Tankard - The Beauty and the Beer
AFM Records
Thrash Metal
10 songs (45:55)
Release year: 2006
Tankard, AFM Records
Reviewed by Thomas
Archive review

My recent obsession with thrash metal never seems to end. I’ve liked Tankard ever since I first heard them ages ago, but it wasn’t until lately I really learned to enjoy what they’re doing. Beast of Bourbon popped up when I cleaned my room actually, and I figured I should put it on for old time’s sake. I enjoyed it to a much wider extent, and that prompted me to get the follow-up Beauty and the Beer. Considering that Tankard has one of the strongest discographies within thrash, I knew what I was getting, and although it’s not as good and consistent as its predecessor, Beauty and the Beer never fails to entertain me. These established German beer-enthusiasts and party animals know what they’re doing, they’re good at it, and they’re impossible to stop.

The production is maybe a little more so-called modern on this one, and the guitars are leaning even more towards the almost steely and framed Exodus-distortion. However, this is still far off and still as crushingly aggressive and balanced as we want and expect it to be. The addictive chopping riffs, the twisted shouts sometimes even dipping over in growly territory and the incredibly steady rhythm work is all there. Did I forget something? Oh, yes, the incredibly cool lyrics about beer and booze are also there, don’t worry. Some of the lyrics, like on Forsaken World takes a more serious approach giving us a short yet desired break from all the alcohol. In addition to the usual stuff, there are some incredibly lame lyrics here. Even for Tankard’s standards lyrics like; Metal to metal and guts to guts!/ No techno, no hip-hop, it's driving me nuts/ is a little below average. Then again; Thundering chords is what life's all about!. Amen.

Three. Two. One. RIFF ATTACK. The opening trio must be one of the tightest and most intense I’ve heard in a while, with Forsaken World as the peak. They chug out killer riff after killer riff, and the fitting gang-shouts accompanied by the machine gun blasts from drummer Olaf Zissel gives you the urge to jump around and headbang like a maniac. Seriously, I have never wanted to go on a bus rampage as much as I had today on the way back from the gym. Freaking excellent, I tell you. The same really goes for the first half of the album in general. And hadn’t it been for what I’m about to mention, this would’ve exceeded Beast of Bourbons’s rating. On Blue Rage – Black Redemption, things start to drag on a bit. This song isn’t bad in particular, but the songs that follows fail to reach the same level of quality as the earlier, and especially the opening trio/quartet did. Things are getting a little too similar for my taste, and though none of the songs are weak, they are way less enjoyable than the others. Yes the songs are following the same formula pretty much all over here; however, they’re approaching everything with more excitement and anticipation in the opening, which makes the songs more intense and much more fun. The chorus on say Shaken Not Stirred is paler and less blistering, and thereby not as enjoyable.

Don’t let these flaws stop you from getting it though. There are many quality tracks here that shouldn’t be missed. Not quite as good as its predecessor on a whole, but it contains some stuff that could’ve knocked out some of the songs on Beast of Bourbon. If you’re a sucker for fast and fun, riff-heavy thrash metal with humorous yet undisputed attitude, then go for this. Highly recommended.

Killing Songs :
Ice-olation, We Still Drink The Old Way, Forsaken World, The Beauty and the Beast
Thomas quoted 83 / 100
Adam quoted 88 / 100
Other albums by Tankard that we have reviewed:
Tankard - R.I.B reviewed by Thomas and quoted 79 / 100
Tankard - A Girl Called Cerveza reviewed by Milan and quoted 79 / 100
Tankard - Chemical Invasion reviewed by Thomas and quoted CLASSIC
Tankard - Vol(l)ume 14 reviewed by Thomas and quoted 84 / 100
Tankard - Zombie Attack reviewed by Charles and quoted 86 / 100
To see all 10 reviews click here
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