If you're not familiar with Tank, this band's name and war-and-skulls-themed album art could be misleading. Rather than a thrash-metal or death-metal disc, Valley of Tears — Tank's 10th studio album! — is a modern dose of New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Tunes like "Eye of a Hurricane," "Living A Fantasy" and "Heading for Eternity" come with killer choruses and soaring melodies that recall late-period Praying Mantis and are hard to find these days. What's more, the addition in 2013 of vocalist ZP Theart (formerly of DragonForce) gives Tank added cache with new listeners. And the fact that he wrote most of these songs makes Valley of Tears a must-buy for DragonForce fans. "Hold On" and "World on Fire" are the weakest links, but even those are pretty damn good.
This version of Tank, which includes no original members but boasts longtime guitarists Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans plus musicians from Blind Guardian and Sodom, is heavier than recent Tank records that were fronted by vocal relic Doogie White, who is 20 years Theart's senior. Valley of Tears was released in 2015, but if I'd heard it sooner, it might have landed on my best-of list.
It should be noted that there are two versions of Tank out there; the other features original guitarist and singer Algy Ward.
Track Listing:
1. Valley of Tears
2. War Dance
3. Eye of a Hurricane
4. Hold On
5. Living A Fantasy
6. Heading for Eternity
7. World on Fire
8. Make A Little Time
9. One For the Road
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