Review by criscool623 on March 20, 2021.

Tankard is one of my favourite bands in general. I think that they have a great level as performers, composers, and in my humble opinion, they are way better than Sodom and Destruction; however, several factors impeded that they could reach the fame and appreciation that they deserved to have.

After their debut with Zombie Attack (an album that I did not want to review due to its more punk-oriented sound, as I am not a punk fan and it would have been unfair to judge it as a thrash metal release), the band started to work in a more aggressive sound, and the result was glorious; in fact, this was their first album with a genuine thrash metal sound.

First of all, I have to eulogize the composition of the songs; Tankard abandoned their tendency of writing simple songs with repetitive structures, riffs, and the same drum rhythm throughout the whole song. Here, the songs are more varied in this aspect, as they are more dynamic. We can find changing drums rhythms that make that the songs do not become something monotonous, bridges and interludes that make that every song have something different to offer and a vast variety of riffs, which has a remarkable influence of blues sound; thrash metal is that kind of gender that should overcome because of the originality of their riffs.

The music is savage, raw, it's pure anger, an ode to insanity; Gerre's voice is rougher than in its previous album, marking a clear evolution in his vocal style towards something more aggressive; Frank Thorwarth stands out improvising some bass lines in the album, giving more riches to the music; Oliver Werner is pretty standard playing the drums, but he's consistent and a good support for the band; Andy and Axel are good guitar players and they show off their (kind of limited) skills, offering short, but solid solos (although some licks are very memorable, like the first solos of 'For A Thousand Beers').

As I said before, every song has something different to offer, as the progressive parts of 'Don't Panic', the magic and epicity of 'For A Thousand Beers' (one of the best instrumental metal pieces of all), the aggressiveness of 'Total Addiction' or 'Traitor' and the funny and danceable introduction of the album's title track, you choose your favourite moment of the album.

I have not too much to say about the lyrics, as most of them are hilarious, obscene and beer-related, excepting 'Don't Panic', which is a little more serious, satirizing the war and other evils of the world.

Nonetheless, unfortunately, the album is not perfect, as it sins in something very important: the production. It is true that the music is powerful and full of adrenaline, but sometimes the sound is kind of dirty, and that makes that you don't know what notes the guitar players are playing, and thus, some riffs are unintelligible, as in 'Total Addiction' and 'For A Thousand Beers', but if you just want to listen to some raw music, this won't be a great problem for you.

This is the second strike of a band that is full of personality and style, and I totally recommend it if you want to listen to Tankard in some of the best moments of their career. It is a real shame that the band does not perform more songs from this album live apart from 'Chemical Invasion', but this album will stay in the history as one of the best (and most underrated) german thrash metal albums.

Rating: 9.7 out of 10

Review by Felix on March 20, 2021.

Twelve months after their minimally punk affected debut, Tankard returned with Chemical Invasion, a detonation of pure thrash metal. The compositions showed a higher degree of variety and complexity. In terms of musicianship, the dudes had reached the next tier. The fact that four of the musicians contributed at least one own composition underlined this development.

The excellent artwork presented a vile chemist who manipulated his beer in order to create a strange brew unscrupulously. This utterly unacceptable form of poisoning was too much for the defenders of the German purity law. Tankard raged against this kind of beer pollution and their title track was able to blow up the entire laboratory of the criminal scientist. The beginning of the song picked up the mood of "(Empty) Tankard", but this piece was evolving into a very intense and furious thrash metal grenade. Of course, a pinch of humour was not missing. Nevertheless, the song connected melody, density and speed in a very imposing way. Brutality and refinement were also expertly balanced. In my humble opinion, this ingenious number still belongs to their absolute classics.

Generally speaking, sheer fury characterized the majority of the songs. Straightforward outbursts like 'Farewell To A Slut' or 'Total Addiction' proved that Tankard had nothing lost of the juvenile spontaneity of their debut. Gerre's charismatic shouting as well as the powerful guitars and the thunderous rhythm section displayed an enormous joy of making music. As if that wasn't enough, Tankard also impressed with an almost progressive tendency. The monumental instrumental at the end of the A side surprised with a very unusual approach without appearing lightweight or inappropriate. 'Traitor', a further overlong song, proved their ability to write a thrilling piece of eight minutes length one more time. The song killed any kind of weariness in a matter of seconds because of its intensive and unstoppable riffing. Well accentuated background shouts increased the dynamism and the pressure of the song, while the high speed guitars performed rabid yet slightly technical solos one by one. The exact opposite of these bombastic songs was called 'Puke', an unswervingly hammering miniature track. As short as its title, it passed by in less than a minute while destroying everything that stood in its way. Fortunately, the mind-blowing mix of the album set all songs in the right light, irrespective of their individual configurations.

The lyrics expressed Tankard's weakness for beer and alcohol in general in several ways. But apart from that nonsensical poetry, the band also showed its political awareness ('Don't Panic'). Despite first appearances, this text did not come as a surprise, because 'Maniac Forces', already released on their debut, had also been slightly political. Well, we all know the omniscient eloquence of drunken people... Anyway, the lunatic chemist, probably a distant relative of Destruction's mad butcher, was grinning insidiously and I remember that I had pinned a poster with this artwork to the wall during the time of my military service. I cannot say that the motif pleased my first sergeant. But I guess my inoffensive action was better than starting another world war.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Alex on September 27, 2019.

Power/progressive metal band Vision Divine from Italy are but one in a sea of many. Not implying they are to be overlooked, but they play the kind of prog-power metal I have heard many times over. Formed in 1997, they have been a part of the era I hold dear, so there was no skipping this. When All the Heroes are Dead is their comeback album since 2012's Destination Set to Nowhere (which was very successful), so it's been a considerable amount of time since their last output, hence the question of ‘do they still have it’ was a most likely one. I was not eager to put ear to this newest record, but I checked them out on The Metal Archives, and they appeared to be a solid bunch as the scores showed. Somewhat strange, I've been on a prog-metal search for a few weeks now and given the long break from the music, it’s good to revisit and see what the genre has become, so far it seems to be in good condition as I last remembered it to be. Thus said, this release is yet another that reminds me of the early 2000s scene, that 2003 and onward era that I fell for. Vision Divine's latest record When All the Heroes are Dead is a mega dosage of nostalgia bringing back memories of when I first heard Stream of Passion, Echoes of Eternity, Kamelot and Conception.

There's a certain magic about 2000s progressive metal that's hard to free myself from, and Vision Divine remind me of how deep under its spell I am. From the first instances of 'The 26th Machine', the choirs, the motivating sound of the vocals and those mountainous ‘larger than life’ moments, shot with the power and velocity associated with the genre. Even more special moment occurred when the keyboard solos kicked in, hence I had already sunken deep beneath the enchantment of Vision Divine. Heading down the order to tracks like ‘3 Men Walk on the Moon’, ‘Fall from Grace’ and ‘Were I God’, the dosage of nostalgia is turned up even more, now I really believe it is the early 2000s. Those tracks trace the very blueprint of power and progressive metal with even more precision. It was a done deal, I could not get over how good When All the Heroes are Dead turned out to be. All the fantasy-esque stereotypes came-alive, the sky was sunny and sparkling, the fields were green, dragons were everywhere, there was a princess that needed to be rescued from the evil king's dungeon and there was a knight on a mountain waiting to do just that; not really, but I think you understand what I’m saying.

However, in contrast to all the fantasy, Vision Divine’s lyrical content is much deeper and cryptic where references to religion and the reality of life dominate, hence, the emotion and passion supporting those topics are heard with ease. The movement between various moods is phenomenal. Musically you get great representations of the artwork through tight and again, enchanting playing by drummer Mike Terrana (drums), Andrea (bass), Federico (guitars), Alessio Lucatti (keyboards) and Olaf Thörsen (guitars). New vocalist, Ivan Gianni, vocally reminds me much of Roy Khan’s from Conception and Kamelot; or a blend of Roy Khan’s and Joacim Can’s (Hammerfall). His high and low pitches are sincere; thus, the feelings are conveyed convincingly; hear ‘While the Sun is Turning Back’ and you’ll understand; such a beautiful song, great riffs, tone, lots of emotional content, incredibly good vocals, absolutely enthralling music.

Vision Divine have such a cohesive blend of tempos and emotions it’s easy to see why they have and continue to be a dominant force in progressive metal; and with the addition of new singer Ivan Gianni, the band’s future seems to be intact. You need this record if you love progressive power metal, When All the Heroes are Dead is poetry in motion.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10