 "Still at War" by Forrest
Toop.
Mostly Filth Hounds II(*****).
Dogs of war, listen
up, for this is your finest hour. After an unexplainable
& prolonged absence that abruptly left a
powerchord-hungry world somberly praying for unmerciful
annihilation, TANK has boldy & defiantly
detached the silencer, spit-shined ALL available
weaponry, and glorifyingly returned with a deafening
cacophony of vengeance. To my ears anyway, Algy Ward and
his assorted company of commanders have always sounded
like a mach speed hay truck dragging behind it a two ton
gunny sack of loose bolts. "Still At War" plows
along right where "Filth Hounds" left off
(okay, "Power of the Hunter" WAS a respectable
followup even if subsequent releases failed to
substantially add to the casualty list). The sound
quality is decidedly rough 'n' ready yet carries with it
a certain heft that heaves the assaulting semi-automatic
riffs over the wall of decades-long indifference.
"Light the Fire (Watch 'Em Burn)",
"Conspiracy of Hate" and "The Fear
Inside" are standout cuts, whistling high above the
din, while "And Then We Heard the Thunder"
& "Return of the Filth Hounds" are, in my
opinion at least, the best two hunks of tin that TANK has ever had the 'nads to melt
down into smoldering heaps of scrap metal. "Still At
War" has been militarily planned like a chaotic
midnight camp raid and dutifully serves as a suitable
launching pad from which to exact a mighty riff-o-ram-it
revenge. In short, this "MOTÖRHEAD meets SAXON" amalgamation of
aggravated mayhem is 53+ minutes of a well conducted
electrocution. Hammer On, Drop & Hail!
Check out METAL OBSERVER webzine for the killer "Still at War"
review(9.5 out of 10).
 "The
Return Of The Filth Hounds-live",
Tombstone
Metal Fanzine(from Greece)(R.I.P). August 1998.
TANK were a very popular band back
in the 80's. Now with Heavy Metal selling a lot of copies
again the time was right for a reunion. So the band
reunited and played some shows in Germany. They recorded
a live album which is the one we are reviewing here. The
album also features two previously unreleased songs. The
usual 80's style of metal, with some
MOTÖRHEAD influences, from four guys who
certainly know how to do it the right way. The band seems
to be in great form performing their songs with plenty of
energy, enough to make the venue shake from its roots. An
album with good production and some all time classics of
the band. The voice of Algy is not in it’s best form
but hey… what the f*** this is a live album…
and of course he is older now. TANK
are back and you better watch out, or they will
step over you… and this is something that you
don’t want to happen. Classic metal from a classic
band...
 "Honour & Blood", by Ralph Heibutzki(ALL
MUSIC GUIDE).
On this album,
Tank strains to match This
Means War's critically lauded raunch, right down to aping its
predecessor's blueprint: three songs on side one, four songs on side two. That's
not to say the group's single-minded chugalug has gotten tamer: "The War
Drags Ever On" shudders with a ferocity that would make proud, but is also a ringer for the last album's "Just Like Something from
Hell." The first side remains a seamless display of what made Tank comers
in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sweepstakes: blunderbuss guitars,
cymbal-soaked drums, and vocals that sound like they're being phoned in from the
bottom of a gravel pit. Tank shone brightest on these lengthy ruminations about
the horrors of war; it's hard to imagine how Metallica could have stepped down a similar path without hearing these guys first. Side
two is a more inconsistent exercise plagued by an insistence on riffing for its
own sake. The gleeful dismantling of Aretha Franklin's standard "Chain of Fools" is the standout
- if only
because it's so unusual in this context - while "Too Tired to Wait for
Love" and "Kill" pull off the old riotous majesty, but could
stand some more well-rounded melodies. Honour & Blood is a solid
outing that only suffers when stacked against its predecessor. Tank and riff-mad
peers like Raven and Warfare would succumb to an '80s-era Darwinian logic that stranded them at the altar
-
while Bon Jovi and Def Leppard sailed into poppier pastures and hit the jackpot. It's just like
high school: The prevaricating prom kings got the cars and girls, while everyone
else got to watch. (The Roadrunner reissue adds one bonus track, "The Man
That Never Was.")
"Honour & Blood",
Kerrang! January
24- February 6, 1985 by Mick Wall.
Like the sensation of receiving six inch nails through
the palms of both hands. Like the sound of screaming
insects being trapled underfoot by John Wayne's size 12
prairie boots. Like the rancid, vulgar pong of an ageing
tour jacket. Like the time I nearly electrocuted myself
in the bath, the TANK album will scar your brain for
life and will turn your gizzard to hair gel...like it or
lump it, the sort of toilet-rock that TANK revel in has got better and better as the
years, and the albums-four-have gone rolling by.
The last time I traded animal skins with these
head-hunters, The Brabbs brothers were still pumping out
the rhythm, so we're going back a ways here , for sure.
These days the band are Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans on
guitars, Graham Crallan on drums and, of course, the
irrepressible heart-of-ale Metal bumpkin, Algy Ward on
sledgehammer bass and Co-Co-The-Fiend vocals...
"Honour And Blood" begins with a nuclear
explosion of synthesisers; the track is "The War
Drags Ever On". And then the guitars come lurching
through the window and immediate havoc is unleashed as
Algy crows and croons his vicious, vile vignette like a
snake with its tail on fire.
From there-on-in the album thunders along with about as
much in-built style and grace as Grandad from "Texas
Chainsaw Massacre"; as beautiful as Quasimodo on a
Quaaludes, and as punchy as Mohammed Ali before the brain
tranquilisers. It ain't a pretty sight, but it does the
trick...
"When Hell Freezes Over" and
"W.M.L.A." (that's "Wasting My Life
Away", for your information) thunder and chunder
along , rattling the bones in your back as you stand
there quivering, visibly losing hair by the fistful.
"Too Tired To Wait For Love" , I'm sure , is
Algy's little idea of a pun on "Too Drunk
To...uh...Read", and "Chain Of Fools" and
"Kill" are, um, rather self explanatory if you
get me drift, squire... Fast, unflashy, ultra-toothsome,
with surprising touches of technical finesse from the
joint production helm of Algy and Mick Tucker.
Good stuff, then , that bodes well for the future. Joke
band they may be regarded as in some quarters (or, in Kerrang's case, about three quarters of
the room...), but didn't they used to say that about
bands like MOTÖRHEAD? Shouldn't some people feel the
same way about groups like GIRLSCHOOL?
Buy...enjoy...
"Honour & Blood", Tank rolls on in the same fashion,
iSOUND.COM.
For some strange reason, singer and bass player Algy Ward got rid of
the Brabbs brother after Tank's third album ("This means
war"). With Algy Ward being the only original member left, you
might expect "Honour & blood" to sound different than
the previous albums, but it doesn't. This album kicks off with one of
Tank's best songs ever - "The war drags ever on" - and it's
built in the same way as "Just like something from hell"
from the "This means war" album. There are some songs that
are very good and especially "Honour & blood",
"Wasting my life away", and "Too tired to wait for
love" deserves to be mentioned. There are obvious similarities
between Tank and Motörhead, and if you're into fast and raw heavy
metal without a single trace of so called hair metal or MTV metal you
will most certainly like "Honour & blood".
(new!) For "War
Of Attrition Live 1981(expanded edition)" review go to
METAL FOREVER, FOREVER METAL webzine.
For "Filth Hounds of
Hades" review go to
KRILLION'S
METAL REVIEWS webzine.
For another "Filth Hounds of
Hades" review go to
LOWCUT
magazine.
For bunch of "This Means War"
reviews go to
REVIEWS-2
page.
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