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Alpha Tiger: Alpha Tiger
Alpha Tiger 2017 Self-titled CD Album Review

Alpha Tiger: Alpha Tiger

Melodic/Heavy/Power Metal
3.5/5.0

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Review: Craig Hartranft
Added: 09.08.2017

So two years ago Alpha Tiger dropped their third album Identity, to some significant reviews and album sales. But then the shit hit the fan. On the cusp of a tour in support of the album, their lead singer bailed on the band. Whatever needed to be done to fix the mess had to be done quickly. Alpha Tiger hired vocalist Benjamin Jaino and hit the road. Now they return with their fourth studio album, the self-titled Alpha Tiger. Perhaps as fresh start for the band? I think so.

Alpha Tiger Band Photo

Alpha Tiger

To be honest, on the first spin, I had hard time connecting with Alpha Tiger and the songs. I didn't really take interest until the fifth song Aurora, something of a heavy metal anthem with decent twin guitar harmony in the riffage, and later a breakdown with drums and what sounds like Hammond organ. That Hammond sound returns in My Dear Old Friend, giving the song something of a Seventies proto-metal feeling. Then there's Welcome To Devil's Town which has this twist of Mexican and American Western musical themes in the melodic metal. This motif is made complete by the acoustic Spanish guitar just past the four minute mark. Another song of interest is If The Sun Refused To Shine with it's pleasant acoustic guitar start over a significant drum and bass line to start. The song then evolves into some speedy melodic metal. Curiously, being a strong heavy metal anthem, there's not a prominent soaring guitar solo. Actually, I can't recall that many memorable guitar solos across this album. There's a fine one at the end of Feather In The Wind, but you have to muddle through a thick and lumbering metal ballad to get to it.

Now, having listened to the album a second time, I've come to the same conclusion: the aforementioned songs are still the highlights of the album. Perhaps you can add The Last Encore, an interesting melodic metal anthem that begins with an even more interesting spoken word quote about the nature of music. (I don't know who the speaker is, or where the quote is from.) The song turns on a solid melody driven once more by twin guitar harmony. Mostly, I think Alpha Tiger requires some attention to detail to grasp the nuances of each song, especially with the increased use of keyboards. Nevertheless, if you're an Alpha Tiger fan, I think you'll like this album and their new direction.



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The Bottom Line

Alpha Tiger rebounds with a new singer and a fresh new start and, perhaps, something of a new direction with the injection of new and varied keyboard parts.

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