Tankard
Beast Of Bourbon

THE REVIEW

Need a model for young bands? A symbol of consistency and dedication to the music they love? An example of passion far from any commercial interest? Let me throw a name out there: Tankard, most likely the Thrash Metal band with the highest blood alcohol content. Active for almost thirty years, they were among the few to stay afloat during the storm of the '90s (which commercially and stylistically hit them too), only to find the magical formula again around the millennium: music as pure fun. Some go fishing, some play curling, some drink their brains out for women, some read, some love doing absolutely nothing all day, and then there are Tankard, who spend their time playing metal and guzzling beer; an utterly enviable hobby, without any constraints, pathologically debatable.

With ''Kings Of Beer'' (2000) and ''B-Day'' (2002), the downward trend was reversed, and with ''Beast Of Bourbon'' in 2004, Gerre and company certify their second youth marked by good humor, frontal assault without compromise, and, inevitably, beer. The eleventh album by the Frankfurt band features direct and tight arrangements but are not stripped or disorganized, with the usual lyrics halfway between witty and bawdy, but also an impeccable musical performance by the whole group. In short, a work that certainly does more for our mood than for our spine. Tracks like the rough and devastating ''Under Friendly Fire''' and ''Fistful Of Love''' stand out, the Anthrax-like ''Alien Revenge''', or the hilarious ''Dead Men Drinking''; ''Slipping From Reality'' showcases a bone-crushing refrain, while ''The Horde'' with its more rhythmic feel highlights Frank Thorwarth's great bass work. All marked, as per the best tradition, by a raw and spontaneous Thrash Metal powered by the animalistic drumming of Olaf Zissel and perfectly embellished by the guitar of Andreas ''Fucking Christian'' Gutjahr, who sometimes recalls his Power past and delivers some melodic solos with a pleasant neoclassical aftertaste.

The Tankard can also add a touch of variety to their sound, and they do so with the mid-tempo ''Die With A Beer In Your Hand''' (a title, a manifesto), a track that winks at Epic Metal, but especially with the dark arpeggiated passages of ''Endless Pleasure'', where Gerre really seems like a serious singer... But they are Tankard and in closing comes the cover of ''We're Coming Back'' by the British punkers Cocksparrer, one of the few bands that, for their jollity, could aspire to match our own.

A masterpiece then? There is no need, Tankard releases their masterpiece album after album, concert after concert; they update it in the ardor of their musical adventure, in the charge with which they attack every stage, in the humor with which they infuse their lyrics. ''Beast Of Bourbon'' gives us eleven tracks of excellent Thrash Metal, and, above all, the urgent need to (re)find ourselves in front of a sweaty fat guy screaming "This is my belly" before launching into exaggerated headbanging.

At least for once, let's forget about scholarly and laborious music, and let ourselves be drenched in liters and liters of delirious and liquor-filled Teutonic metal.