Tank is a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band from the United Kingdom, the same era, genre and even kinsmen to the likes of Iron Maiden and Saxon.
On top of that, they just released their eight studio album which truly proves that old-school British Heavy is far from dead.

Metal Revolution: For those out there who may be too young to remember the eighties, can you give a quick recap of who you are as well as Tank?
Cliff Evans: Tank was formed in 1980 and was originally a 3 piece band fronted by ex Damned bassist Algy Ward. The band had a punk influenced sound and were often compared to Motorhead. Both bands shared the same management and had toured together on several occasions.
Mick Tucker, who was previously in White Spirit with Janik Gers of Iron Maiden,  joined Tank in 1983 and immediately injected an element of classic rock into the band. I entered the ranks in 1984 to record the “Honour and Blood” album which we then took out on the road as support for Metallica on their “Ride the Lightning” tour. Since then we’ve released several albums and gone through many line up changes to reach the stage Tank is at today.

Metal Revolution: Your newest album has been very well-received here at Metal-Revolution. Hopefully that makes you feel proud?
CE: It makes us feel extremely proud. We put a lot of time and effort into the writing and recording of “War Nation” so it’s great for us to hear that people are listening to it and really enjoying the music we are creating. We love making music together and we all have similar influences so it’s a real pleasure to be in a band with these guys. We will continue to write and record great rock music for as long as we can.

Metal Revolution: Your new album is entitled War Nations. Can you explain the drive behind the album, as well as the lyrical themes?
CE: We were having a problem coming up with a title that we were all happy with. Our label had a deadline so we had to come up with something we all agreed on. We noticed that every time we watched TV or read a news paper we were confronted with pictures of fighting and war. We realised we are all just a war nation. The name stuck.


Metal Revolution: Your previous album was entitled War Machine. Can you explain the difference between that album and War Nations?
CE: War Machine was the first album we made with our new line up featuring Doogie White on vocals and pointed us in a different direction to previous Tank albums. We combined all our influences to create music that had the epic sound of those classic albums from the 70’s/80’s but with a much more up to date production to compete with new bands on the scene. Between us we’ve been members of bands featuring such names as Ritchie Blackmore, Bruce Dickinson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker and Paul Dianno. There’s a lot of experience within the band which you can really hear on our records.
War Nation we took a step further. We were now more comfortable with our way of writing and constructing songs. As with War Machine we approached every song in a different way and the album has many different styles and tempos to make it interesting to listen to from start to finish. Also we wanted to bring in a new younger producer who wasn’t familiar with our music so they could give a fresh angle to our sound. We used a guy called Phil Kinman who hadn’t really recorded any well known bands before but what I heard he had done sounded great so we decided to try him out. He really captured the energy of the band and got us an amazing sound that can easily compete with any big budget albums released recently.

Metal Revolution: What is your favourite song on this album and why?
That’s a difficult question to answer. Usually on albums I’ll have a couple of songs that CE: I really like but on War Nation I can’t just pick out one or even a couple. When I play the album I listen to it all the way through and enjoy every second of it. That’s the same reaction I’ve had from everyone that’s listened to it.

Metal Revolution: Looking back at Tanks entire career, what album would you consider as being the best you ever made and why?
CE: It’s hard to come up with one favourite album over our entire career because the style of music has progressed throughout the years. Filth Hounds of Hades, recorded before I joined the band, was a groundbreaking album that fused punk with rock that was driven by Algy’s distinctive vocals and bass playing. Honour and Blood was our first real metal album. Recorded in 1984, it still kicks some serious ass today. But I guess overall I’m really liking the music we are making now, especially on our latest work Metal Nation. Maybe our best album is still to be made though.

Metal Revolution: Tank, as a band, held a small break during the nineties. Why was that and what do you feel you gained from it after you started playing again?
CE: The band didn’t actually split up. We had a lot of problems during the recording of the “Tank” album in 1987.  Mick and Algy were arguing a lot and our management didn’t  help with the situation. The album was released but wasn’t promoted so it didn’t really sell many copies. We had no tours lined up and eventually the band drifted apart but we never even considered the idea of splitting up. We’d had long periods of inactivity before when Algy decided to go into hiding and no one could contact him so we were used to taking long breaks between albums. This was one reason why Tank never reached the level of success it deserved. No one new if we were still together as a band. When we returned again in 1998 it felt good to be back together. We recorded our Filth Hounds Live album and toured across Europe with Hammerfall.

Metal Revolution: Fairly recently (2008 and onwards) you got three new members (Chris Dale, Doogie White and Mark Cross). How would you say that this has influenced the sound and atmosphere of Tank?
CE: It was great bringing new blood into the band. We really needed to get our shit together and get down to some serious work and move Tank forwards to compete with all the other current bands out there. We brought in these guys because they are the best at what they do and we all understand the direction we’re heading in. Unfortunately Mark Cross moved on and now we have Steve Hopgood back on drums. He was with Tank from 1998-2000 and he was also in Killers with me and Dianno.
It’s a great line up to be a part of.

Metal Revolution: Where was the album recorded and over how long a period?
CE: Our producer Phil Kinman had constructed his own recording studio in his back garden. It had everything you need to record a great album. He really knows how to record guitars and drums to get the best results possible. We were on a tight schedule so all the tracks were recorded over a couple of weeks. This does give the album a certain energy. We were well prepared before entering the studio so we knew what had to be done. The mixes came together very quickly and mastering was done in a day. When you’re working on a tight budget and schedule you can’t afford to fuck around. That’s why we have these guys in the band.

Metal Revolution: Are you currently planning a tour to support your new album?
CE: At the moment we’re looking for a new agent to work with. Tank is a live band and we need to be on the road as much as possible playing to our fans. Hopefully later this year we’ll be heading out across Europe playing a set of old classics plus a selection of new songs from War Machine and War Nation.

Metal Revolution: Last, but not least, thank you for taking your time answering our questions. Anything you would like to add to our readers?
CE: Enjoy our music. We make it for you.
Cheers

www.tankofficial.com