* En anglais uniquement
Germany's self-proclaimed "Kings of Beer,"
Tankard, alongside
Kreator,
Destruction, and
Sodom, are considered part of the upper echelon of the country's Teutonic thrash metal scene. Since debuting in 1986 with the boozy
Zombie Attack, the band's signature blend of punk, thrash, and speed metal has remained unchanged, with only a few lineup changes to speak of. Striking a balance between humor and technical acumen,
Tankard's blue-collar thrash has endured for over three decades, with highlights arriving via 1995's The Tankard, 2004's
Beast of Bourbon, and 2017's One Foot in the Grave.
Originally founded in the city of Frankfurt circa 1982, the band initially considered names like Avenger and Vortex before looking through an English dictionary for a word that defined "beer mug" and finding
Tankard. Thus, their future course was set, and after a few years of rehearsals under the tutelage of early thrash classics by
Metallica,
Slayer, and their own countrymen
Kreator and
Destruction,
Tankard were ready to let loose. Signing with the Noise label (home to
Helloween,
Grave Digger,
Celtic Frost, and others) in 1986, bandmembers
Andreas "Gerre" Geremia (vocals), Andy Bulgaropulos (guitar), Axel Katzmann (guitar),
Frank Thorwarth (bass), and Oliver Werner (drums) went on a recording tear that produced 1986's
Zombie Attack, 1987's
Chemical Invasion, 1988's The Morning After, 1989's Alien EP, 1990's
The Meaning of Life, and 1991's Fat, Ugly and Still (A)live, barely changing their style or pausing for breath along the way.
New drummer Arnulf Tunn arrived for 1992's ironically named
Stone Cold Sober LP, but not even
Tankard could weather the grunge revolution unscathed, and the next few years brought quality albums with diminishing returns (1994's
Two Faced, 1995's critically acclaimed The Tankard, 1998's Disco Destroyer), unstable lineups, and even mild deviations from form to introduce punkier elements. Thankfully, 2000's
King of Beers set the
Tankard ship to rights, and the retooled lineup of vocalist
Geremia, bassist
Thorwarth, plus new guitarist Andreas Gutjahr and drummer
Olaf Zissel never looked back, keeping the solid thrash, good-natured ribbing, and quality beer flowing on 2004's
Beast of Bourbon, 2006's
The Beauty and the Beer, 2008's
Thirst, and 2010's
Vol(l)ume 14, all of which were released via AFM Records. The quartet moved to
Nuclear Blast for 2012's
Girl Called Cerveza, 2015's Rest in Beer, and 2017's One Foot in the Grave, and in 2018 they issued
Hymns for the Drunk, which collected
Tankard's best work from their AFM years. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia