TANKARD – Disco Destroyer

AFM Records will release the new Tankard Best of entitled Best Case Scenario: 25 Years In Beers to celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary through steady album releasing and relentless beer consuming. Until that time, the record label re-released the albums Disco Destroyer and Kings Of Beer with the addition of one bonus track in each of them through Locomotive Records (the latter album has been already reviewed… click here to read).

All the fans of the traditional German Thrash Metal scene are familiar with this sarcastic band that has taken the 80s party feeling, added sufficient proportions of beer, and made some historical albums like Zombie Attack, Chemical Invasion, and The Meaning Of Life. Their music is nothing special or groundbreaking and sticks to the basic foundations of primarily Thrash Metal with almost Punk rhythm guitars, screaming out of tune vocals, and some really catchy guitar hooks.

Disco Destroyer was originally released in 1998 through Century Media, three years after the rather weak album The Tankard. The songs found in this album bear the same old style the band had introduced in the debut release, Zombie Attack, back in 1986. As a matter of fact, the Punk atmosphere, in the style of Misfits, is more vivid here in songs like “U-R-B,” “Death By Whips,” or the S.O.D.-like “Disco Destroyer,” with the hilarious chorus lines crying out ”from Frankfurt to Frisco we destroy every disco”. Of course, among the 13 tracks there are the old-school Thrashers like the drum-driven “Serial Killer,” the fast-paced “Hard Rock Dinosaur,” and the heavy “Superlover,” where Andreas Geremia performs the catchy chorus with his classic out-of-tune voice. The highlight of the album is definitely “Queen Of Hearts,” which kicks in with a mid-tempo pace and bursts into a classic 80s Thrasher that reminds of the Bay Area Testament sound.

In order to make the two reissues more enticing, they have added in each of them a cover song; in Kings Of Beer there is the pretty cool version to Metallica’s “Damage Inc.,” while in this album there is “Fast Taker” originally recorded by Manowar. Tankard have turned this song into an almost Punk track with a faster tempo, and did some additional work on the original guitar solo.

Overall, this album is really nothing special in the Tankard back catalog. It has some good moments, but in the end the listener is left with the I’ve heard that before feeling. On the other hand, the Germans haven’t been famous for their groundbreaking music, but for the straightforward and honest attitude that really shows when the quartet is upon a stage performing live.