T.A.N.K
Spasms of Upheaval

Think of A New Kind is the full name behind the acronym of T.A.N.K which happens to be one hiding a French band, the question however is think of a new kind of what? Perhaps a new kind of album stylings considering the good looking cover art of this album called Spasms of Upheaval, or perhaps the music which is said to be melodic death metal. That is a genre which has grown rather big when it comes to French band and several of them are good as well so a new familiarity of that genre from that nation has to be something of potential interest, at least that is what I was thinking before listening to the album. We have reviewed several good French bands lately with Gojira as the perhaps sharpest one this year, so what about these guys? can they mix it with the best?

Well, I think it was easy to hear that they were French, they have that groove and the kind of sound that the French bands of the genre often has. The music itself is melodic death metal focused on strong melodies but it also has a touch of progressive metal through the songs. The vocals mix between the growly kind and the clean kind and the mix is strong and dynamic with a great vocal performance. The production is brilliant and probably the best one I have heard from a French band in this genre and well above most of the albums I have heard this year, excellent sound and dynamics. So it clearly sound like a quality product but then again it should also deliver in the song department otherwise it will still fall flat.

But this album does not fall flat as the songs are great as well and I cannot really see anything negative about this album, besides perhaps if I am really picky the lack of distinctive hit songs that define the album but that is not something major but a little issue I found. The twelve songs are however very strong albeit none stands out but their stylistics are dynamic and powerful which is the sense of this entire album and I would say that if you like melodic death metal you really must take a look at this album as it will be brilliant for you. But even if you prefer other genres I think you should take a look as well because this is a real quality album that despite its fifty minute playing time never doze of and become a tad dreary, it is strong all the way to the end.

I would say that it is an impressive album and I asked in the first paragraph if they could mix it with the best of the French, I think they can and I would say that this thinking new kind slaughters the monsters of Gojira when ranking the albums of this year even if they do not receive a higher rating. But in the end I would say that this is one of the top melodic death metal albums I have heard in the latest years and one that is well worth taking a close look at, especially if you are a fan of melodic death metal. I also thought about French bands when listening to this album and the question is if I have heard a better French album the last few years and the answer is as far as I can recall now, no as this probably is the best French album released this decade. Remember to look at it and think of this new kind of music, well done T.A.N.K.