Tank - Honour & Blood (1984)^{Release ID: 6688}

London-based NWOBHM act Tank were extremely prolific during the first part of the 1980's with 1984’s “Honour & Blood” record being their fourth studio album in just three years.  But a lot had happened in that time with the band being lucky enough to emerge during the absolute peak of the movement. Tank’s 1982 debut “Filth Hounds Of Hades” was full of fun Motorhead-inspired drinking anthems that would become the perfect accompaniment for your average working-class English male at the time with front man Algy Ward’s links to legendary punk rockers The Saints & The Damned giving Tank a unique crossover appeal not afforded to many in the scene at the time. Well Tank’s record label clearly shared the public’s excitement as they forced the band back into the studio for another record before the year was out with the disappointing & decidedly less metal “Power Of The Hunter” being the result. But the addition of a talented second guitarist in Mick Tucker (recruited from fellow NWOBHM hard rockers White Spirit) saw Tank moving away from their dirtier, punk-driven power trio sound towards a much more ambitious & expansive one for 1983’s “This Means War” album with much longer track-lengths & a noticeably more melodic sound highlighted by Tucker’s accomplished lead guitar work enabling Tank to reach a new level of appeal with fans of the classic heavy metal sound. And that brings us to 1984’s follow-up release “Honour & Blood”; a record that saw original drummer Mark Brabbs being replaced with Tucker’s former White Spirit band-mate Graham Crallan & leaving Algy Ward as the only remaining original band member.

Much like its predecessor, the album title & cover art set the scene nicely for another record full of war-inspired themes & the A side won’t disappoint fans of “This Means War” as it takes a very similar direction. In fact, when you look at the album as a whole, it seems to have been tailor-made to replicate almost all aspects of that record with it’s seven lengthy tracks being structured in almost exactly the same way. You get the epic eight & a half minute opening track complete with synthesized intro section, the three tracks on the A side & four on the B side, the more expansive melodic sound complete with lengthy lead guitar excursions from the talented Tucker, it’s all here. And the result would go on to see “Honour & Blood” pushing even Tank’s most highly regarded debut album for overall appeal as it’s a very professionally written & produced release. That’s obvious right from the first couple of minutes of lengthy speed-metal opener “The War Drags Ever On”. And there won’t be too many disappointed fans out there either; especially none that enjoyed “This Means War” as much as I did. If you fall into that category then you’re inevitably gonna love this record too but the fact that “Honour & Blood” sounds so similar to that record leaves me feeling a little hesitant to heap it with a similar level of praise.

Algy Ward’s vocals have certainly never sounded quite so gruff with a renewed level of grindiness evident in his delivery here. It’s almost like he’s completely removed the shackles & said “Fuck what anyone thinks. I’m gonna go the whole way this time”. The B side even sees him deviating away from the war themes for a couple of commentaries on his love life. Mick Tucker’s guitar solos are possibly even more melodic than they were on “This Means War” & they once again represent the highlight of the album with plenty to satisfy fans of flashy metal shred. In fact, this is probably Tank’s most metal release to date with very few signs of Ward’s punk rock roots on display. But that being said, I do get a strong sense of déjà vu while listening to “Honour & Blood”. It’s possibly too closely related to its older brother & seems a little safe to my ears. There’s just not that many differentiators here if I’m honest. Don’t get me wrong…. I still really enjoy my listening experience & rate this release as my second favourite Tank album to date behind “This Means War” but it’s this element (along with the very strange decision to include a cover version of Aretha Franklin’s “Chain Of Fools”) that are stopping me from being in a position to push "Honour & Blood" to the very top of the Tank pile. Also, as much as I prefer the more substantial & melodic sound that Algy’s boys have championed on the last two Tank records, I can’t help but maintain the distinct feeling that the dirtier working-class sound they first appeared with seemed to suit their image & lyrical themes a little better than the cleaner & more accessible one we get here. But at the end of the day, if this was the first Tank record you’d ever heard you’d be more than impressed with the result as it’s a damn fine slab of distinctly English heavy metal. I really enjoy it & are a little surprised that Tank didn’t become even bigger than they were.