Formed in 1982 and an integral part of the Teutonic “Big Four” (alongside Destruction, Kreator, and Sodom), Frankfurt’s Tankard have become a permanent fixture on the thrash scene thanks to their ferocious riffs and a fixation on all things alcohol. Tankard signed with AFM Records in 2002 and would go on to release five albums for that label, culminating in the thrash-tastic Vol(l)ume 14 which dropped in 2010. Adored by critics and fans alike, Vol(l)ume 14 found the Frankfurt Four doing what they do best, serving up ten frothy tracks tailor made for moshing and drinking beer (preferably at the same time). That album now gets a limited edition reissue so a new generation can discover the drunken delights of Germany’s finest thrashers.
When it comes to albums being reissued, I’m not a fan of retrospective tinkering. There’s something very Stalinist when a band goes back and “fix” their work; for better or worse a release captures a moment in time (for both band and fans) and it is often those very “flaws” that make an album so appealing. So I was quite perplexed to see the band have updated the cover for this release as there was nothing wrong with the original (a crate of beer containing fourteen bottles). However, when it comes to the most important element (i.e., the music) there’s been no remastering and that’s a definite boon because Vol(l)ume 14 sounded good already, and if you want to know just how good it sounds, look no further than opening track ‘Time Warp’. The crystalline, acoustic intro soon gives way to a frenetic brand of thrash that proved, even two decades into their career, Tankard could still deliver the goods. A mainstay in their live show to this very day, it’s easy to hear why as it contains all the vital ingredients and seems tailor made to get pulses races (and the beer flowing) and sets a dangerous precedent for the coming 45-minutes.
With those big, crunchy riffs, relentless rhythm section and goofy, sing-along choruses, it seems that thrash metal is built especially for keg parties and the like, and that’s definitely the aesthetic in play here. The irony being that Tankard are expanding their lyrical remit to include various twenty-first century malaises (notably obesity and social media), but older fans needn’t worry as Tankard aren’t reinventing the wheel, Vol(l)ume 14 serves up exactly what their fans want, and that’s got to be a good thing.
- Vol(l)ume 14 is reissued on 12th June 2026 (available here).
Track List:
- Time Warp
- Rules For Fools
- Fat Snatchers (The Hippo Effect)
- Black Plague (BP)
- Somewhere In Nowhere
- The Agency
- Brain Piercing Öf Death
- Beck’s In The City
- Condemnation
- Weekend Warriors
