One of the major problems with long-term alcoholism is that it fucks with one’s ability to gauge the passing of time. As a result, it makes sense that Tankard have suddenly woken from their beer-fuelled slumbers and decided to make a sequel to an album they made 27 years ago.
Chemical Invasion remains one of the Germans’ finest works, and so R.I.B.’s continuation of its forebear’s not overly profound narrative marks a welcome opportunity to reassess this band’s contribution to thrash over the last three decades.
Goofy humour has long provided a distraction from the fact that Tankard are a monstrously effective metal band, albeit with beer bellies and the faint whiff of vomit following them around. Songs like Fooled By Your Guts and Breakfast For Champions indicate that for all their twatting about, they remain capable of churning out pulverising riffs and moments of high-velocity insanity that evoke the wild spirit of 80s thrash. Plus, of course, R.I.B. gives us another splendid excuse for getting pissed.
