Andreas “Gerre” Geremia - vocals

Olaf Zissel - drums

Andy Gutjahr - guitar

Frank Thorwarth – bass  

: "Beast of Bourbon"        tankard                

engineering and mixing by producer Andy Classen - cover artwork by Sebastian Krüger   

review  by dalia "gryphon_spirit" di giacomo____   

A Thrash in old school and up-to-dated instrumental technique like i was not listening to since long!  Care in every detail concerning production, enthralling and energizing  concerning execution and ideas. It will appeal to many old Metallica (Kill'em all and Ride the Lightening era ) and Testament fans but  also to the new generations cause  Tankard are fresh, aggressive, explosive, fluid, providing  a waterfall of notes and "killing" instincts. Total headbanging, and total impact!

Energizer Tankard! Beyond any other consideration about the excellent Thrash  proposed by this album, i'd like to underline an amazing  characteristic of Beast of Bourbon. It is better than a glass of bourbon , better than coffee and tea and even better than ..beer,  in its way to offer a revitalizing and tonic charge.  Every time i saw Tankard live  and every time  i listened  to their previous releases i already received a lot of positive energy, but Beast of Bourbon has exceeded all expectations, being  the first case of "music therapy" i am personally 100% sure about, and that i feel it's right to suggest. Music gives emotions, after all it is a particular kind of language, and these emotions can  be differently filtered by each of us, but there are anyway general convergences: some music  is universally known for cheering up during moments of sadness, some other makes us be depressed, some other again  makes our blood run faster.  But Beast of Bourbon is fully tonifying, it gives us a charge, but no charge in excess, it makes us more self confident, not necessarily good mooded, cause there is also a certain bitterness in Tankard's lyrics, lyrics that make us think , in spite of their  irony, but it makes us less anxious. For example, at the sound of Slipping From Reality there is no problem that appears insuperable, no meeting that appears boring , no study that can appear difficult, and , i imagine, no future mother-in-law that appears intractable! Listen to it! and in general to the whole album, and afterwards, like a kind of magic, you will feel better with yourself and the world.  I don't know how it is possible , but Tankard's solid and lively thrash , with its catchy but not too simple loops, , with its perseverance and coherence of action throughout all tracks, very obviously  activates our capacity to  act and re-act . 

From a technical point of view,  both considering technique and creativity, in its genre, i find this album flawless, and if you could object that you notice, here and there, that drums and strings slightly anticipate vocals, you must admit that 1) it's Tankard style  2) that at Tankard's camp drumming "dictates" the beat (in few words, it makes its job!) and rhythmic perfectly  fits in.  The peculiar feature is that all songs are switched to an effective enjoyable involving uptempo without trace of tiredness, remaining high all time long  without being repetitive or boring. The succession of tracks is fluid without drops of  tension.  You will like every song , some of them are actually additive. If you love Thrash you can be only satisfied. Tankard are not shocking , and  not hyperfast and very violent like Dew Scented (another brilliant German band, whose sound i hope can make Slayer go and die  for good). But Tankard are anyway fast and agile, energetic, heavy in midtempo, relentless, unstoppable, always agreeable. It's pressing Old School-Thrash  rhythmic that supports fresh  riffs while  the solid run-in ability supports  enthusiast dynamics. Everything is done in a way that  the head-banging "spring" natural, easy, fluent  .  Gerre's vocals are always sharp-cut supported by 3 musicians with whom every frontier of Thrash is  technically possible. An exact skill drummer , versatile and resolute guitarist and an impeccable bass. "Beast of Bourbon" not only  maintains the awesome level of playing and production shown by  "B_Day", but it shows that the self- confidence of the band  is more and more mature and complete: in few words Tankard can be definitively counted among the "Big's".

Concerning tracks in specific, let's begin with 3 amazing gems: the best among the best:  Endless Pleasure and Slipping from Reality (both available in radio/club version too, versions that never loose in  genuine aggressiveness) and Die with a Beer in your Hand.

Track 6, Endless Pleasure,   is simply intense: the  verse, with  old Metallica harmonic  sonorities, is a bit  thoughtful  ,  but fascinating; The refrain  shoots a short overwhelming  uptempo burst of notes which are unforgettable: they reach ear and brain immediately .  The refrain provides the musical focal point repeating the lyrics with title and hook. The  bridge is pure enthralling thrash riffing. This song  has a clear  vein of sorrow, and i think it deals with the theme of drug -abuse and the false deadly sense of power hard drugs give , but it's incredible how everything turns into a positive vibe of re-action, increasing our level of dopamine without artificial and dangerous chemistry.

Slipping from Reality  is a fast devastating  powerful lashing of class, an aggressive pushing and pressing : an animated rhythm with killing riffing and with another unforgettable refrain , a certain American Rock touch is detectable. Incredibly agreeable the harmonic mid tempo bridge with an enchanting lead guitar. 

Die with a Beer in your Hand is a song i like in the same measure i like Metallica's Creeping Death, so i have told everything. It  delivers  the same  impending feeling and atmosphere,  the apparent ironic  mask offered by  lyrics which exalt  very earthly desires and the incisive fast/thunderous  tempo cannot hide a sense of different meaning . The refrain provides a hammer hook sung in rhyme - Die my Friend - Because this is the end - Make a final stand and die with a Beer in your hand-, galloping and melodic contents intertwine and interact, while the words "After the Demons have been fought back into Hell - Howls in the Night - A Pack of Wolves surround me -Reborn in Steel, it´s time to fight" are the key of the picture.

The opener Under  friendly Fire is a pure wild enjoyable restless "killer", in full old glorious  Thrash with no compromises, and it explains a bit  the cover art through its  direct lyrics that i presume  are focuzed on a certain military condition (and conditioning) : 

I am a Cowboy from up ´nigh
I´ve got my Go Pills-I´m a Winner!
On the way up I´m gonna get high!
I´m speeding! Do I care?
Demitry orders us to fly
Amphetamines have made us Killers

The verse of "Genetic Overkill" ("blessed be biotechnology!") has a great bass -overture that launches killing riffs, that live a  life of their own due to the many but enjoyable and agreeable tempo  changes: variety in a perfect logic ride.  Vocals are angrier and  screaming, while drums are spectacular .  Genetic Overkill has even an obsessive face. 

The Horde provides a thunderous protagonist double bass drumming and a devastating attack: it's a bomb, which delivers also vocals in echo and a huge work done by all strings: the bass in particular is called to a very hard task. Mission completed.

Dead Men Drinking is an exasperated nervous  non -stop of assaults with a good guitar solo. This track shows how Thrash is strictly connected with Death. It fades then into its hungry "brother", Alien Revenge, without letting you even the time to take a breath . These 2 tracks represent the more brutal moment suitable for the "Soldiers of Metal".  Fistful of Love is thunderous and reverberating, somehow bombastic and sometimes a bit dissonant. It has much of erratic rhythm and could act as connection to Death from one side,  and to a certain punk-ish proceeding , at  the other part of the spectrum, without neglecting a certain melodic flavor. It is a very ambitious song with various Thrash influences.  Beyond the Pubyard perfectly keeps up the good work with tons of aggression and pushing  punk-y vividness,  an obsessive claustrophobic refrain and guitar virtuoso's.

 \m/Take this virtual beer, ...pardon... bourbon, and be (re)-active!!

Rating: 10/10

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