Album reviews

I'm a bit at a loss as to whether I should call this instrumental four piece a doom/drone or a stoner/drone outfit. Tank86 is undeniably a partially doom band but the stoner elements equally populate the band's music. The drone label is also a must, of sorts, as Tank 86 fits squarely in the same vein as bands like 5ive and Pelican.

However one would label them genre-wise, there is no disputing that this is one loud ensemble. Groove and heaviness are given equal weight and somehow the band manages to combine monotony with a nose for the catchy, the inventive, and the headbanging friendly. The appeal of Tank86 is definitely more basic than just that of their soundscapes. The band boasts of having played about fifty gigs in 2008 and what live shows they must have been! I'm guessing that 'headbangers ball' might be an apt description.

I honestly thought that after Pelican's "classic" worthy debut that no band could repeat that kind of success; then along comes two bands that push things a few steps higher. The first band is Mills of God while the second spot, to these ears, can deservedly be awarded to Tank86. This is one outfit that I intend to keep following. Highly recommended for fans of heavy stoner, riffing drone or loud instrumental soundscapes.

You could also do it this way: you book your own - by itself excellent band in a genre for devotees - on a festival you organise yourself. This worked rather well for this band hailing from Breda and Oss. Their Rising Magma heavy festival takes place outside of Breda more and more often. In these places too their ponderous stoner metal is recieved warmly. Tank86 distinguishes itself from other bands in their genre with their all-instrumental approach, that doesn't bore or weaken for a single second with the lack of vocals. The production of Pieter Kloos (Peter Pan Speedrock, Motorpsycho) surely helped that too. This results in huge swampy blues splendor in a tempo that urges along. Relish every strike and every note, whether the band goes on an all out frenzy or just steps back for a short while. These worshippers of the pure riff and the relentless wall of sound appearantly don't have any difficulties to operate as an oiled machine to provide a smoldering hot and overwhelming experience. Using all of their manpower, the band works on their soundtrip, without leaving room for anything else and without missing a single note. Once on full steam the band is unstoppable and the bastardblues transforms into desertmetal without losing the blue slurping sound for a single moment. In this more up-tempo playing, the band seems to feel even more at home than in the really sludgy parts and this is where their instumental approach really shines.

While Karma to Burn's specter does loom over Tank86's Behold, it doesn't do so in a predictable manner. The two instrumental bands share a love of thick riffs and solid grooves, but Tank86 isn't steeped in that fine southern rock tradition. Their approach is more from the metal side of the spectrum, at times taking on an almost prog-like (or prog-lite) feel. For instance, lead track “Moloch” approaches the psych pomp of 35007 while “Flame” and “Dmitrj” are intricate quasi-thrashers, like power metal without the “We'll drink ale in Valhalla” grandstanding (perhaps that's where they got The Sword comparison – even so, I still don't hear it). If there's a common thread between the two, it's that they both write excellent compositions that show you don't need vocals to kick some ass.

Holland's Tank 86 sound like they're evolving throughout the course of this five-track instrumental MCD. Opener 'Moloch' is an assured, if hardly unprecedented slice of stoner/doom; all lambent, fuzzed-up licks and the kind of bass-driven undertow that make you look like you're praying at the Wailing Wall. But 'Behold' quickly moves into less crowded territory, all chunky, slightly abstracted riffs that recall Capricorns at their most brawny, Pelican at their least, but more likely sired in a love for their Dutch forebears, 90s cult act Kong. Tracks urge themselves on, gorging themselves on their own grooves and birthing fluid guitar breaks, all prepped for the final 'Dust', illuminated by light streaming in from the new horizons it opens up. T86 are bound for glory.

Tank 86, that sounds pretty heavy doesn’t it? Well that’s exactly what we have on our hands with their second album Behold. Heavy instrumental rock music from Holland, well rock music, I’d say stoner is a better word for it. Let’s rock! The sound of this band is nice and heavy, very distorted, yet very clear. The band made the choice to not have a singer and exclude all symptoms of ego and make-up, and to worship the riff for what it is. Instrumental stoner rock in the vein of bands like Zonderhoof and Monkey3, and from Holland nonetheless! The only place in the world to be a legal stoner! The swinging stoner grooves, the pushing and crawling doom passages and the melodic escapes give this album enough variety to fade away the feeling that you’re missing a singer. I don’t even mind at all! And for that fact, it is better to play instrumental than to have a lousy singer in your ranks. Trust me, I’ve heard hundreds of promo records where I thought exactly the same. The only problem with this record is that it ends way too fast, a mere 27 minutes, gimme more!!! Well, now all that remains is for me to catch them on a show somewhere, which shouldn’t take too long since they’re from Holland. Stoners keep an eye out for this, this is a potential candidate for the 2009 edition of the Roadburn Festival!
Score: 82%

Tank86 from Breda produces stonerrock that is straight in line with Karma to Burn: heavy ponderous stoner without vocals. Stoner is a genre in which, especially in the Netherlands, vocals often destroy the mean and dirty charisma of such a band. In the genre, singers are hardly ever a true addition. It can go two ways: you either feel the torment in the vocals of for example Dave Wydorf or you taste the hidden tension that Maynard James Keenan summons up, but then we aren't even talking about the stoner genre anymore. Tank86 has tackled every possible problem from the start by not adding any vocals. The best possible decision, because 'Behold' now sounds as a power struggle of riffs, solos and climaxes. Tank86 breathes Motorpsycho, 35007, Lawn and 7zuma7 without effort. Can it get any better? No, Tank86 hits the sensitive, low-tuned string on all fronts, without ever reverting to wankery or pretentiousness.

Tank 86 has long ago ceased their search for a vocalist. This dualbarreled stonerrockquartet understands that, without vocals, lyrics and the extra melody, they raise the bar much higher. That is also the challenge: Tank 86 has to work harder, spend more time fitting things in the right place and they have to play even tighter to keep their tracks interesting. There is room for that. The group's metalriffs go even further than those of Karma To Burn, the band that also tried it without a vocalist at the end of the last century. For the recording of 'Behold', the band went to Pieter 'Pidah' Kloos (an authority in the genre) to provide the five tracks with the right power. The volome knob has to be turned past three-quarters to the right to reach the desired effect. And still this studioproduct falls behind of Tank 86 on stage: such an incredibly tight liveband!

The new EP 'Behold' by the instumental stonerrock band Tank 86 (www.tank86.nl) from Breda is incredibly heavy.
Musically it resembles stonerband Toner Low from Leiden, but without the psychedelica. On top of an overwhelming wall of riffs, guitarists Floris Lambregts and Joost Kruiswijk play solos that alternate between bluesy and roaring. The four piece continues the path they set out on the 'Ariba' EP from 2005, but compositionally the songs are much better. On top of all that, the production of Pieter Kloos (Motorpsycho, Peter Pan Speedrock) makes it a well sounding mature product. Experience this overwhelming tank on one of their self organised Rising Magma festivals (www.risingmagma.com).

Epic, sky-splitting instro super-grooves from this chasm-leaping bunch of hairy-scaries. Goes without saying that Tank 86 are from the arid deserts of the Netherlands, and that their songs are thick as tree-trunks and higher than kites. Singularly-titled monoliths like Moloch and Flame offer a veritable onslaught of biker-gang riffs and rolling, molten lava that will pin your pupils and fry your earholes. I haven’t heard no-vocal rock this transcendent since the heydaze of Karma to Burn, and that’s saying a lot. Pack your bags, because once you slap this monster on, you’re gonna go to some faraway places, brother.

Tank 86 hails from Breda/Oss in The Netherlands and is an instrumental heavy band that has just released their debut CD called 'Behold'. A bold statement to say they are ready to start fighting for a place in the music scene. Five songs of steaming and crunching stoner rock'n'roll with a sharp bite shows that the quartet is not afraid to pick up the glove. If and when they will succeed is a guess, but the overall great and full sound production of Pieter Kloos (f.e. Peter Pan Speedrock) is a tremendous plus. Their Karma To Burn and The Sword-like sound does not require a vocalist, yet I cannot but wonder how that would have sounded with a (female) singer. But they are spirited and full of passion. They even put up the Rising Magma Festival with other bands touring a couple of cities in Holland! Lots of dedication and guts. And that is exactly what we hear on the CD!
Erik stigmatizes this release with: 81/100

Holland's Tank 86 play instrumental stoner rock that's a mixture of riffs lifted from Karma To Burn, Spickle and Fu Manchu. While the band's music is by no means bad, it lacks some of the swagger of the aforementioned greats.

"[...]The sound of Tank 86 is clearly heavier and with that I personally think it is important that the sound is of a high quality. I think when that is optimized, this band has great potention (but who am I?).
The songs by itself are very good and the tempochanges are very captivating, the ripping guitars are at some points sublime and the song Big Ass Beetle even has hit potention as far as I'm concerned!
Overall the songs of Tank 86 sounded deliciously rough and heavy, but the lack of dynamics and clearness of the recording sound undo that too much. You've got to see Tank 86 live."