Nuclear Blast
2014
1. War Cry
2. Fooled By Your Guts
3. R.I.B. (Rest In Beer)
4. Riders Of The Doom
5. Hope Can't Die
6. No One Hit Wonder
7. Breakfast For Champions
8. Enemy Of Order
9. Clockwise To Deadline
10. The Party Ain't Over 'Til We Say So
Well, what is there to say about a new Tankard release? Obviously I expect progressive thinking man's metal album with maybe some neoclassical virtuso guitar. I jest of course. Tankard are the ultimate working man's thrash band, constantly staying true to their roots and just making some nice heavy music with fairly goofy, fun lyrical content. I've always enjoyed the band as they are one of the the most consistent thrash bands out there and just come up with a lot of fun yet heavy material. Tankard have never backed off the thrash and and I admire how they have successfully stuck to their guns for so long.
The thing about R.I.B. is I expected straight forward thrash and that's what I got, but there are some serious problems here. I'm fine with direct speedy thrash if it sells itself on it's heaviness, riffs, and vocal intensity, but overall R.I.B. just doesn't quite get the job done. The bulk of this album sounds like it's really running on fumes as the music just doesn't have a lot of energy and the vocals often come off as too subdued. Honestly, it sounds a little phoned in and like the band didn't have their hearts in it. The sort of album that's released just to have an album. It sounds like Tankard basically, but it has no fire. Songs like No One Hit Wonder, Breakfast For Champions, Enemy Of Order, and The Party Ain't Over Till We Say So just don't end up leaving much of an impression. They just kind of settle into one repetitive rhythm and that might be fine if it was a particularly catchy or heavy one, but I just don't hear anything imaginative or intense about them. I get, as I said in the intro of this review, that Tankard isn't meant to be brain food, but I want some killer riffs and rhythms that make me want to bang my head at least and these just come up short. Then at other times when the music does pick up it just seems to get chaotic like on War Cry where Gerre where Gerre can't seem to keep the pace of the music with his vocals or R.I.B. which seems a bit sloppy in it's use of monastic style chanting and similarly erratic approach.
At this point I'm talking about a lot of the album which is just unimpressive or a tad confused, but there are at least a few good thrash tunes to be found here that seem to come about when the vocal performance marries up to the music better than the bulk of the album. Overall, I'd say Hope Can't Die is my favorite here. It's not a barn burner in it's somewhat paced approach, but the rhythm is headbandable and the song features the best vocal performance here. I dig the semi-melodic approach here that sells the song as being kind of fun and catchy. Riders Of The Doom also just comes together well as the vocals have a certain intensity to them and the music keeps it heavy yet with a nice coherent rhythm that Gerre has no problems shouting along to with a good punch. Clockwise To Deadline is also worth noting as a faster one that gets it right letting the music take over to shred, but with a steady rhythm that leaves the vocals with room to breathe.
Overall, I can't say this is Tankard's strongest effort. The bulk of this either doesn't have the intensity to sell it or tries too hard to be intense and ends up sounding confused. Maybe a middle road is in order here and only a few tracks Really get it right. This album also just doesn't seem to have the addictive rhythms or Fun sort of choruses that sell me on the band and that has to be a disappointment. This might be worth it for hardcore Tankard fans, but to the general thrash fan I'd say this is mostly pretty average stuff. Third tier sort of thrash that makes for a few good tunes, but not really an overall solid album. Really, too much of this is mediocre for me to give this much of a rating despite a few good songs. It's still Tankard and their sound isn't bad, but the songs aren't quite there.
Highlights: Hope Can't Die, Riders Of The Doom, Clockwise To Deadline
Rating - 3.0/5
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