Heavy Metal the Way It Was Meant to Sound—Loud, Relentless, and Unapologetic.
202 days till W:O:A 2023.
(Heavy metal saves lives.)
Today’s offering on the altar of genre tourism: an absolute beast of a debut.
Jag Panzer’s Ample Destruction (1984)—an album so perfectly heavy metal it might as well come with a free leather jacket and a set of dumbbells.
Heavy Metal, American Made, Perfectly Preserved
Formed in 1981 in Colorado Springs under the name Tyrant (before the inevitable legal issues), Jag Panzer built their legacy the old-fashioned way: big riffs, bigger vocals, and absolutely no half-measures.
Their debut album dropped in 1984, fuelled by the addition of lead guitarist Joey Tafolla, and immediately became an underground hit. Nearly 40 years later, it still sounds as sharp, heavy, and alive as the day it was forged.
If you're wondering why Jag Panzer aren't mentioned in the same breath as Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, the answer's simple: timing, bad luck, and too many lineup changes. (Metal's holy trinity of missed opportunities.)
After Ample Destruction, the band’s momentum got sucker-punched by departures and delays.
Ten years passed before they released their next album.
By then, the metal landscape had shifted, and Jag Panzer had missed their golden moment.
Still — Conklin, Briody, Tetley, Tafolla, and Stjernquist?
Absolute warriors.
And seeing (most of) that original lineup at Wacken this year?
Cannot wait.
Vocals, Riffs, Gangshouts—Metal DNA in Every Note
The original release of Ample Destruction is nine songs, 39 minutes, and zero skips.
What you get here is textbook early US power metal—
Chugging riffs. Soaring dual guitars. Galloping basslines. Choruses that practically beg you to belt them out while setting something on fire.
Tafolla’s guitar solos?
Glorious.
(Check Warfare at 2:36 if you want your heart to fist-pump itself out of your chest.)
Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin’s vocals?
Pure heavy metal theatre.
A rougher, more aggressive cousin to Bruce Dickinson, able to snarl, belt, and unleash falsetto shrieks that could summon storms.
(Also occasionally channels Dio with the dramatic line delivery — see Licensed to Kill and The Watching.)
Is it subtle?
Absolutely not.
That’s why it rules.
Why This Album Still Rips Harder Than Your Favourite Band
Licensed to Kill kicks the door down instantly.
Heavy riffing, gangshouts, ridiculous highs—it sets the tone for everything that follows.
Symphony of Terror gallops so hard it might actually bruise your ribs.
(Iron Maiden would nod approvingly from behind their amps.)
Harder Than Steel and Generally Hostile don't let up either—relentless energy, tight riffing, and gang vocals that punch you right in the lizard brain.
Even when things slow down—The Watching channeling classic Dio, The Crucifix closing with seven minutes of mournful, stomping grandeur—
the album never loses its edge.
It’s a greatest hits collection disguised as a debut.
Every track fights for its place.
Every riff swings for the throat.
Final Verdict: Timeless, Relentless, Essential
Ample Destruction isn’t just a heavy metal album.
It’s a blueprint.
A relic from a time when metal was still new enough to be dangerous, and pure enough to be thrilling.
If you haven’t heard it yet?
Fix that.
If you have?
Blast it louder.
Ample Destruction didn’t miss its moment. The moment missed it.