Tankard: four decades of thrills and Pils
TANKARD PROVIDED GERMAN thrash with some much-needed light relief, the uproarious Frankfurters embracing the party-hard fun-times aspect of the metal lifestyle that their po-faced peers went nowhere near. For A Thousand Beers, an exhaustive seven-disc box set (BMG) [9] is way more Tankard than any non-German will ever need, but it’s a catalogue with hidden depths among the flagrant flippancies. Inevitably, the 90s stuff doesn’t match their 80s heyday, but spirited, fist-banging fun remains a constant.
TROUBLE’s
One For The Road/Unplugged EPs (Hammerheart) [8] have been lying around unnoticed for ages, so it’s particularly moving to explore this lesser-known material in the wake of singer Eric Wagner’s death. The 1994 EP showcases his distinctive power in prime form on some of the band’s grooviest tunes, contrasted against the melancholic profundity of the appended and expanded 2007 Unplugged recordings.
VINTERLAND’s 1996 sole LP, Welcome My Last Chapter (Black Lodge) [8], was an imperious one-off from the glory days of melodic Swedish black metal. With sub-zero riffs dispatched at lightning speed, pensive moods and elemental atmospheres, it remains a textbook exemplar of its form, riven with its own quirky mystique.