TWO-FACED - 1994 / TANKARD

Mis muy apreciados personajes TANKARD con TWO-FACED, su sexto álbum, en mi séptima colaboración con METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA. Esta vez, en la sección de reportajes. Todo debido a la duración del artículo, más larga de lo acostumbrado en el apartado de críticas, y bajo el título de LA FÓRMULA TANKARD.

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LA FÓRMULA TANKARD / METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA

Gracias y hasta otra.

ENGLISH

My very much beloved TANKARD with TWO-FACED, their sixth album and my seventh review for METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA. This time, in the features section. All because of the article's length, longer than what the reviews section uses to embrace, and under the title LA FÓRMULA TANKARD (spanish for The Tankard Recipe).

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LA FÓRMULA TANKARD / METAL HAMMER ESPAÑA

LABEL: NOISE RECORDS

RELEASE DATE: March, 1994

MEMBERS:

ANDREAS GEREMIA: Vocals

AXEL KATZMANN: Guitar

ARNULF TUNN: Drums

FRANK THORWARTH: Bass

ANDREAS BOULGAROPOULOS: Guitar

TRACKS:

DEATH PENALTY

R.T.V.

BETRAYED

NATION OVER NATION

DAYS OF THE GUN

CITIES IN FLAMES

UP FROM ZERO

TWO FACED

ICH BRAUCH' MEINEN SUFF

CYBERWORLD

MAINHATTAN

JIMMY B. BAD

VIDEOS:

Germany's TANKARD have always tiptoed their way around the rest of the four most important bands within the teutonic thrash metal scene, at least when it comes to their success and popularity. I can hardly fathom this comparison concerning DESTRUCTION, although it's also true that, out of these four bands, that's the one I've listened to the least and I'm no scholar regarding their achievements in those field. And as for KREATOR and SODOM there is no doubt about it, for they are the two top bands and, most likely, in that order.

But those are completely biased issues and, just like I deem the careers of bands like OVERKILL and TESTAMENT (in the long run and all things considered) superior to those of any of the bands which define the namesake group of thrash metal's four biggest bands across the pond, Tankard are more important to me than their german peers, only with Sodom's permission (whom I usually place on par, but I still have some work to do concerning their discography).

It all has a lot to do with Tankard's loutish and humorous side, regardless of their liking for singing about beer, partying and all that, because, although they are not alien to dealing with more social stuff in their lyrics, they are quite removed from the commitment of the other three bands with political, militaristic or simply violent issues. Nothing against those subjects, mind you, but the guys from Frankfurt brighten my life with their shenanigans. And there's also their chops as musicians, always a tad overlooked and underrated when compared to their peers, and precisely because of that attitude, I guess, which means that most people do not take them as seriously as they deserve to be.

In addition, out of all those already mentioned american and german bands, only Overkill have released more studio albums than Tankard, something that means an obvious dedication to their craft by a bunch of musicians who I don't think that, as of today, can't even devote full time to music. This fact only increases my respect for them.

The Two-Faced lineup, clockwise: Boulgaropoulos,
Thorwart, Tunn, Gerre and Katzmann

Many of those eighteen studio records get lost amidst the collective memory of the average metal fan who is not very much interested in this band, for we all pay attention to certain bands and Tankard have not achieved enough success for the same thing to happen to them. It's ok and, unlike most of their contemporaries all around the world (same as Sodom, by the way, and that's why is no coincidence that my liking for them is also bigger), this band has experienced zero deviations in their music and a wholehearted regard for their chosen genre, despite grunge, groove or whatever trends that might have showed up during the nineties. Yes, there are those little nuances here and there that point out to a minimal variety, the overall quality of some of their outputs can be questioned (and how couldn't?), and even I admit they have a couple of lows in their discography, at least as far as their level of intensity is concerned (and I like both of them), but what I've said means that neither experimental flops the likes of LOAD, RISK, ENDORAMA or THE LEAST SUCCESFUL HUMAN CANNONBALL, to name a few examples, nor even the casual leanings for more modern sounds that bands like SLAYER or Overkill themselves got to deal with at some point in their long and storied careers, can be found in their body of work

This is not about starting an argument. Time waits for no one and I understand the need for adapting oneself, evolve artistically or simply earn more money, and while there are many fans of some artists who disown their more controversial eras, there are others who happen to enjoy every single moment taken from the discographies of their favourite bands. There's something for everyone and that's the good thing about it. I, for one (considering myself a purist, and an old school bloke without a friendly ear for certain innovations), I've also listened to some of those polarizing records and they are not that bad. My point is that, if you happen to appreciate musical stability, consistency and true love for this genre, Tankard deserve their fair share of attention. I recall the only one time that I've seen them play live and good old GERRE wrapped up the show screaming Thrash Metal will never die! to a grateful and frenzied crowd, and I think that's a very good summation of everything that's been discussed.

Tankard during the times of their drunken holy trinity (1986 - 1989). Drummer
Oliver Werner is the first one from the left

The album to be reviewed, TWO-FACED, still belongs to the band's early years, when they made their debut hand in glove with KARL ULRICH WALTERBACH, from NOISE RECORDS, and famed german producer HARRIS JOHNS, who ended up producing Tankard's first nine records, among other stuff. Pretty much everyone around knows and happens to like the first three, that treble which is regarded by many as a peak that hasn't been matched and will never be, comprised of ZOMBIE ATTACK (1986) and, above all, of those two unmatched gems that CHEMICAL INVASION (1987) and THE MORNING AFTER (1988) are. I can, more or less, agree with all those assertions.

Harris Johns just deserves to be here

Two-Faced is the sixth album and a very peculiar one, due to some reasons and coincidences. For a start, because I think is the most obscure record from those years when the band was still very young, even less popular than the next one, THE TANKARD (1995), their last with Noise and one of those two aforementioned lows that, in my opinion, Tankard have.

It's also Tankard's last album with drummer ARNULF TUNN and guitarrist and founding member AXEL KATZMANN. The former is an accomplished musician who had already taken part in THE MEANING OF LIFE (1990) and STONE COLD SOBER (1992), in replacement of founder OLIVER WERNER, and the latter a team player without whom Tankard's sound during that first era cannot be fathomed, thanks to the tandem he formed with ANDREAS BOULGAROPOULOS (I just love both their tones on this record), something which would get lost after his departure. I don't know about the reasons behind Tunn's leaving the band, but in Katzmann's case it looks like he was suffering from a severe arthritis. The funny thing is that him and Tunn, together with another guy called ADRIAN HAHN, formed another thrash band called NEMESIS, and they released a short and quite interesting album of the same name in 1997. This band seems to be their only musical adventure apart from Tankard.

There's also the fact that Two-Faced became the band's first record, and perhaps the only one in their whole career, on which there is not a single Tankard-penned song devoted to booze. Had they become a serious band? You might get that feeling paying close attention to the lyrics, but for the average fan who did not speak english or wasn't interested in those issues, the feeling is quite the same.

A motley crew. Arnulf Tunn is first from the right

To finish off, this record has been largely ignored by the band itself when it came to playing its songs live, and for very long. I guess things were not that way back in the day, but just like it's easy to find at least one song from the first five albums of the band on Tankard's current setlists, there's nothing from this one. And it's been this way since more or less the turn of the century.

However, I think that SEBASTIAN KRÜGER's front cover, who had already drawn every Tankard cover but Zombie Attack (and who would come back to create some more in the near future) is very recognizable. I don't know why, but that's my perception, maybe because of the memories I keep from that time, when I had not even listened to Tankard yet.

Like all Tankard stuff so far, Two-Faced was recorded at MUSICLAB STUDIOS (founded by Harris Johns himself) in Berlin, during the last months of 1993, and was full of your healthy dose of carefree and a tad punkish thrash metal, with not very much variety and which just picked up Tankard's momentum right where the two previous albums had left it off. On those records, Tunn's drumming (mostly his superb footwork) had been, as far as I am concerned, the main difference when it came to the band's sound, regarding Tankard's first three efforts. I want you to know, up front, that I am completely biased and I love this record, and as much as I find difficult to rank the band's records, this has to be among the best ten, with serious chances to rank even much higher up depending on the given day.

Very recent times in the band's chronology, with
Gutjahr on the left and Zissel on the right

It all begins with DEATH PENALTY, whose title leaves no doubt about the subject at hand. Not in vain, the song starts with the voice of some judge sentencing someone to death by the electric chair. The proper music begins cautiously somehow, as if the band was trying to weigh the listener up or just keeping them posted, while Gerre makes public his disdain for the death penalty, mixing the whole thing up with racism and starting it all at the end, with the different ways one person can be executed. Later on, he will tell us all about his time on death row and his subsequent execution, this time by the chair. As for the music, and as expected, Tankard speed up after those first moments, largely due to Tunn's almost omnipresent double kicks (much more evident and present in the mix than Werner's), something which will become a constant on almost the entire record. There are gang backing vocals, tons of speed, some variety in the riffing and the band's usual frantic guitar solos which are not lacking in some blues flair from time to time so, what else could you ask for?

R.T.V. (or reality television) starts taking no prisoners, with THORWART's bass guitar getting more prominence, and a chord progression which sound plain simple. It's quite punkish, in fact, if I happen to have the slightest idea about what being punkish is all about. Be it as it may, a total scorcher which focus on a certain way of making television, but funnily enough, years ahead of those kinds of programs getting so popular that they got nauseating.

If what's been so far on offer has been good, this has just started and BETRAYED (one of my faves), despite its more slowed down beginning, once again with the bass sounding big, needs no time to annihilate the listener with one of those furious tempo changes that are the reason why one is so very much into this kind of music. Relentless thrash metal in a way too bitter and even cruel no-love story, because Gerre not only remembers the whole thing, but seems to be bent on punishing himself bringing back the worst memories memories of a relationship with an ex who obviously wasn't worthy of anybody's time (Why were you messing around with other guys? You could have told me you were not satisfied). I do not know whether this is a true story or not.

NATION OVER NATION comes next and with a criticism which I'm not sure whether it focuses on any kind of supremacy of one country over another, or solely on the subject of the former Soviet Union. Music-wise shares some similarities with Death Penalty, with that build-up at the beginning and, afterwards, the expected speed with some slower gaps here and there. It most likely has become the most popular song on the record in the long run, not only because is one of the two from this album (together with the title track) that Tankard chose to re-record on the compilation called BEST CASE SCENARIO: 25 YEARS IN BEERS (2007), where they updated (with uneven success) tracks from their years with Noise, but also because it seems to be the only one which lasted a little bit longer on the band's setlist.

Beer abounds!

And now is the turn for DAYS OF THE GUN, not only one of the album's most special numbers, but also one of Tankard's rarest and most unique moments. Not so much because of its strong denunciation of the poverty, corruption, crime and abuse of the rich over the poor in Frankfurt's area (in a very grave way, considering it is Tankard who we are talking about), but because of being Tankard's first and maybe sole attempt at writing an average rock song (always keeping in mind what this band does), and the closest they haver ever gotten to be responsible for penning a ballad, no matter how weird the mental association between Tankard and something like that may be. The opening bluesy chords are simply gold, regardless of how simple they might sound, and they display a good taste which was a wild guess so far for a bunch of brutes like them. The same applies for the heartfelt sentence with which Gerre utters the song's name. Tankard eventually remind us all who they are when they alternate said chords with much more intense moments (although based on the same pattern), a very good guitar solo and a slight dose of brutality thanks to Tunn's double kicks at the end of the song, but all in all what is left is the sensation of having listened to something pretty unique.

Tankard mean business once again with CITIES IN FLAMES, a quite busy number and with different tempos, although overall not too fast. Until the ultra speedy refrain section comes along, where the whole band gives its hundred per cent and turns out to be completely frantic. After a first round, you can listen to what I deem a bass solo, amidst the excesses of the whole thing. The subject to be found on the lyrics? No clue, to be honest. They are also too busy for me to find out.

Another atypical song is the great UP FROM ZERO which, after a little bit serious short intro, morphes into a mid-paced beast with some thrash bursts from time to time (mostly during the hysterical middle section, with amazing guitar solos) more in line with what Tankard usually do, and which reminds me of that glorious belter which the famous SPACE BEER was (found on The Meaning Of Life). The boys leave momentarily aside their usual more barbaric leanings, but in return, this track is sheer fun, upbeat and perfect for exercising. It's about living life to the fullest on a daily basis, without worrying too much about the future, and is the longest song on the record.

Title track TWO-FACED usually is one of the best known songs on the album. It starts with both guitars playing the main riff as if taking turns, only to end up playing it in unison, one per speaker. Then Frank's bass guitar joins and the massacre begins. Another no-holds-barred fast number in which sordid stories about children molestation, corruption and the like are tolds, always with people who are turn out to be quite different behind close doors on leading roles. As for the music itself, this song finishes off as it began. Awesome.

Tankard with current drummer, Gerd, between Gerre and Frank. This pic is a tad
old though, for Gerd has been around for long and he even filled in for Zissel a few times

ICH BRAUCH' MEINEN SUFF (german for I need my booze) is one of the shortest tracks and the only one which is about partying and all it comes with it. I said before that there was no self-penned, alcohol-related song on the album and that was true, for this is a cover of their neighbours STRASSENJUNGS, a hessian punk rock outfit. Not much to say about it, because this is just a sped-up much heavier take on the song, whose lyrics deal with the expected aftermaths of heavy drinking. It's good fun and reasserts Tankard's own spirit, but it¡s not as remarkable as some other covers they have done.

CYBERWORLD is, more often than not, textbook Tankard, although featuring more variety and a happy-go-lucky refrain which sounds a tad out of place if we take the song's subject into account. Even the instrumental middle section differs from the beginning, athough it all changes and I like, once more, how loud the bass guitar in the mix is. You can actually notice it, and them some. There's also a spoken intro and the subject at hand is isolating oneself inside a violent virtual reality, or maybe this is all about mistaking that with real life.

Follows MAINHATTAN, which more than a tribute to Tankard's hometown (the title is a popular pun which mixes Manhattan with Main, the river that splits Frankfurt, considering the fact that this city is a place with quite a few skyscrapers and is a financial centre of the highest order), turns out to be a brief depiction of it, with its sport, tradition, crooked affairs and contradictions. As for the music, Mainhattan is another rushed exercise in thrash punk with tons of intensity and speed, although not as good the best tracks on the record. But anyway, given that variety is not this band's forte, if this kind of music is not your thing, do not bother trying to find something you might enjoy (or hardly, save for Days Of The Gun). The pro side is that if you happen to be into it, once you like a song, you like them all!

This is it. Two-Faced ends with its shortest track, JIMMY B. BAD, a frantic and funny story about the rise and the fall of someone who became a rock star overnight and fell from grace afterwards. The best part is the final one, when Gerre lets us know that this guy eventually came to his senses, cut his hair and got himself a suit, and that made all his previous shenanigans look good. The music is like the story, fast, hurried and quite punkish. No guitar solos here and you know, sex, drugs and rock & roll stuff. I love it.

Gerd performing live with his former band, german
thrash titans Holy Moses

And it's a wrap. Its last reissue, which saw the light of day in 2018 (those were the days when Noise did a glorious job with the albums of, at least, the most important bands of its roster from back in the eighties), came with some extra live tracks. Add them to those on the same reissues of The Meaning Of Life and Stone Cold Sober, and you got yourself the entire setlist that Tankard performed at that larger than life festival that Noise hosted on the fourth of March, 1990 at Berlin's Werner Seelenbinder Halle, on the occasion of the then recent fall of the Berlin wall, and in which they were joined by CORONER, KREATOR and SABBAT. How I wish I had a time machine so I can turn back the clock.

The stage is still set for the play

After this album, Tankard would hit rock bottom, in my opinion, with the next one, The Tankard, and say goodbye to Noise, amidst some controversy, if I'm not mistaken. They would improve, music-wise, after signing with CENTURY MEDIA, although the two records that they released with that label (DISCO DESTROYER and KINGS OF BEER, from 1998 and 2000, respectively) neither were warmly welcomed, nor were remarkable because of their success. But at least Tankard returned to their usual brute thrash metal roots, something they had not abandoned on The Tankard, mind you, but they had refined to a certain extent.

Once they got signed by AFM RECORDS and released B-DAY (2002), on the occasion of their twentieth anniversary, all has worked fine for them, with almost no exceptions and already as a foursome, with the then relatively recent recruits OLAF ZISSEL (drums) and ANDY GUTJAHR (guitar) already well established in the fold. Always keeping in mind that this band is a pretty humble entity, its fanbase may be loyal but is what it is, and the word success is understood in terms of still retaining a certain commercial acceptance which can suffice to keep on releasing records and being able to perform live until they say that enough is enough. Everything remains pretty much the same as of today, leaving Olaf's recent departure (wo has been replaced by GERD LÜCKING), although I think it would be a great idea having a second axeman on stage, and Gerre would be better off if he could lose some weight, although he seems to be just fine, to b ehonest, and he doesn't look worse than he has several times in the past. Quite the contrary.

Aufgetankt

Himbeergeist Zum Frühstückt

As a final tip, it needs to be said that Tankard, operating under the TANKWART moniker, also released two records during the nineties on which they only included covers sung in german of typical and mostly festive songs from their country. What they usually refer to as schlager, which is german to those kinds of popular songs that people sing along to when partying. Those records were AUFGETANKT (1994, already with Zissel) and HIMBEERGEIST ZUM FRÜHSTÜCK (from 1996 and this time without Katzmann), in a punk, metal and sometimes thrashy but always very funny vein. Very recommendable, although only for die-hards most likely.

HURRA, HURRA, DIE SCHULE BRENNT / TANKWART

ELKE / TANKWART

TANZE SAMBAT MIT MIR / TANKAWART

See ya!