Jag Panzer they were also called Stormbringer, Roller, Dragon, then Tyrant and finally Jag Panzer. The original (classic) line up of the band consisted of Mark Briody (guitars), John Tetley (bass), Rick Hilyard (drums) and Harry Conklin (vocals). The final name change came about because there also was a Metal Blade recording artist called Tyrant. Mark Briody explains: “There were actually several bands called Tyrant around the U.S. It seemed like everyone we talked from another part of the U.S. knew of a band called Tyrant. I know there was one in California, but I think there was also one in Texas and one in New York. We decided we should change our name as soon as possible.” “We originally formed on October 19th, 1980 and we were called Stormbringer,” remembers bassist John Tetley. “Then by January of 1981 we were called Roller. Our first live gig was on January 19th 1981 as Roller and we played our High School. I recall we played Black Sabbath's 'Heaven And Hell'.” Mark Briody thinks they played a cover version of Led Zeppelin's “Rock And Roll” on this fateful night as well. According to John Tetley, Jag Panzer first recorded a three-track demo featuring “Rock And Roll Suicide“, “On The Rocks“ and “Under The Knife“: “Those were just songs that we had written under the name Tyrant and had no intention to send out to record companies yet. We just wanted to get in the studio to record because we were really proud of these tunes we had written and we thought we would just get them recorded - that's all. The tape that secured us the deal with Azra/Iron Works was the two-song demo of 'Battle Zones' and 'Crucifix', which we sent to Dave Thomas Richards of Azra/Iron Works and that got us the deal.” “Our relationship with Azra has always been good,” adds Mark Briody. “Dave (Azra president) has always been helpful when we needed something. We never received an offer from Roadrunner but we did have an offer from Metal Blade. Maybe our careers would have been better on Metal Blade? However, two of my favourite 1980’s Metal Blade bands (and the best two in my opinion) – Warlord and Savage Grace – did not become huge stars from being on that label.” As already mentioned, Jag Panzer's debut EP »Tyrants« was issued on Azra in 1983. Mark explains how the EP came about in the first place: “We only had five songs that we felt were strong enough to release: 'Battle Zones', 'Death Row', 'Iron Shadows', 'Metal Melts The Ice' and 'The Crucifix'. We thought about waiting to write more, but Azra thought we should get an EP out quickly. We went in to record all five songs, but the local music store sold the acoustic guitar they were going to let me borrow to record ‘The Crucifix’. It sounded terrible with clean electric guitar so we didn’t record it until »Ample Destruction«.” John adds: “Well, Mark and myself paid for the entire »Tyrants« EP recording and back then it was a lot of money and Dave at Azra was happy to put out a four-song EP and get it out and see what would happen out in the metal scene.” The High Roller edition of »Tyrants« adds no less than eight bonus tracks. Mark goes a bit more into details: “Yes, they are from different sessions and years. A few of them are more hard rock then metal, we were still trying to find our own sound so we would record everything we worked on. As we recorded these songs we would get better in the studio and more critical of our songwriting.” Following the release of »Tyrants« there was not a lot of touring as money was too tight to mention. “We were living in San Dimas, California, in 1983 when the EP came out,” explains John. “We just played some very small shows in San Dimas and in Glendora and that was about it until we moved back to Colorado Springs and we had played some shows there.” Jag Panzer's now legendary first album »Ample Destruction« was issued on Azra Records in 1984. It was a very good album. Joey Taffola had joined the band as a second guitarist. “Our sound took a huge leap forward with Joey on guitar,” is Mark's comment. “Not only could we do guitar harmonies, but we also had a lead guitarist that could shred! Joey is a huge Rainbow fan (as the rest of us were) so that influence also helped our songwriting.” There were slight differences between »Tyrants« and »Ample Destruction«. John knows why: “Different writing styles between Mark and Joey were adding inspiration within the group when we would be working on songs at rehearsals and it was basically a mature musical growth within the band that was just a step moving forward.” "Black Sunday" is the bonus track for »Ample Destruction« on this High Roller release. “I think it was an extra song that Harry had written and it was not gonna make it onto »Ample Destruction« due to the maxed out space of time on vinyl that you are allowed,” comments John. “So basically it was a extra song that we were hoping to use at a later date for something, maybe a B-Side to a single but that never happened.” According to John, »Ample Destruction« did quite well at the time: “Dave from Azra put out the album and he did what I guess he was capable of doing by distributing it the best way he thought (in the States and in Europe, too). We got a lot of great magazine reviews for the album but it was only popular as far as an underground situation in the metal scene. We were happy to have an album out, I think we looked at it as far as just trying to move up the ladder to success and to just try and stick it out as good as we could.” After the release of »Ample Destruction« Jag Panzer had some major labels come to visit them in Colorado but unfortunately they weren't able to secure a deal. Mark explains: “We had no tour offers either and no European record deal. So band members started to look elsewhere. Harry joined Riot and Joey went on to a solo career on Shrapnel Records.” By then, drummer Reynold 'Butch' Carlson had also left Jag Panzer. He was replaced by Rikard Stjernquist in August 1986 (who has gone through thick and thin with the band up until the present day). The core of the band, John Tetley and Mark Briody, kept on writing new songs. Mark: “Many record companies liked »Ample Destruction« but they wanted to hear more, so we wrote and recorded those songs. The title »Shadow Thief« was given by fans (much as the title »Tyrants« was given by fans for the EP). Those were all demos for the various labels who were interested.” Among the songs on »Shadow Thief« was a cover version of "In-A-Gadda-DA-Vida". Quite a strange choice (the song was later also covered by Slayer). John gives us the full story: “This is the facts! We had covered this song for John Carter, the producer for Tina Turner's »Private Dancer« album and he was the president for A&M Records. He had asked Peter Morticelli who we had been working with on a possible management deal to have us do a Jag Panzer version of 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' because he had liked the song and wanted to see how that would come out. John Carter was flying out to Colorado Springs for a showcase we were putting on for him and A&M Records for a possible record deal. That is how the whole thing came up with why we did a version of 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'. How Slayer came about doing that same song? I don't know, really. All I know is that someone from a record company called, but I don't know who it was. He was asking me to send them a copy of our version of 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' and I thought they were possibly interested in our version of the song. In the end it was Slayer doing the song for the »Less Than Zero« soundtrack.” Jag Panzer then went on to record demos for a projected album called »Chain Of Command«. Mark: “»Chain Of Command« was indeed supposed to be the second studio album. This was in 1987 and we had several new members – Bob Parduba on vocals, Christian Lasegue on guitar and Rikard Stjernquist on drums.” John adds his take on things: “»Chain Of Command« was supposed to be a record we were trying to have released on Auburn/Island Records. There were problems in the deal on the Island side (not the Auburn side). Our lawyer was against us signing it, so we didn't take the offer. We shopped the album around, we were getting companies saying it was way too heavy or not heavy enough. But this time frame of Jag Panzer it was Mark and myself left from the original Jag Panzer we were both driven to keep this band together, so we had been jamming with a good friend of ours, Rikard Stjernquist, and he had joined our band and then we recruited Chris Lasegue for the second guitarist. Our singer at the time was Bob Parduba and things were just not working out musical direction wise with him, so we had to start looking for new singers. We were trying to move forward and trying to find a new singer and record new material. The thought of putting out »Chain Of Command« ourselves at the time didn't interest us.” Patrick W. Engel at his Temple Of Disharmony re-mastered a lot of the bonus material on »Historical Battles«. Mark thinks he did a fantastic job: “It is a pleasure working with him, he is a very talented mastering engineer. Thanks to him, this material will sound better than it ever has.” All in all, Jag Panzer always sounded very unique. (Mark and John both stress that the band never split up until 2011). You could not really compare their sound to any other band. So where is the secret? “I think growing up in Colorado helped us develop our sound,” say Mark. “There never was a trendy scene in Colorado so we had to blaze our own path and come up with our own sound and style.” But surely, in the very early days, there would have been bands which left a lasting impression on Jag Panzer? John tries to explain: “Just like any other band, sure, you are influenced by other bands that you look up to, but you want to make your own statement musically. Bands that have influenced us are: Black Sabbath, UFO, Rainbow, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Angel Witch, Tygers Of Pan Tang, the list goes on ...” Matthias Mader TYRANTS (EP 1983) + EARLY UNRELEASED TRACKS (19..???) Side A: 1) Battle Zones 2) Death Row 3) Metal Melts The Ice 4) Iron Shadows 5) Tower Of Darkness (bonustrack) 6) The Oracle (bonustrack, previously unreleased) Side B: 7) Under The Knife (bonustrack, previously unreleased) 8) The Crucifix (bonustrack, unreleased demo version) 9) Battle Zones (bonustrack, unreleased demo version) 10) Rockin Roll Suicide (bonustrack, previously unreleased) 11) On The Rocks (bonustrack, previously unreleased) 12) Sit On My Face (bonustrack, previously unreleased) Tracks 1 – 4 recorded at Startsong Studios, Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Tom Gregor Produced by Mark Briody and Tom Gregor Executive Producers Jag Panzer and Andrew Banks "Tower of Darkness" Recorded at KKFM Studios, Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Rick Baker Produced by Mark Briody "The Oracle" Recorded at Passage Studios Engineered by Pat West Produced by Mark Briody "Under the Knife" Recorded at Startsong Studios, Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Tom Gregor Produced by Mark Briody "The Crucifix" (Demo) "Battle Zones" (Demo) "Rock& Roll Suicide" "On the Rocks" "Sit On My Face" Recorded at Startsong Studios, Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Tom Gregor Produced by Mark Briody Remastered from digital transfers of the original studio tapes (1-4) and partially damaged source tapes (5-12) by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY, December 2012. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AMPLE DESTRUCTION (LP 1984) Side A: 1) Licensed To Kill 2) Warfare 3) Symphony Of Terror 4) Harder Than Steel 5) Generally Hostile Side B: 6) The Watching 7) Interlude 8) Reign Of The Tyrants 9) Cardiac Arrest 10) The Crucifix 11) Black Sunday (bonustrack) Recorded at Startsong Studio Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Tom Gregor Produced by JAG PANZER & Tom Gregor Remastered from digital transfers of the original studio tapes by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY, December 2012. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHADOW THIEF (Unreleased Recordings 1985 - 1986) Side A: 1) Lustfull And Free (*) 2) Fallen Angel 3) Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind 4) Take This Pain Away (*) 5) In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Side B: 6) Shadow Thief 7) Lying Deceiver 8) Viper (*) 9) Eyes Of The Nite Tracks 1, 4 & 8 recorded at Black Forest Studios, Black Forest CO Engineered by Dan Nelson Produced by Jag Panzer Tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 & 9 recorded at Startsong Studio Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Tom Gregor Produced by Jag Panzer All tracks remastered and partially restored from digital transfers of the original studio tapes by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY, December 2012. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAIN OF COMMAND (unreleased album 1987) Side A: 1) Prelude 2) Chain Of Command 3) Shadow Thief 4) She Waits 5) Ride Through The Storms 6) In A Gadda Da Vida Side B: 7) Never Surrender 8) Burning Heart 9) Sworn To Silence 10) Dream Theme 11) Gavotte In D 12) When The Walls Come Down (bonustrack, unreleased demo) 13) Battle Zones (bonustrack, live) Tracks 1-11 recorded at Avalanche Studios, Colorado Springs CO (1987) Engineered by George Counnias Produced by Jag Panzer "When The Walls Come Down" Recorded at Startsong Studio Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Tom Gregor Produced by Jag Panzer "Battle Zones" (bonustrack, live) Record live in Denver CO Mixed at Startsong Studio Colorado Springs CO Engineered by Tom Gregor All tracks remastered and partially restored from digital transfers of the original studio tapes by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY, December 2012.