TANITH "In Another Time"

TANITH

“In Another Time”

Another band throws its hat into the 70’s retro rock ring. This one, though, boasts guitarist Russ Tippins of SATAN as one of its members...my interest is immediately piqued. TANITH emerges as a pleasant listening experience that leans a bit more towards the hard rock side of the fence as opposed to out and out metal. There are touches of prog rock and even British folk rock here and there’s something about this band that reminds me strangely of early 70’s sci fi and fantasy paperbacks, mystical Roger Dean album covers and a world that has long since departed.

Russ shares lead vocals here with singer Cindy Maynard, who can be described as having a pleasing but not overwhelming or bombastic voice. TANITH is fairly unique in that male and female vocals intertwine constantly on every song, bringing a kind of melody that is totally missing in other 70’s inspired bands. As for the music, it seems evenly split between heavier, riffier tunes like “Cassini’s Deadly Plunge” and “Mountain” and more prog/folk injected tracks such as “Book of Changes” and “Eleven Years”. The album starts with by far the best and heaviest number,  “Citadel (Galantia Pt. 1)”, which brings forth many memories of the harder driving URIAH HEEP songs from the 70’s. The guitar work of Tippins and Charles Newton is top notch and doesn’t sound forced or unnatural at all. The proggier tunes wander a bit and don’t seem as focused, but TANITH resembles a lot of bands like HEEP and THIN LIZZY in that they aren’t out for blood all the time and there’s some light to go with the dark.

A heavy dose of fantasy/SF lyrics helps keep my interest in TANITH high. There’s so much 70’s retro rock out there now, it’s hard to stand out but this band has a fairly individual sound, which I have to admire.

METAL BLADE

TANITH