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Tankobot: Thrash Metal's Unstoppable Force

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmcMUjUwo4w

Tankobot was born in 2004, thanks to the dynamic duo Jo and Daniel. Even now, they’re the heartbeat of this thrash metal beast. Daniel shreds the riffs while Jo pens the lyrics, tackling everything from everyday temptations to the world's injustices. You know, the usual thrash metal fare, but with that extra bite.

"One day, our drummer brought along this guy", Daniel recalls. "That's Torsten. He’s our guitarist now". And just like that, the Cologne-based band was ready to rock. Their first gigs? A whirlwind tour all the way to Bavaria. Not bad for a bunch of newcomers!

But hold your horses. Just a year in, things hit a snag. Singer Hans (of Reactory fame) moved to Berlin, throwing a wrench in the works. "The band pretty much went dark until 2010", says Daniel. During this downtime, Jo moonlighted as a bassist for Damage Source, another local metal act. It wasn’t until 2011 that Tankobot found its groove again. They played sporadically, including a killer set at Cologne's "Rhein In Blood" in 2014.

Fast forward to 2015. Tankobot’s first release, the aptly named "Demo 2015", drops and the response is epic. PoJan Jaedike from Rockhard Magazine raves, "These guys from Cologne deliver well-crafted, old-school thrash with a gnarly edge. The riffing is stellar, but Jo Fingergrinder’s gritty vocals and the guitar duo’s blazing leads set them apart. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill thrash".

Live shows kept rolling in, with Tankobot sharing stages with the likes of Insanity Alert and Night Demon. But 2019 brought another shake-up. They had to part ways with their drummer. "It was tough; we're all buddies," Torsten explains. "We just couldn't move forward with him. But hey, no hard feelings", adds Jo. Enter Julian, a young gun they found through an online ad. He's twenty years younger and a massive Meshuggah fan, injecting fresh energy into the band.

Just when things were heating up, bam—Corona hits. Did they let it get them down? Heck no! Instead, they hit Gernhart Studio (home to legends like Destruction and Tankard) and laid down some serious tracks. The result? The hard-hitting, no-nonsense album "Nightshift".

Tankobot’s journey is a testament to their resilience and passion. From early struggles to their latest triumph, they embody the spirit of thrash metal. Don’t sleep on "Nightshift"—it’s a banger!