ALPHA TIGER

First off, that cover. Terrible. Possibly one of the worst covers to ever adorn a rock/metal record. The artwork itself is good but what I would construe as a little on the tacky side. Same for the band logo. In fact, before I even spin this disc, everything strikes me of tack and cheese. So just who are Alpha Tiger? Well, press sheet blurb states that they started out as Satin Black a couple of years back with the release of debut album 'Harlequin' although when vocalist Stefan Dietrich joined their ranks in 2009 they decided to "reinvent the classic genre of Heavy Metal through more modern equipment". Really?! Surely many a band have been doing this for years. While the songs on 'Man or Machine' are tied to a classic Heavy Metal vibe in their sonic aesthetic, the promised "reinvention" is but a false claim for this has retro flavours through and through, in terms of both execution and, to a certain degree, production. Eighties inspired riffage and general song structures are rife throughout so verse-bridge-chorus patterns are interposed with guitar solos as and when they're expected. Alpha Tiger are axiomatically out to pastiche metal of yore rather than create anything new so there are zero surprises lying dormant here. Vocal-wise, Dietrich can clearly sing and has a fairly wide-ranging voice, but the production on his voice and how it stands in the overall mix makes his singing sound disjointed from the actual music. So much so that the band's sweeping claim of reinventing classic metal through contemporary gear becomes ever so tenuous during the listening experience. There's nothing inherently bad or dislikeable about 'Man or Machine', it's just that this retro style has been done, and is currently being done, far better by a number of other acts within the scene who have achieved a better balance between eighties inspired compositions and a modern sounding production. Approach with caution.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Sonic Attack

Album

MAN OR MACHINE

Review by Mark Holmes

RUNNING TIME:

54:19

RELEASE DATE:

2nd May 2011

TRACK LISTING

1) Starriders
2) Crimson Desert
3) Man or Machine
4) When Autumn Leaves Fall
5) Against the Time
6) Martyr's Paradise
7) Karma
8) Exit: Night
9) Black Star Pariah

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Germany

"Alpha Tiger are axiomatically out to pastiche metal of yore rather than create anything new so there are zero surprises lying dormant here."