JAG PANZER: 'Scourge Of The Light' First-Week Sales Revealed

"Scourge Of The Light", the new album from Colorado power metallers JAG PANZER, sold around 500 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 117 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Scourge Of The Light", which was released on February 28 in Europe (except in Germany, where it will arrive three days earlier) and on March 8 in the U.S. via SPV/Steamhammer Records. In addition to the regular CD version, the effort was made available as a double-vinyl set.

The cover artwork for "Scourge Of The Light" is available below. It was painted by Los Angeles artist Justin Yun.

For the original band members Harry Conklin (vocals),Mark Briody (guitar) and John Tetley (bass),JAG PANZER has always been something they held close to their hearts. "We've known each other from our earliest childhood and have never lost sight of the idea that this band is based on," Tetley explains. "I don't exactly want to use the term 'spiritual', but the three of us are connected with this band by a very special relationship. You could say that our lives are inseparably linked with the history of JAG PANZER."

This heartfelt passion has always been apparent in their songs, however: the American band has never sounded as impressive, mature and accomplished as on their latest album, "The Scourge Of The Light".

The reasons? Well, there are probably a number of them. Without a doubt, the band's two main songwriters, guitarists Mark Briody and Christian Lasegue, have never been in better form. Every one of their extremely dynamic riffs sounds haunting, every melody cuts their listeners to the core. It may sound like a contradiction, but since guitarist Chris Broderick, who was a bandmember between 1997 and 2007, left to join MEGADETH, JAG PANZER have returned to their old roots. "There can be no question that Chris Broderick is an amazing guitarist, and we were really happy for him that he got this chance with MEGADETH. But we feel that thanks to Christian Lasegue, JAG PANZER's classic, clearly more melodic power metal style has returned and that the fans will definitely be happy about this." Tetley may well be right since JAG PANZER's most recent studio recording "Casting The Stones" (2004) was criticized, especially in Europe, for its noticeably harsher direction. "We knew that Christian was the best man for the job; after all he was a band member for three years in the mid-1980s," the band says.

But there are other reasons, too, why "The Scourge Of The Light" sounds so impressive. Despite their limited production budget, JAG PANZER spared no expense or effort to give their ten fantastic new songs a driving their trademark sound. For this reason, they asked Jim Morris to mix the recordings at his legendary Morrisound Studios in Florida and sent the result to New York's renowned Sterling Sound for mastering. The result is a real ear catcher, without any ifs and buts.

"I feel 'The Scourge Of The Light' is the best-sounding album in the history of JAG PANZER," Tetley says.

"Scourge Of The Light" track listing:

01. Condemned To Fight
02. The Setting Of The Sun
03. Bringing On The End
04. Call To Arms
05. Cycles
06. Overlord
07. Let It Out
08. Union
09. Burn
10. The Book Of Kells

The "Burn" video from can be viewed below.

"Without question, 'Burn' was the first song that came to mind when we decided to do a video," explained JAG PANZER guitarist Mark Briody during a chat with Noisecreep this week. "We were looking for something that was representative of the whole album. 'Burn' has it all — varied instrumentation, lots of dual guitars, a great solo, and lots of screaming vocals."