TANITH - “In Another Time” - (Metal Blade, ‘19, Brooklyn, NY / Newcastle, England)
In another time, TANITH would’ve played venues like The Cap Center, The Palladium & The Fillmore. In another time, Russ Tippins, Cindy Maynard, Charles Newton & Keith Robinson would’ve done some time on the covers of Creem & Circus. In another time, “In Another Time” (ok, now even I’m chuckling) would’ve been sharing front-rack space in record store/headshops with the likes of “Argus,” “Demons & Wizards” & “Foxtrot.”
The fact is, though, it’s not another time, it’s now. It’s 2019 and with it’s hysterical backdrop of reality show presidents & scathing debates over chicken sandwiches, this year welcomes the debut album of TANITH. The band has a unique make-up in that 3 of the members (Maynard, Newton & Robinson) are from New York & the other, Tippins should be familiar to metallers as half the guitar assault from NWOBHM legends, SATAN. Together they’ve put together an album that’s not only as fascinating as its parts, it’s easily one of my favorites of the year.
I’m not going to go through a whole gobbledygook of in-depth commentary on every track on this masterpiece. It’s too detailed and deep for that and I’d end up wearing out the ribbon on my typewriter...oops, that’s from in another time. What I will say is that this album is close to perfect. Whether it’s the delectable harmony vox of Maynard & Tippins or the heart-rending harmony leads laced through everything by Newton & Tippins (my man Russ is part of both subsets!), this music just SOUNDS gorgeous, buoyed as it is on the organic rhythms laid down by Maynard & Robinson (Cindy getting in on the algebraic action there!). When you couple all that interlocked playing with interstellar lyrics & epic-sounding songs like “Wing Of The Owl,” “Cassini’s Deadly Plunge” & “Mountain,” you’ve got music that’s beyond pretty good. You’ve got a rekkid that would’ve matched its ringwear-laden cover with those of “Survival,” “Pilgrimage” & “Secret Treaties” in my bedroom. And that’s “In ANY Time.”
TANITH:
Cindy Maynard - vocals, bass
Russ Tippins - vocals, guitars
Charles Newton - guitars
Keith Robinson - drums
--Ray Dorsey
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