Tankard – Thousands beers in a box – Review

February 2021

I am going to write this time about a metal scene I have grown up with: “The Teutonic”. For those, who are not familiar with terminology, well it stands for the Big Four (Kreator, Tankard, Sodom & Destruction) who shaped the German Thrash Metal scene.

In this review I will write about Tankards release “For A Thousand Beers” box, which is a collection of their music during the Noise Records period. The following albums are included in this edition: Zombie Attack, Chemical Invasion, The Morning After, The Meaning Of Life, Stone Cold Sobe, Two-Faced The Tankard, Fat, Ugly & Live’. It is in honour of their 40 years celebration.

To get a bit of an impression of what the band is all about and their release I talked with Gerre first at D Metal Galaxy. The topics I will cover this time are: image, lyrics, music, artwork and in the end a summary.

Image

Tankard is all about beer. The name itself represents this and the band did a couple songs about getting drunk and drinking beer. Funny enough, Gerre is not the biggest beer lover. However, I think this image fits perfectly well with the band for music reasons and lyrics, which I will describe below. Also, it is very light compared to Destruction, who has the Mad Butcher as their core image.

Apart from this, the beer makes it very easy to remember the band, because everytime you are having a beer you are just thinking about “Space Beer” and having a good craic what Tankard basically stands for. What’s more, it is the most basic drink you can think of during gigs making it very well to imprint what Tankard is all about.

Lyrics

The lyrics of Tankard are based on real and fictional events. For example, “Shitfaced” is based on true events where Tankard destroyed a hotel room as they were a bit wild and afterwards were kicked out of the hotel. Also, “Space Beer” is a song based on a German Beer with the same name and the thoughts they had as teenagers.

Interestly enough, this kind of lyrics you would not find in the newer album as Gerre himself said that they are not teenagers anymore and thus they don’t have the fantasy to write crazy stuff such as “your dick will grow in size”. I believe that this is why their lyrics writing is so great. They grow as persons and as a result each album handles different phases of their life in a funny way. Also the lyrics are non repeatable on each album. As a consequence you are surprised every time as you will be hearing new topics.

It is also a great strategy which makes them stand out among their brothers as well as extreme metal bands as I haven’t seen any band with this kind of humour and brutality.

Not every lyrics are based on crazy shit happening, Tankard also writes serious lyrics, such as the meaning of life. However, I would say they have a sarcastic undertone making them fun as well. According to me, a perfect way to send a message across, due to the lighter undertone the message sticks very well. This different way of sending a message across than Kreator, for example who is straight in your face with “Pleasure to Kill” is quite refreshing.

I like the switch interchange of the serious and fun songs as it gives time to process heavy thematically songs with a light one. Mixing it, makes the band not entirely a parody band and keeps within the thrash genre.

Music

According to Gerre, Tankard is the lightest one of all brothers and one the first album “Zombie Attack” had even punk elements. I take Gerres words for it as I am not really a punk listener except for Girlschool. What I definitely agree on, from my own listening experience, is that Tankard indeed is the lightest one from all brothers.

I believe the reason for this is the image and lyrics that I have just explained above, contribute to giving listeners a lighter experience than the other bands in big 4. I would also say that Gerre vocals are less raw and don’t use shrieks than his other brothers, strengthening the lighter listening experience. Also, instrumental wise Tankard has less shreds and heavy riffs than the other bands.

Due to the lighter tone I really enjoy the Noise production which entails the oldest album as the vocals are crystal clear and making it very easy to follow the lyrics along.

”DESPITE THE LIGHTER TONES TANKARD IS PURE THRASH, IT’S JUST A BIT DIFFERENT MUSIC WISE THAN THEIR BROTHERS”

Artwork

I love the beer box idea as it grabs your attention immediately. My own first thoughts were “who on earth sells an album in a beer box?”. What’s more, it is something I haven’t seen before and it perfectly fits with what I have discussed above. After all, what better way to represent a band about beer with a beer box?

Summary

Tankard is basically a beer band and offers you a great craic. With a lighter tone in the lyrics and music it is a band definitely worthwhile to check out as they are the band who stand out in the Big 4. And who doesn’t want to have a beer box on their shelf?

”TANKARD MIGHT BE THE SMALLEST ONE OF THE BIG 4,  HOWEVER THERE IS NO ONE WHO CAN MAKE YOU LAUGH AS TANKARD CAN”
MAIr