Alpha Tiger
s/t

The German Alpha Tiger returns to the scene with their fourth album having a new vocalist and a self-titled release this time. We reviewed their second effort here at Hallowed and it wasn’t exactly a raving review they got. In the press sheet for this album it says that they have decided to ignore commercial considerations, trends and all those things to follow their own hearts and their own path in order to create the best album possible. Sometimes that is a good thing, other times the band ends up sounding just like something else. This new album is also made in the analogue way with tape and much of the material is recorded live in the studio – and the cover would look good in a vinyl collection, it comes as a double vinyl release as well as the CD and digital. And I think that fans of the heavy/power metal genre will find this to be a good album, and I don’t doubt that the fans of the band will be pleased although a new vocalist is always a risk.

The music itself isn’t very complicated; it is classic heavy/power metal, kind of simple and straightforward – no surprises. The sound is a strong point as the album sounds more organic, more alive than much heavy metal that is released these days that have a more clinical feel, this feels more passionate in lack of a better term. And the vocals are good as well it is a solid production. But like many albums of this genre it suffers from the inherent lack of variation the heavy metal genre often seem to impose on its bands, and it is too long as well with the eleven tracks taking well over fifty minutes to play through. That is just too much; heavy metal should be single vinyl.

Good stuff, especially on the sound front – I wish more heavy metal albums had this kind of sound. The problem for this album isn’t the sound and the quality of the musicians; it is the song-writing that is ailing for the band as I think the album is lacking songs that grabs my attention. The album would have done well with a bit more depth and variation as well, the sound is great but where are the hit songs? I think it sounds good from the beginning but as the album goes on it falls further back in my consciousness as the songs and the minutes pass by and in the end I am left with the good sound but nothing else. It is a good but not a very memorable album.

I think that Alpha Tiger has some good elements and show some seeds to what could be something very exciting in the future, they just need to write more interesting songs to complement the great production. Fans of the band and the genre will probably find this album most appealing, but I doubt I will remember it many days from the time I put down the last period of this review.

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