With the current popularity of the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal, it makes total sense for labels to revisit some of the genre’s classics via significant reissues. In May, High Roller Records reissued London-based trio Tank Tank’s first five releases: Don’t Walk Away, Filth Hounds of Hades, Power of the Hunter, This Means War, and Honour & Blood.
Formed in 1980, by Algy Ward (vocals & bass), Peter Brabbs (guitar), and Mark Brabbs (drums), Tank became one of the genre’s stronger bands. Unfortunately, they didn’t garner a lot of the same kind of acclaim many of their contemporaries enjoyed. They’re kind of lodged between some of the better-recognized NWOBHM bands like Satan, Tygers of Pan Tang, Tokyo Blade, Blitzkrieg, and Holocaust, and the lesser talked about bands like Geddes Axe, Truffle, Xero, Black Rose, or Ethel the Frog.
They debuted with the Don’t Walk Away EP back in 1981. Those early songs were marked by their straight ahead, forward-charging style that sounded cast from a Motorhead type mold. Those same characteristics show up on some of the 1982 debut LP, Filth Hounds of Hades in songs like “Shellshock” (which also appeared on Don’t Walk Away) and “Struck by Lightning.” 
Then songs like “Blood, Guts, and Beer,” “That’s What Dreams Are Made Of,” “Who Needs Love Songs,” and “(He Fell in Love With a) Stormtrooper” present with driving rhythms underneath some bluesy rock & roll influence added to the mix. It turns out that they aren’t Motorhead clones after all, as they begin promptly traveling down their own path, setting themselves apart from their NWOBHM compatriots.
Keeping busy, Tank released their second LP, Power of the Hunter, during that same year. It was an interesting move, releasing two new full-length releases in the same year that sound so different from one another. 
This next batch of songs features some exploration with a little bit more bluesy rock riffage rather than remaining largely rhythm-driven. From the beginning, with “Walking Barefoot Over Glass,” there’s an overt incorporation of high-energy hard rock that displays the broadening of the band’s horizons, working new sonic components into their developing sound. “Used Leather (Hanging Loose)” is a mid-paced chugger with a catchy, fist-pumping chorus that keeps it simple and straightforward. It, along with a strangely suitable cover of the Osmonds’ “Crazy Horses,” turns out to be a fitting one-two combo. By the album’s end, there’s still plenty of energy to burn up with the pummeling title track.
Just a year later, in 1983, Tank released their third full-length, This Means War. They went from a trio to a quartet when they added additional guitarist, Mick Tucker, to help give them a fuller and more aggressive live sound. His presence is palpable. From the beginning, you can hear that they’re a tighter band. On the flip side, the material sounds less spontaneous and more deliberate and rehearsed than it had in the past. 
With all of that in mind, This Means War is widely considered the band’s peak moment. As you can hear straight out of the gate on the songs like “Just Like Something from Hell,” “Hot Lead Cold Steel,” and the title track, they’ve added the intermittent use of keyboards and some soaring guitar solos, both of which work in the band’s favor. By the time they get to “Laughing in the Face of Death,” it’s clear that This Means War is an obvious return to the side of blatant heavy metal. Everything about the album is good: the band’s chemistry, the performances, the musicianship, the mix, and production values. Each song on the album is a strong contender, but unfortunately, it’s the last record to feature the original band’s lineup.
For all intents and purposes, 1984’s Honour & Blood is a fine heavy metal album. The most conspicuous indication that this album was going to be something different for the band was the replacement of original guitarist Peter Brabbs with Cliff Evans and that of founding drummer Mark Brabbs with Graeme “Crash” Crallan. 
“The War Drags Ever On” opens the album hard and fast enough, but as it plays through, it just doesn’t have the same heart and spirit found in the previous releases. Their musical chops and good intentions are all there but something about it feels a little shallow and vacant. That’s not saying the material isn’t good. It just seems like the songs were intentionally written and constructed to toe the line laid down by This Means War. There’s not much reaching outside the proverbial box for new ideas compared to what they’d done successively on all the records prior.
Save for Honour & Blood, the reissues come with bonus tracks. Different songs were omitted from the albums for a myriad of reasons that made sense to the band at that particular time. For example, with regard to Filth Hounds of Hades original drummer Mark Brabbs explains, “Funnily enough, the thing with ‘Steppin’ On A Landmine’ was, we did the European tour with Motörhead and we opened up the set with ‘Shellshock’ and then went straight into ‘Steppin’ On A Landmine’. And it used to get the crowd jumping up and down. It’s got that Maidenish style of riff. But when we recorded it, it was really disappointing. We felt it didn’t have the energy of the live version. So, it didn’t make the cut for the first album.”
He continues, referring to “The Snake,” saying “Yeah, again, we loved that as well. We used to do it as an encore. So, it was part of the live set. That was one of Algy’s favourites. ‘Filth Bitch Boogie’, which ended up on the back side of the “Crazy Horses” single, taken off the Power Of The Hunter album, was just a jam, a good laugh in the studio.”
Now is [the original] Tank’s opportunity to tack on a few extra little gems for the fans’ listening benefit. Some are live, some are studio demos, and some of them are unreleased altogether. Since the sources for the recordings vary, they vary in quality depending on where they’re taken from. But it all works for the larger good of the collection.
The number of bonus tracks varies from album to album: Don’t Walk Away (3), Filth Hounds of Hades (4), Power of the Hunter (2), and This Means War (2).
Listening to each album chronologically, you can hear the band’s sound developing. Theirs is a kind of sonic expansion that occurs over time. It’s more of an evolution rather than changes made with intent. They can be heard becoming more adroit as musicians and songwriters over the course of their [early] discography.
With High Roller Records behind these reissues, you know that they’re going to be of all-around excellence. That in itself is reason enough to check them out. The discs are considered ‘Ultimate Editions’ that come packaged in high-quality slipcases and include an in-depth detailed booklet, and a double-sided poster. As expected, like Tank, they deliver.
STATIKNOIZE 