Tankard

As they allude to with the album title, German beer enthusiasts/thrash metal progenitors Tankard have rounded up the troops for their 14th slice of double-kick drums and shit-hot solos. As expected, Vol(l)ume 14 features nothing less than the very same wicked guitar passages and raspy vocals that inspired the likes of Kreator, Nuclear Assault and even the Bay Area, to some degree. Moreover, with tracks such as "Time Warp," "Rules For Fools" and "Beck's in the City" taking the piss out of their subject matter with wily, tongue-in-cheek creativity, the album manages to maintain both guttural prowess and intellectual hilarity, two very important aspects of this quartet's legacy. Still, after ten tracks, the band's unvarying formula and systematic tempos do drag. A bit of variety ― even oddball ― would do wonders for this almost hour-long affair. Fun and catchy, while still instinctive and on the offensive, Vol(l)ume 14 isn't the epitome of Tankard, or proto-thrash, but it's certainly a great complement to debaucherous nights fuelled by liquid bread.