Review: “The Edge of the End” by Tigerleech

Formed in January 2013 as the meeting of 4 experimented musicians coming from different bands, styles and genres are Tigerleech. Gathered around the stoner and sludge metal stylings, the band produces a powerful dynamic with a fat greasy sound inspired by Metal, Hardcore and Seventies Heavy Rock. A couple of EPs in their career down, this is their debut full length album. The Frenchmen have come to rock!

Starting out with “Sandstorm”, Tigerleech drop riffs a plenty in similar style to Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leech fronted supergroup Seemless. From the opening bass riff that has something of an Audioslave vibe about it before it builds into its shifting sands the track builds in grooves that wear their influences on their sleeves and provide a familiarity that is endearing. You may well find yourself nodding along before the pair of heavier breakdowns kick in and then getting into it. After a haunting opening riff “An Experience Called Life” kicks in with an almost tribal drum pattern that is addictive in its nature and the tune then bounces off that with numerous break out moments of groove orientated sound. The music echos the lyrics in places with eerie melodic moments in some of the more troubled lyrical aspects. Taking that Big Rock sound with a Metallic edge into “Burned Inside” keeps up the quality of musicianship with a modern take on some of the Grunge era’s finest moments. It grooves from start to finish with a heavier guitar tone kicking in where you might expect an unclean vocal to take over. To be honest, it doesn’t need uncleans, it’s not part of the vibe Tigerleech are looking to generate. “Jungle Punk” changes the pace with a higher tempo gear shift into some faster groove laiden guitars but by no means Punk music. It’s a lyrical tale from the urban jungle with a Punk attitude and some pause break riffs adding some kick back. The bass breaking out from that section and effectively giving a bass solo between the guitar breaks is a piece of magic that wins the day.

Having a 7 minute plus track from a band of this style is intriguing and “Sexe Dur” or “Hard Sex” provides some insight as to what Tigerleech are capable of. What they do is bring in the solos and use them to bounce around off the main riff with some insightful lyrics. Tempo changes keep the thing alive and it’s far from the chore it could have been on paper. “Awkward” then follows up as another longer tune at 6 and a half minutes but again this one gets out of the gate quickly enough with some solid sludgy riffs and big fat bass lines that make you hungry for more. There are a couple of brief lead licks that highlight the rhythmic nature of the music but nothing that overpowers the style. The stompy closing is another impromptu moment that adds a sparkle. Starting off with a more melodic approach, “Decline For Glory” soon changes direction into a thunderous bouncy piece of music that is accompanied by some introspective lyrics. It creates a contraction as the positive energy of the music which has plenty of higher tempo drive has the lyric “I want to die. I want to change my destiny”. When things drop off into a melodic passage that still has a crunch the sentiment of the lyric has more gravity.

Building up into “In My Veins” there is the distinct impression that Tigerleech could break out into something heavier if they wanted to but instead stick within the lines that they’ve created for themselves. This cut is one of the stand outs with a face melting solo and a Crowbar esq guitar sound while the Chris Cornell inspired vocals give plenty of charm. The marching drum pattern at the start of “The Edge of the End” is built upon with a melodic riff with melloncholic overtones in a sort of instrumental break before the tune proper kicks in. That instrumental moment then re-appears after the first verse with a climbing dark atmospheric moving out from that in turn. It’s a powerful moment that in turn closes the song with a 50 second marching pattern and overall the song and the album has a fair amount of progressive leaning building material. Stuccato riffage brings “Acid Gang” to life and long instrumental breaks between accented verses close the album in fine form. It’s big bass sound an chunky mid career Metallica without any solos makes it a very enjoyable experience, just don’t get caught signing along to “Join… the Acid Gang” on public transport! [7.5/10]

Track listing

1. Sandstorm
2. An Experience Called Life
3. Burned Inside
4. Jungle Punk
5. Sexe Dur
6. Awkward
7. Decline For Glory
8. In My Veins
9. The Edge of the End
10. Acid Gang

“The Edge of the End” by Tigerleech is out now and available via bandcamp