Review of Panzerbastard - Gods, Thugs and Madmen

A few years back, I accidentally stumbled across Boston’s PanzerBastard, and it was a happy accident, because they definitely struck a chord, their crusty thrashing metal equal parts of personal favorites Discharge, Motorhead and Celtic Frost. And now the ‘Bastards return with this five-song EP, this time composed of all new material (whereas their last one sported two Celtic Frost covers). Still, the band’s vicious punk-thrash attack remains intact, though their touches of proto-blackness seem to have vanished (which is fine with me). Nevertheless, there's a definite punky and punchy production and some bashing blasts of metallic mayhem in these tunes, and it’s every bit as enjoyable as that which came before.

Gods, Thugs & Madmen opens with the title track, a two-minute chugging, gang-chanted-chorus track of punk-metal, before sliding effortlessly into “Belfast City Meltdown,” another similar take on smoking thrash-punk, all pounding verses and shout-along refrains… But as great as the opening one-two punch is, the EP’s crowning moment is the mid-tempo Motorhead-ish “10 Years,” which pushes along with menacing crunch and a driving and chugging tempo, interspersing moments of a harder metallic feel into the straight-ahead drive. It’s the EP’s centerpiece for a reason, easily the best tune on hand. The remaining two tracks, “B.L.O.D.” and “The Last Bullet Is Mine,” are killer, with the latter sporting some truly pounding drum patterns and riffs, but neither quite approaches the level of menacing charm of “10 Years.”

With Gods, PanzerBastard continues their largely unheralded string of solid punk-thrash-metal EPs, and with it, I’ll continue singing their praises to the few who listen. Fun stuff, for sure, and damn solid – Gods, Thugs & Madmen is another fine batch of tunes for the collection, and, if punk-metal piques your interest, you should add this one to yours…

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Panzerbastard

Gods, Thugs and Madmen

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