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While the pretty average "Tempo of the Damned" was being fellated left and right, "Beast of Bourbon" went largely unnoticed in 2004. Shame. The title is a bit misleading, as I originally thought that it was a best-of ("Beast of..."). But no, this is the real deal. These Germans have been at it for about 20 years and show no sign of losing their touch with this album. Eleven tracks of thrash frenzy, including a cover of Cocksparrer's "We're Coming Back" as the album closer. This one, while definitely more lighthearted musically than the previous tracks, has been "metalized" pretty well and falls well within Tankard's humour tradition. Lyrically the album is split between some serious subjects (for example in "Under Friendly Fire" and "Genetic Overkill") as well as some more party-themed songs such as "Endless Pleasure" and "Beyond the Pubyard". No fillers here, the songs are so good that the 53 minutes seem to fly by in half that time. The lyrics for the more serious songs are very well written, so much for those who have written down this band as a joke. *bitch slap* ;)

Musically, this is Tankard at its best. Those who liked their previous work can pick this up with no fear, the band is faithful to its sound - German thrash with some more "traditional" heavy metal passages thrown in here and there, and raucous thrashy vocals. The album kicks off at full speed and rarely ever slows down until the end. The production is a little bit over-polished for my liking, as I usually like a thrash album to have a slightly rawer sound than this, but the music kicks so much ass that after a few listens I just got used to it. This is one of the best thrash albums released in recent years, and from the looks of it, Tankard might just have some more in store for us.