Review by Michael on February 18, 2022.

A New Heartbeat shows another sign of life from British NWOBHM legends Tygers Of Pan Tang after their nice compilation called Majors & Minors which was released last year. This EP introduces two new members of the band to the listeners, namely Francesco Marras as new axeman and Huw Holding on the bass. We can find two new tracks ('A New Heartbeat' and 'Red Mist') and two re-recorded classics from their 1980 debut album Wild Cat ('Fireclown' and 'Killers').

The title track let my heartbeat go higher indeed because it is a very casual rock song with nice guitar riffs and a lot of groovy melodies. Just the right track to lighten up such a stormy and dark day like this one and put me into a good mood playing air guitar in my living room (at least until my family is back home and I have to raise the blinds). The guitars sound quite vivid; the drumming is well-timed and powerful and Jacks vocals very punchy. The other new track 'Red Mist' is much heavier than 'A New Heartbeat' due to the sawing guitar sounds and a little bit dodgier because of all those breaks the band uses in this one. I guess that the band really developed within the last years and don't wanna do the same thing again and again.

The other two tracks taken originally from their debut sound much fuller here although they didn't change too much in the musical arrangements. What I have to state is that the vocals sound much better with Jack on the microphone because he gives them much more spirit than the original vocalist Jess Cox did. He is able to put much more emotions and a certain emphasis into the lyrics and this gives both tracks a fresh lick of paint. Well done – hope to get more from the Tygers soon!!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10