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Track Listing: Time Warp Rules For Fools Fat Snatchers (The Hippo Effect) Black Plague (BP) Somewhere In Nowhere The Agency Brain Piercing Of Death Beck's In The City Condemnation Weekend Warriors

German thrashers Tankard are back with the 14th offering of their brand of beer drinking thrash metal, fittingly titled Vol(l)ume 14. Tankard have always stayed true to their musical style and lyrical themes, and the album cover here perfectly illustrates that fact. Be it any release, they've never disappointed their fans. Let's see if this particular album lives up to that reputation.

"Time Warp" initially greets you with what you could describe as the calm before the storm, a quiet little melodic piece that leads into the carnage that follows. It's a typically delightful thrash tune with the Teutonic stamp on it, specially in terms of the vocals. When I listen to German thrash bands, there's just something in the vocals that strikes me straightaway. It has a unique aggressive edge to it, be it Mille from Kreator, Schmier from Destruction, Tom from Sodom or indeed Andreas Geremia from Tankard. I can't even begin to tell you just how immensely enjoyable it is to get to see these bands in concert. Anyhow, I digress.

"Rules For Fools" offers no let up in intensity. The main riff is sure to catch on very easily, and the vocals here are rather different, in the sense that the main verses are sung cleanly. John Bush's style of singing for Armored Saint comes to mind. I would describe this song as "feel-good speed metal" rather than thrash. The thrash is definitely back with the next track titled "Fat Snatchers (The Hippo Effect)". In addition to the tempo changes going from slow and heavy to the speedy parts, the guitar solo is simple and effective. In fact, all the guitar solos on the album can be described with those adjectives. You would find these solos very easy on your ears, even more so if you've had a 40-ounce or two. I honestly haven't had any at the time of writing this review, but this album sure is making me crave one.

"Black Plague (BP)" comes next, and is more of a mid-tempo, heavy chug-chug type tune. If this becomes a part of their live shows, I can foresee a lot of heads in the crowd banging away to glory and lots of people shouting "Black Plague!!" with fists raised in air. "Somewhere In Nowhere" picks up the tempo again and has all the ingredients that will ensure that it goes down as one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album. The centrepiece of the album "The Legacy" follows, doing more of what the songs thus far have been able to do, while boasting of the best guitar solo on the entire album. It really is a top notch effort by Andreas Gutjahr which saves this track from fading away as generic.

More of the same is plentiful in the remaining tracks like "Brain Piercing Of Death" and "Beck's In The City". The best song of the album comes in at number 9 and is titled "Condemnation". Despite being well over 6 minutes in duration, it doesn't drag on even for a single second. No slow intros here as it launches the listener straight into head banging fury and keeps him or her there for the most part. "Weekend Warriors" provides just the ending this album deserves. The chorus line is simply golden. I mean, who in their absolutely beer-laden minds wouldn't want to sing "We are the weekend warriiooors"? In addition to this epic chorus line, some of the guitar solos are purely orgasmic (4:34 is the mark you should look for if you want to cut to the chase). To sum it up, I quite enjoyed giving this album a few repeated listens, and God only knows what the extent of my enjoyment will be when I eventually try this with a six-pack or something.

Some might argue that the songs get repetitive after a certain point, but I beg to differ. To me, Tankard is a band that actually stands out from among their German peers Kreator, Destruction and Sodom. While these three bands certainly present themselves as being "serious" thrash metal acts similar to the likes to Slayer, Venom and Possessed, Tankard is a totally different animal altogether and has successfully been the German flag bearer for "alcoholic thrash metal". So yes, even if the songs within a Tankard album sound like each other, they're still a lot different than any of the other thrash albums coming out of Germany. Coming back to the album in hand, I can safely say that there isn't one bad song on it. It's just too hard for me to even pick a favorite.

Vol(l)ume 14 successfully carries on Tankard's tradition of delivering intoxicatingly delightful thrash metal. A tremendously enjoyable listen. Bottoms Up!!