Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise
Ghost Tigers Rise is Tiger Army's third full length album (as hinted by the "III" in the title) on Tim Armstrong's Hellcat Records. Drummer Fred Hell, although credited on the album, didn't actually drum on it, seeing as he got shot four times (including once in the head) and obviously didn't recuperate in time. Hence, guest drummer Mike Fasano fills in for Mr. Hell.
Wow, that makes the second Tiger Army album where they didn't actually have an official drummer playing for them. Adam Carson of AFI played on
II: Power of Moonlite.
Anyway, on with the review.
Vocally, Tiger Army has come a LONG way since
Power of Moonlite. Nick 13 has really polished up his voice, and sounds much cleaner than in previous attempts. The reverb has been pulled RIGHT down on this album (if any of you heard
Tiger Army I, you'll note that that album pretty much defined the words "too much reverb"), which is a nice touch.
Nick 13 sounds way less like Davey Havok in this album, which is both good and bad, because while I really loved his Davey-esque sound, it's good to see he's found his own sorta individual sound.
There are still the classic call-and-response throwbacks/breakdowns, which is one of my favourite things about Tiger Army.
Instrumentally, Tiger Army hasn't really progressed all that much, but that's not a big deal because they still sound awesome. Nick 13's guitar lines are satisfyingly simple enough, but they are not crappy, like Jet. There are some nice lead riffs, but the verses are mainly just power chords.
The real meat of the verses is left to stand-up bassist Geoff Kresge. He does some really nice walking bass lines on this album. Nothing too tricky, but it's a really nice rockabilly effect nonetheless, just having the constant walking pounding bass slapping goodness.
The drum lines aren't overly complex. There are a few nice fills here and there, but overall it's pretty repetitive stuff. I think I'm making my point about psychobilly not being a necessarily difficult genre to play. However, that doesn't mean it's not difficult to make it sound good. Tiger Army do it with ease and grace, and it makes me want to throttle them for being so naturally awesome.
Overall the album has a slightly slower, more laid back feel to it than the previous albums. They've focused a little more on the rockabilly and less on the thrash punk. It seems like when they wrote this CD, Tiger Army really took the time to put a bit more effort into making it sound polished and tight, and it's really paid off. This CD is a great listen. I probably prefer
Power Of Moonlite a bit more, but that's because I like the faster, more reverberated sound. Also, it had Davey Havok doing backups on it. YES.
However, all in all, this is a nice effort from the lads in Tiger Army; a nice change in direction.
7.5/10
Track listing:
1. Prelude: Death of a Tiger
2. Ghost Tigers Rise
3. Wander Alone
4. Santa Carla Twighlight
5. Ghostfire
6. Rose of the Devil's Garden
7. Atomic
8. What Happens?
9. Through the Darkness
10. The Long Road
11. Calling
12. Swift Silent Deadly
13. Sea of Fire