I last saw Tank at Headbangers’ Open Air in 2009 – admittedly through a drunken haze – and I really struggled to get on with them. It sounds stupid I know, but they were almost too good. In particular Doogie White is a proper singer and I always loved the raw, dirty roar of Algy Ward. I mean Tank are the Filth Hounds right?
Anyhow, Doogie White it is who brings his admittedly admirable voice to the table on War Machine and also joining long serving guitarists Cliff Evans and Mick Tucker are ex-Bruce Dickinson bassist Chris Dale and one time Zodiac Mindwarp drummer Dave Cavill. They’re a slick, tight outfit this new look Tank and War Machine is a well put together, enjoyable slab of quality British metal. So all I had to get over was that pedantic voice in my head that kept moaning ‘yeah, ok, it’s good but it ain’t Tank’. Luckily repeated listening to War Machine has crushed that voice into the dirt as effectively as if it had been run down by the tank that adorns the album cover. Apart from the fact that Mick and Cliff have more right to determine what Tank sound like than me, if I’d allowed myself to get bogged down in (admittedly glorious) beer soaked memories of ‘T.W.D.A.M.O.’ then I’d just have missed out on a fine album. Today’s incarnation of Tank have a wider palette than the band of old, one which encompasses melodic, epic, dextrously played songs of depth and maturity – exemplified by the sprawling title track. Doogie’s voice displays all the control, range and accuracy that has seen him employed by the likes of Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen and Praying Mantis in the past and musically the band do still throw old fans a bone or two. ‘Great Expectations’ comes straight out of the classic Tank song book with a patented Tucker riff that any Tank fanatic will fall in love with. ‘The Last Laugh’ is more classic Tank but where the album really succeeds is perhaps with the brilliantly brooding ‘After All’ and ‘My Insanity’ with its Maiden tinged intro. These excellent metal songs with great singing and great guitar work, epic and emotionally charged, perhaps show what the future holds for Tank.
Tank have moved on, just like the rest of the world, and it would be unreasonable to expect anything else. The days of ‘Blood Guts And Beer’ may have gone but the days of the War Machine are here and they threaten to be pretty damn good too. I still harbour a few reservations about the idea of Doogie singing stuff like ‘Used Leather...’ but I reckon this new material should be fantastic live.
http://www.tankfilthhounds.net
