Tankard

Future vocalist of “Tankard” - Andreas Jeremiah joined the school band, which played Alex Katzman (guitar), Frank Torvart (bass) and Oliver Werner (drums). It was called first “Vortex”, then “Avenger” and only then was renamed “Tankard”. The initially chosen style, which the team tried to adhere to throughout its activities, could be defined as thrash punk. The group played its first concert in the school walls on May 28, 1983. Young musicians during this time heated themselves up with beer, which they dragged in milk bags, since officially they were not allowed to drink beer at school. By that time, the emerging vacancy of the second guitarist (and he was Bernard Rapprich) was taken by a big fan of AC / DC Andy Bulgaropoulos.

The real “baptism of fire” for Tankard was a performance in Sindlingen in company with Sodom and Destruction . However, after that, the last two groups received a contract with the SPV label, and Tankard remained overboard. Then Andreas associates recorded a couple of demos: “Heavy Metal Vanguard” and “Alcoholic Metal” and with the help of manager Buffo Schndelbach agreed with “Noise records” on the release of their first album. Zombie Attack sold over 10,000 copies, but the guys were not very upset, and they continued their work. The group’s popularity was slowly growing thanks to a humorous alcohol theme, interspersed with political irony. For example, the 1987 album Chemical Invasion, released during the beer crisis, was directed against the addition of imported chemicals to German beer.

By the beginning of 1988, the drummer had changed in the team, and Arnulf Tunn took the place behind the drum kit. In the same year, the group toured extensively throughout Europe (mainly in Germany, Holland and Belgium). In 1990, The Meaning Of Life, the first Tankard album, hit the German charts. The team held a tour in his support in the company with Rumble militia and Napalm. Concerts in Bochum and Frankfurt were taped and then released as Fat, Ugly & Live. In the meantime, the band’s popularity has stepped far beyond Germany, and it was enthusiastically received in Turkey and Bulgaria, where the band played as the opening act for Meglomaniax and Xentrix. After the release of “Two Faced” in “Tankard”, the drummer changed again and this time the vacancy was taken by Olaf Zissel. The updated line-up began by releasing an album consisting of only covers, Angetankt.

After the disc saw the light, Katzman began to have health problems, and he was forced to leave the team. They decided not to change it, and Tankard remained in the form of a quartet. By 1997, Katzman recovered, but did not return to Tankard, and together with Adrian Jorgen founded the project Nemesis. True, without him, the team’s affairs were progressing well, and the 2000 disc, “Kings Of Beer,” sold very well. And their 20th anniversary, “metalworkers-alcoholics” celebrated the release of a powerful album “B-day”.

For the last eight years, the band has been releasing albums every two years. There was already a return of public interest in the German old-school thrash, and there were sufficient reasons. He was supported by the following German work “Beast of Bourbon” (2004); beginning with the opening uncompromising, straightforward and warlike Under Friendly Fire and Slipping from Reality, they were not a millimeter inferior in quality to their predecessor. “Die with a Beer in Your Hand” was a success - a parody of all the metal work put together, with his swords, warlike pathos and Manovar. And you can’t do without a bonus - a cover version of the Cock Sparrer group “We're Coming Back” to the limited version of the “Bourbon Beast” - for a long time Tankard did not have such fun gizmos. It became crowded in the concert calendar: Portugal, USA, Sweden, Ireland, the former Yugoslavia, almost every weekend the band came off home and went to sow good, eternal and intoxicating in the hearts of fans. In May 2005, the first DVD, Fat, Ugly and Still (A) Live, was shot at the Batschkapp home club in Frankfurt. In addition to the concert itself, for 5 hours of useful time, a Tankard fan will see a lot of backstage filming on it. Without rolling cotton wool for a long time, in January 2006, another studio set of new songs was ready called The Beauty and the Beer. The product did not sound so massive, apparently due to the fact that the mastering took place at the pink-cheeked and contented life of Mickey Usilla in the Finnish studio Finnvoks. Of the songs, “Ice-Olation” and “We Still Drink the Old Ways” can be singled out for the boiling energy. Beer persistence and prankishness "Tankard" still became the right choice in life. In April of the same 2006, the group was lucky to perform at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and to perform the Schwarz-Weiß wie Schnee anthem in honor of the beloved Frankfurt football club Eintracht (while playing with the Bavarians). The action, together with old demos and videos, entered the 4-song EP “Schwarz-Weiß wie Schnee”, making the sports fanatic Jerre happy. True, by that time, Mr. Geremia and a sports enthusiast had become like a beer keg, which was so actively applied: “Yes, I confess, I’ve gained a few kilos in recent years.”

AFM did not become embarrassed and the 25th anniversary of such a team was celebrated in 2007 in a friendly manner to both fans and ordinary people who had never heard of TANKARD and collectors. Under the heading “Best Case Scenario: 25 Years in Beers”, the market received a compilation of tracks from early albums (up to 98 years old), a 2-disk set with a circulation of 5000 copies with a bonus tribute disk for 75 minutes, where there is a bed of famous and murky German bands (among them “Paradox”, “ Sacred Steel ”, “Manticora” etc.) replay the songs “Tankard”, and, finally, a rare fan box with 4 piccher vinyls of the last 4 albums, a T-shirt, poster and a beer mug with the group logo of volume 0 , 33 ml.

The post-jubilee album was again sculpted by Andy Klassen, so it convinces with the quality of “Thirst” (2008), but the musical traditionality can get out of balance somewhere. Okay, you can forgive a lot for the enviable hard work of the burghers. You can drunkenly bawl out the songs “Octane Warriors”, “Myevilfart”, “Stay Thirsty!”. "Where do we get energy from?" - the vocalist comments on the vivacity of the “Thirst” disc. “This is because for us it’s total fun and a laid-back attitude to the matter.” Just in case, the limited edition “Thirst” did not include any audio sweets, only DVDs with a clip for “Stay Thirsty” and an autobiographical documentary. Summing up the jubilee results, frontman Gerre said:

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• Andreas Geremia - vocals.
• Andreas Gutjahr - guitar.
• Frank Thorwarth - bass.
• Olaf Zissel - drums.

Former members

• Axel Katzmann - Guitar (1982-1993)
• Bernhard Rapprich - guitar (1982-1983)
• Andy Bulgaropulos - Guitar (1983-1999)
• Oliver Werner - drums (1982-1988)
• Arnulf Tunn - drums (1988-1994)

Studio Albums

DVD

• Fat, Ugly And Still (A) Live ( 2005 )

Other releases

• Heavy Metal Vanguard ( 1984 ) - demo
• Alcoholic Metal ( 1985 ) - Demo
• Alien ( 1989 ) - EP
• Hair of the Dog ( 1989 ) - Compilation
• Open All Night ( 1990 ) - video
• Fat, Ugly and Live ( 1991 ) - live album
• Best Case Scenario: 25 Years in Beers ( 2007 ) - Compilation

• Tankard on Rate Your Music