somewhere in the middle

The wondrous world of prog metal has been graced by the likes of Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Savatage, Pagan’s Mind, Queensryche, Kamelot, and Rush! Taking the technical riffs composed by legendary bands like Journey, Kansas, and Boston! We’ve heard everything, from the Crimson King to Tom Sawyer, but what if I told you that you already had an incredibly above average version of each band wrapped in one at home! 

The expression “We already have that at home” could not hold more true when I describe what it’s like to be a fan of Jag Panzer….  Welcome to this week’s WACKY MUSIC WEDNESDAY I’m the HOSTUA called JOSHUA, and we’re gonna talk about Great Value Prog metal today!!  So get your ears ready for some, extremely above average METAL!!

Carry on my wayward so….. Wait, this sounds similar, but… it’s different… wtf is this?

Enter my favorite Jag Panzer album: “The Age of Mastery” and the title track linked above. Here I was a 19 year old punk still wet behind the ears on what great progressive metal could be!  I loved Dream Theater and wanted more bands like it. I found this 1998 CD at a local music shop and was well on my way!  When I discovered Age of Mastery, I liked it a lot, so I decided to dig through the 4 previous albums, but then at some point just kind of forgot about them.

There are so many ebbs and flows that Jag Panzer gets exactly right, it’s a universally appreciated sound that borrows just enough of everything that we know and love about prog metal. Everything from the vocals, transitions, riffs, and even the bridge just scream B+! Ok, that might be a bit mean, but JP formed in 1981. NINETEEN EIGHTY ONE!! They predate Manowar, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Dream Theater… Heck, they were releasing albums before half of the bands mentioned in the first paragraph!!

So what’s wrong with Jag Panzer?  Nothing really, but it’s also nothing worth calling home to Mom about either. They’re just so freakin’ B+ that I can’t really believe I’ve spent these 9 minutes writing about them. But for real, I do LOVE this track, and I’d say Age of Mastery is their finest collection of work, so I’d recommend checking out more of their stuff. Especially if you’ve listened to every prog/metal song ever and just can’t get enough!

This has been Wacky JASH, and I’ll catch you guys next time!