Tank86 - Rise

A couple of years ago back in 2008, at Roadburn, I was given a copy of Dutch band Tank86's second EP Behold which I reviewed here.
The guys got back in touch with us recently to give us the heads up on their debut full-length on Rising Magma Records, the aptly named Rise.


So, for the past week or two we've been giving it some heavy rotation at Claw towers, and we love it.

Eight tracks of instrumental fury, backed with reflective passages too, this is an instrumental band with one foot firmly in the doomy/epic camp, some huge and even evil sounding riffs within.

Dark, doomy, early-Cathedralesque guitar parts, and real headbanging riffs, with amazing drumming, I mean like really, I'm loving the drumming on this.  It's always hard to keep my attention throughout a purely instrumental album, and only Tank86, Kong and the much missed Capricorns have been able to do so in the past.

They're well worth seeking out, you can find them on the web here and their record label here.
There's a digital download available on Bandcamp as well for €6 which works out at 75cents a song, so pick it up for the price of a few beers, well worth it! I'm looking forward to checking the band out live at some point in the future; I'd really love to experience this at full volume!!

Tank 86 - Behold

Whilst away at Roadburn, I was lucky enough to be handed a copy of Behold by Dutch four piece band Tank 86.

It's a CD with five tracks on, all instrumental, with Capricorns being an obvious comparison, as well as some of the other post-rock stuff that's knocking about at the moment, but I hate using that phrase, so I won't do it again!
The bass is quite near the forefront of the mix but this isn't a bad thing, Jochum's basslines helping to define the songs especially during some of the rockier moments, such as on Dmitri and Dust, which builds up to a total fists in the air headbanging section after about three minutes.
Flame shows some influence to my ears of Iron Maiden, after about two minutes you get this maiden-esque riffing, which is never a bad thing. Bluesy solos from Floris and Joost float over the top of the music adding another dimension to the tracks.
After listening to Tank86 the first time, I sat in silence for a few seconds letting it sink in before putting Behold straight back on again. It's pretty much the only thing I listened to all day yesterday, over and over again.
Total instrumental stoner rock goodness that makes you want to spark up and stick your headphones on, I'm going to listen to it again right now!

Link: Tank 86