Old school thrash metal with potential - A review of Tankist's Unhuman

Tankist is an Estonia thrash metal quartet and Unhuman is the group's first full length effort. The group sounds as if it came straight out of the eighties. Its uncompromising sound reminds of Exodus' and Slayer's early works.

Powerful riffs and melodic guitar solos meet an up-tempo rhythm section and raspy vocals. From time to time, the band varies with a few short and fluid changes in pace and also adds a few dissonant guitar sounds from time to time. The straight production is the right choice for this type of music. The lyrics deal with all types of topics such as religious terrorism and social criticism. Even the colourful cover artwork and album title blend in perfectly. 

My favorite song on the record is the gloomy ''Miserytomb'' that is a little bit slower than the other tracks and also features a few atmospheric organ sounds while the vocals sound harsher and throatier than usual. Imagine a mixture between Celtic Frost and King Diamond and you have a good idea of what this album highlight sounds like.

The main problem with Unhuman is that Tankist hasn't quite found its own style yet and that the tracks get somewhat repetitive after a while. Unhuman is a blast to listen to once or twice but nothing truly memorable. If the band fleshed out its changes in pace and dissonant influences a little bit more, it could become a very respectable progressive or technical thrash metal band in the key of Coroner and Voivod.

Fans of old school thrash metal should give Tankist's Unhuman a few spins. Those who are looking for something new and unique will have to look elsewhere.

Final rating: 70%