Reviews

Aardschok magazine:

"'Rise' convinces from start to finish and will appeal to lovers of Mastodon, and High on Fire. Heavy-ass metal is their language and for eight songs straight the band is out for war. Titles like 'Axe', 'Apparat', 'Black Lake', and 'Dying Mountain' describe the atmosphere of these songs perfectly and TANK86 manages to remain dangerous and threatening throughout the whole album." 80/100
Full review right here... (in Dutch)

Doomantia.com:

"This album titled 'Rise' is basically ear-candy for riff-lovers everywhere. It's a 48 minute whirlwind of bone-charring riffs, power and instrumental wizardry that blends epic doom with progressive-metal, stoner grooves and old-school headbanging heavy metal and it is about as flawless as you can get. If you need some reference points here, it is like High On Fire colliding headlong into early Cathedral with a dose of Mastodon on the side but the result is it doesn't sound like any of those bands, Tank86 have their own vibe happening."

"'Rise' is a thrill-ride from start to finish, a hair-raising, mostly neck-snapping album that is jam-packed full of monolithic riffs and progressive rock technicality but without ever getting carried away with being overly pompous. Tank86 also throw out some curve balls, there is bluesy sections and even some southern-rock overtones so it is pretty hard to ever get bored with this and it sounds absolutely amazing at loud volumes." 9,5/10
Full review right here...

Rocktribune magazine:

"'Rise' rushes by like a freighttrain that is as diverse as the asses of your ex-girlfriends. Delicious in my case! In 50 minutes everything metal is thrown at you and references to bands like Metallica, Mastodon and Machine Head are obvious, but the bandalso throws some well-timed stoner and doom moments in the mix" 82/100
Full review right here... (in Dutch)

The Metal Observer, Rise review, 20-06-2011:

"As a Metal reviewer, your goal is to meld quantity with quality; listen to and critique as many as bands as you can, as well as you can. TANK86’s debut full-length, “Rise,” is making this exceedingly difficult. Since its initial play-through, I admit that I have unfairly neglected the other dust-collecting albums up for assessment, and for this, I apologize, but when an album is this good, this heavy, there is really no option. The Gods of Metal beckon, and you must heed their call."

"From its expertly crafted tempo changes and its dynamic production job, to its wealth of soulfully winding and expressive guitar solos and devastating crush of bass and drum, TANK86 perform “Rise” with all the confidence of a band who have not only done their homework, but have studied their art for ages. Not only is this album one of the best debuts of the year, TANK86 have created the soundtrack to an adventure. “Rise” is a journey into a realm that is not experienced often enough." 9,5/10
Full review right here...

Thee Claw, Rise review, 20-06-2011:

"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."
Full review right here...

The Robust Fellow, Rise review, 09-06-2011 :

"In a musical sense the music can be distantly compared to ?arma to Burn on steroids. Another closer comparison which comes to my mind is a sonic mixture of High On Fire's fury and Balero's instrumental rage. If they needed a vocalist - the only man who could fit in this instrumental outrage could be Matt Pike (imagine...that would be epic). But Tank86 isn't a band you can compare someone to. Their in-your-face/kick-your-ass riffs are mostly, mixed with some great harmonies, which tend to cross the line of an average song in terms of compositional approach & song-writing."

"The only bad thing about the album is that it's so volumetric (tracks are really epic) that after four listens I can recollect only one riff (from the Apparat song). Well maybe it means that I have to make it to 20 listens and try it again!
Overall Tank86's first full-length "Rise" is huge. It's powerful. Reminds me of a titan wearing a "fuck you" t-shirt. A titan with a mini-gun and a rusty axe behind his back. You're either on his side, or...you'd better be on his side."
Full review right here...

Musicfrom.nl, Rise review, 06-06-2011:

"The music is solid as a rock. A heavy, dirty and huge rock that is. And without vocals, but it doesn't get borig for a second. This is mostly due to the fact that we're not hearing just doom or stoner. The riffs are both slow and fast, massive and melodic and both venomous and easy going. There's a lot of tempochanges and some odd time signatures. Halfway through the second song we suprisingly conclude that we are listening to an instrumental crossover of Mastodon, Queens of the Stoneage and Wolfmother. That the songs of the Dutchmen are at least as powerful as the aforementioned big names, is a big compliment in itself."

"All in all, the band is true to their name by crushing the unsuspecting listener completely with a varied and heavy debutalbum that will surely turn heads internationally. The band knows exactly what they are doing and will be loved by all adventurous fans of rock and metal. A big thumbs up!"
Full review right here... (in Dutch)

AlternativeMatter.net, Rise review, 01-06-2011:

"The music on Rise is firmly rooted in the stoner and sludge tradition. Tank86 reminds me somewhat of early Mastodon and a less jazzy Intronaut, but with the same hellbent desire to deliver some high quality grooves. As a fellow countryman I might be a bit biased, but take it from me, these guys really deliver. They aren’t afraid to venture into doom metal country as well, which is especially the case on “Aparat”, “Black Lake” and “Dying Mountain.” It says a lot about the open-minded approach on em Rise."

"Rise by Tank86 holds its own against anything their American counterparts like Sourvein, Zoroaster, Intronaut, Black Tusk and Minsk can throw at them. In order to describe my state of euphoria about this record I simply quote the immortal words from Down: ´The power of the riff compels me!´"
Full review right here...

VPRO 3voor12, Rise release show review 02-06-2011:

"Right from the start this band is like a machine that is turned on and won't shut down until the last note has been played. They trash out with their pummeling 'instrumental heaviness' as they like to call it. The show is not at all affected by the lack of a vocalist. On the contrary, the striking tempochanges, sweet guitarsolos and effects really stand out this way."
Full review right here...(in Dutch)

Nu.nl, Rise review, 27-05-2011:

"Lovers of plodding instrumentals will unearth black gold with Rise, the debut album of Tank86. With variations in rythm and tempo, doubled harmonies, melodic passages and awesome (guest)solos the band manages to remain interesting at all times." 4/5

"There is a well thought out balance to the album. The monumental 'Apparat' (with a superb drumintro and atmospheric melodies) is followed by the short and fast 'Gottes Krieger' that features a solo by Tommi Holappa (Dozer). Speedrocker Peter van Elderen added his share of shredding to the song 'Axe'."
Full review right here... (in Dutch)

Lords of Metal, Rise album review, may 2011 :

"‘Rise’ is a 48 minutes rollercoaster ride, fast, merciless and tight as hell. The lack of vocals is compensated by the double barrel guitar violence you find yourself in (long live stereo). Only the stiffest, deafest, sense of rhythm lacking listeners will not be forced to move along with the mighty riffs that this album has to offer. A mighty fine piece of work." 86/100
Full review right here...

The Organ e-zine, Rise album review, 26-5-2011:

"What we have here is some no-messing old school heavier than heavy, proper heavy metal. Nothing too thrashy; it's pounding and powerfully heavy but nothing as basic as mere thrash riffing, and nowhere anywhere near the notions of extreme -Tank86 steer well clear of all that black death grind sub-genre clutter. This is just powerful, riff-based, guitar-driven old school heavy metal. That’s right, yet another band doing it instrumentally, but it's satisfyingly chunky, solid, dramatic, bombastic. "

"A pure celebration of a the art that is heavy metal, and for once we’re not left wondering if they’re taking the easy option and doing it instrumentally just because they couldn’t find a vocalist, for once a band who really don’t need a front-voice taking away the focus of the instrumentation, for once an instrumental guitar band who sound and feel naturally right."
Full review right here...

Stonerobixxx, Rise album review, 14-5-2011:

"'Rise' is a solid debut with 50 minutes of heavy instrumental stoner metal. Featuring guest appearances from Peter Van Elderen (Peter Pan Speedrock) & Tommi Holappa (Dozer). Apart from the blazing riffs there is also a more dynamic, technical side to 'Rise'. The straight-forward grooves make room for a more varied approach to different guitar & drum patterns (High On Fire comes to mind). There are alot of unconventional song structures to keep things interesting."

"The production on this album is fantastic. A clear, heavy sound in a fitting mix. From the hard hitting drums to the crunchy guitar work. And when the riffs are getting heavy, this thing destroys. Turn it to 11, and you will 'expect collapsing buildings'. I think Tank 86 has a bright future ahead with 'Rise', this debut will win alot of new fans & surprise the old ones. This a perfect example of how modern times instrumental metal is done. Fucking heavy and without mercy."
Full review right here...

Rockportaal, Rise album review, 26-5-2011:

"Opener “Barrosphere” hits you straight in the face. The guitars are satisfyingly loud and the band goes all the way right from the start. Because of the absence of vocals, the focus is right on the music itself. Tight riffs and magnificent drumming is what it's all about."

"The album crushes on like a freight train: straight towards its goal without slowing down for a second. Just when you think you're getting some rest, the next barrage of riffs crushes you. Extended listening on loud volumes will give you the blows to the head you really want."
"
Full review right here... (in Dutch)

Kindamuzik.net, W2 with Witchcraft and Dozer review, 30-11-2008:

It doesn't happen very often that the supportact blows away the headliner, but TANK86 does just that. The 4-piece demonstrates an impressive act of instrumental stonerrock, that makes the passing away of a band like Karma to Burn a lot more bearable. A vocalist wouldn't add a sinlge thing to this band. On the contrary: a vocalist would probably bring down the barrage of mighty riffs and heavy rythms that drive forward cleverly composed songs like 'Moloch' and 'Dmitrj'.

MetalRage.com, Moster Magnet support @ Effenaar, 27-06-2008:

"First band that played this afternoon was TANK86. What the hell! This band absolutely blew me away. I’ve heard about this Breda based band before, but I actually never had the chance to check them out before. The first band of the night and they give me from the first note on, shivers down my spine. They play instrumental groovy Stoner/Sludge-metal, that is comparable to a band like Capricorns. TANK86 is a bit more straight forwarded and not as dark moody as Capricorns though. The riffs are there, the ideas are there. If this band continues to grow even more, then the Netherlands have a new band, that easily can beat the competition out of the US. This band is by far one of the best Dutch bands I’ve seen for a very long time. They have a self released mini-CD out, and they played all five songs of it. With my personal highlight in the song 'Dmitrj'. This song starts off with a riff, which sounds like when Slayer would play groovy Stoner-rock. An absolute neckbracking riff, which turns slowly in a more slow, improvised moody song. What a beginning of this afternoon!"

Doom-metal.com, Behold CD review, 07-2009:

"I'm a bit at a loss as to whether I should call this instrumental four piece a doom/drone or a stoner/drone outfit. TANK86 is undeniably a partially doom band but the stoner elements equally populate the band's music. The drone label is also a must, of sorts, as TANK86 fits squarely in the same vein as bands like 5ive and Pelican."

"However one would label them genre-wise, there is no disputing that this is one loud ensemble. Groove and heaviness are given equal weight and somehow the band manages to combine monotony with a nose for the catchy, the inventive, and the headbanging friendly. The appeal of TANK86 is definitely more basic than just that of their soundscapes. The band boasts of having played about fifty gigs in 2008 and what live shows they must have been! I'm guessing that 'headbangers ball' might be an apt description."

"I honestly thought that after Pelican's "classic" worthy debut that no band could repeat that kind of success; then along comes two bands that push things a few steps higher. The first band is Mills of God while the second spot, to these ears, can deservedly be awarded to TANK86. This is one outfit that I intend to keep following. Highly recommended for fans of heavy stoner, riffing drone or loud instrumental soundscapes."

Metal Hammer (UK) Behold CD review, 04-2008:

"Holland's TANK86 sound like they're evolving throughout the course of this five-track instrumental MCD. Opener 'Moloch' is an assured, if hardly unprecedented slice of stoner/doom; all lambent, fuzzed-up licks and the kind of bass-driven undertow that make you look like you're praying at the Wailing Wall. But 'Behold' quickly moves into less crowded territory, all chunky, slightly abstracted riffs that recall Capricorns at their most brawny, Pelican at their least, but more likely sired in a love for their Dutch forebears, 90s cult act Kong. Tracks urge themselves on, gorging themselves on their own grooves and birthing fluid guitar breaks, all prepped for the final 'Dust', illuminated by light streaming in from the new horizons it opens up. T86 are bound for glory."

Aardschok magazine Behold CD review, 03-2008:

"TANK86 from Breda produces stonerrock that is straight in line with Karma to Burn: heavy ponderous stoner without vocals. Stoner is a genre in which, especially in the Netherlands, vocals often destroy the mean and dirty charisma of such a band. In the genre, singers are hardly ever a true addition. It can go two ways: you either feel the torment in the vocals of for example Dave Wydorf or you taste the hidden tension that Maynard James Keenan summons up, but then we aren't even talking about the stoner genre anymore. TANK86 has tackled every possible problem from the start by not adding any vocals. The best possible decision, because 'Behold' now sounds as a power struggle of riffs, solos and climaxes. TANK86 breathes Motorpsycho, 35007, Lawn and 7zuma7 without effort. Can it get any better? No, TANK86 hits the sensitive, low-tuned string on all fronts, without ever reverting to wankery or pretentiousness."