Get Ready for The German Panzer

Prior to Christmas my buddy Mark Tornillo (TT Quick/Accept) sent me a couple of CDs in the mail to check out. I didn’t get to check them out right away as I was prepping my holiday themed radio shows, but once that was done I sat down and checked them out and I felt foolish for waiting. One of those CD’s is the debut album from The German Panzer called Send Them All to Hell. Let me tell you, if this album would’ve been released here last year it would’ve made my Must Have Albums list for the year.

The German Panzer is a pure metal trio made up of Herman Frank (Accept/Victory) on guitar, Stefan Schwarzmann (Accept/Running Wild) on drums, and Schmier (Destruction). While I wasn’t familiar with Schmier as a vocalist I was familiar with the other guys from their work with Accept in recent years. But the unfamiliarity didn’t last long because as I listened to the CD for the first time it felt like they’d been around for years. I even had to stop and remind myself that they’re new as I almost went online to search for their earlier albums.

Of course when listening to Send Then All to Hell your going to catch hints of Accept coming to year head because that’s where many of us have become familiar with Frank‘s and Schwarzmann‘s musical style. Both “Hail and Kill” and “Temple of Doom” give this feeling. Almost as if they might be pieces that were discussed for possible addition to what was written for the last Accept album. But different enough to say it’s unique to what they’re doing now. The guitar solo in “Temple of Doom” is amazingly fast and melodic really giving Herman Frank his chance to shine.

I also really enjoy some of the bluesy undertones all throughout this album. While “Mr. Nobrain” is a fast and heavy track there are bluesy tones within it and within the rest of the album. And I think it’s also why Schmier‘s vocals fit so perfectly. There’s just enough grittiness in his vocals to give you that heavy feel but not too much that you can’t understand him. I find that gritty vocals often lend that extra hit to those blues influences that end up bringing everything together perfectly.

The German Panzer is a band with tons of potential moving forward. Send Them All to Hell comes out here in the states on Tuesday, January 13th courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records and belongs in your music library.