The big four of thrash may well be criminally considered to be American, but when it comes to European thrash and in particular German thrash, then the big four are surly and most unquestionably Sodom, Destruction, Kreator and Tankard. This is a four track 10 inch vinyl release, the four thrashers pay homage to two very big British bands, that being Iron Maiden and Motörhead.
Kreator open with ‘The Number of the Beast’ and has a massive injection of the Kreator staccato sound, the palm muting during the verses are nice, there is originality and personalisation present on this very well-known Maiden classic with a great piece of melody in the first unique guitar solo.
Sodom are gambling and being downright dirty with the over-covered ‘Ace of Spades’ which is a great tune to be fair and Sodom are certainly doing a great version, but it is a song that is consistently overplayed and now appears on many TV adverts, for what it is there is little change that Sodom can possibly do with the song so just enjoy the moment!
Destruction pull out the real wild card and entertain with ‘The Hammer’ from the ‘Ace of Spades’ album and even manage an authentic bass sound towards the end of the track. This and Sodom’s choice of Motörhead perfectly match their early and current aggressive nature, their raw sound that they became famous for but I don’t mean that Kreator and Tankard sound like Maiden on the flip side!
Finally, Tankard pull out Maiden’s ‘The Prisoner’ and this is certainly my favourite of this release, it is unique in choice but also the track that displays a completely different side to the band you should know by now. Gerre actually has melody and the band exercise a musical degree of control, great stuff and I love their variation in the guitar solo, this is much more individual.
This is a likable release, a one for collectors for sure. I like to hear bands interpretation of others songs, for me this “Teutonic four”, as you would really expect, display nothing short of pure precision and style when playing humility to these two great bands covered.
(7.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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