There are some things which seem to go together perfectly in life, E.G,: England and failure in an international sporting competition, Orange Amplification and Doom and Stoner metal and Thrash and Beer. For the third of these examples, Teutonic Thrash legends Tankard have made a career out of this perfect mix, with R.I.B (Rest In Beer), their 16th studio album set to be released which, like all their albums has the right blend of seriousness and full on party tracks. The album artwork also has a blast from the past – the crazy professor from the 1987 album “Chemical Invasion” is back.
Opening with “War Cry” which is one of the more serious themed tracks, the bass plays a simple line whilst the guitar plays a slow-paced melodic solo which helps build the mood. This mood quickly turns into a full on, frantic thrash assault as the drums kick in and the vocals are delivered with the trademark venom German thrash bands are famed for. With its politically charged lyrics and fast pace, it’s a song which will have heads whirling round furiously. “Fooled By Your Guts” continues the thrash assault, kicking in straight away with a pounding assault of riffs and tight rhythm playing. The song’s story is interesting – It is based on the story of a Texan-man who had a strain of brewer’s yeast living in his guts. Whenever he ate anything sugary or starch based, he would effectively ferment his own alcohol. The band upon hearing this knew exactly what to do and have immortalised this in the form of Thrash. The story telling is fantastic and the soloing isn’t too shabby either.
Title track “R.I.B (Rest In Beer)” starts off slowly with a depressing, almost funeral like sound. The dark riffs create an intense atmosphere and when the song speeds up, the intensity is still present. The tricky guitar work twists from rhythm to lead at an instant and the catchy chorus shouts of “RIB, REST IN BEER” are just perfect for shouting along at the top of your voice at a gig, preferably with a beer in hand. The chanted section halfway through the track adds an interesting twist before the song kicks back to the dark thrash with a fluidly played solo and some serious riffs once more. “Riders Of The Doom” picks up the pace once more. The fast pace, intense drums and tricky riffs set the sound whilst the vocals are delivered with more swagger and seriousness. The solo halfway through is well thought out and flows perfectly with the direction of the song and it sets up the ending of the song nicely. “Hope Can’t Die” starts off again with a bass and guitar line. Its slower feel, coupled with the vocals which are sang as opposed to shouted make this another serious track. This one is about dealing with the loss of a close friend and the seriousness of it works. The song is still a thrash number, but its more powerful than fast, giving more to melody and composition than just thrash for the sake of thrash.
“No One Hit Wonder” follows up with a riff which sounds kind-of similar to Painkiller by Judas Priest. All that is missing is the falsetto vocals and pounding drum intro, but the Germans use their cutting-edge riffs and raw power to drag this track through. It starts to get more frantic as the track goes on with the harshly delivered vocals and the tight rhythm including a solo which taunts the listener, starting off slowly, then speeding up then slowing down just for the end of the track. “Breakfast For Champions” is a phrase you will often hear uttered at a festival when someone stands up and opens their first luke-warm can to resume the previous night’s activities much to the disgust of some of their camp-mates, something of which I am an advocate of. Starting off with a building drum roll, the song kicks to life with a groove feel before it speeds up into a faster pace before switching in and out of the groove feel. The chorus is tongue in cheek, with lines like ‘Liver, you will have to pay’ and ‘ Get up, in the Tankard Way’ and in true Tankard fashion, its tongue in cheek humour with the thrash assault is an ode to all that is beer related.
“Enemy of Order” brings back the intensity and seriousness. With a frantic pace and thrashy groove, it is a scathing attack on modern society and technology and how it is destroying us all. The venom in the vocals is delivered brilliantly and solo dances its way across the intense riffing. Overall, this is possibly the best track of the album and a fine example of Teutonic thrash at its best. “Clockwise To Deadline” has a throwback to the 80’s thrash feel with its intense riffs. It sounds like anything the big German four could have released back in the day and wouldn’t appear out of place on any of the 80’s albums if it had appeared on them. The simplistic approach of the guitar work in the rhythm works well and the almost Euro-metal styled lead work adds flavour to the track. Closing the album, “The Party Ain’t over ‘Til We Say So” sums the album and the band up. The song is a statement and the title reflects that. Wherever there is a party, Tankard are sure to make sure it goes on as long as it can with their beer-fuelled thrash styling’s and humour.
R.I.B is a great album and it shows that after 32 years in the game, the veteran Beer-Drinking, Thrash-Slinging Germans show no sign of letting up. Do yourself a favour, grab a beer, get this album and enjoy it in true Tankard style.
(8/10 Fraggle)
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