Tygers Of Pan Tang

Hellbound Spellbound ’81

NWOBHM heroes live at their early peak.

There was a touch of glamour about the young Tygers Of Pan Tang – in that wonderfully exotic name, lifted from one of Michael

Moorcock’s sword-and-sorcery tales, and in the swagger of John Sykes, the pretty-boy guitarist who later starred in Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake. But it was the raw energy they had, a grittiness typical of their native North East, that made the Tygers a key band in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. As Hellbound Spellbound ’81 testifies, they were a true Northern powerhouse.

Recorded in 1981 but never before released, this live set was recorded at a Nottingham gig by Chris Tsangarides, producer of the band’s first two albums, and recently remixed by Soren Andersen. It features the definitive Tygers line-up, with Welshman John Deverill in place of original singer Jess Cox, pounding out heavy-duty songs including Hellbound, Euthanasia and Gangland. Strangely omitted from this performance are Don’t Touch Me There and Suzie Smiled, defining songs for the band and the era. But what comes across with this album is the power and intensity of a young band in their prime, and something more: a sense of the heat in that packed room, and the aroma of sweat and beer. Heady times.