After such a successful demolition of disco from Frankfurt to Frisco, two years later, in 2000, the kings of beer thrash TANKARD released their next album. Musically, it's quite characteristic of the band -- fierce and furious thrash, yet without the pathos of DESTRUCTION, the hatred and darkness of KREATOR, or the aggression and rage of SODOM. Instead, there's a carefree attitude, positivity, and plenty of punk moves. Tracks like "Hot Dog Inferno" are absolute punk, thrashed up in places. A special moment -- "Kings of Beer" -- this song gave its name to the entire album and is at the same time an outright mockery and direct parody of MANOWAR's most boastful song, "Kings of Metal." The track is done in a heavy metal vein, complete with a choir, and the Americans' main message -- "Other bands play, Manowar kill" -- Gerre rephrased quite simply: "Other bands will play but we all comes to drink." At the same time, the album also contains very serious songs with socially themed lyrics; a prime example is "Land of the Free," a kind of antithesis to its famous namesake by Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY).
In the booklet we see a grotesquely obese male figure, with the band members taking turns placing their head on it -- quite funny. Although the band's frontman, were he to bare some skin, would quite certainly outdo that fat man, as by 2000 Gerre was already of enormous proportions, living up to his status as the ultimate beer lover. The disc is not unique, but it simply must be in the collection of every fan of German thrash. This reissue allows us to enjoy a bonus track, which is none other than a cover of METALLICA's "Damage, Inc." (from the album "Master of Puppets"). The cover is simply stunning -- TANKARD gave their own reading of this famous song without copying the original at all, yet still preserving much of its atmosphere.