GERBENOK - "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" & "A TRIBUTE TO PROBERAUM DEMO / LIVE IN ZEITZ" (2018)

GERBENOK - "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" & "A TRIBUTE TO PROBERAUM DEMO / LIVE IN ZEITZ" (2CD)
(Running time - CD 1: 34:41 minutes; 10 songs /// Running time - CD 2: 71:31 minutes; 18 songs)
("K.B. Records"; 2018; 2CD):

Hey guys, yes, finally back again after christmas and first and foremost I hope you all had some fantastic christmas days and now without any further ramblings let's go for the next round up here and so here and now you get my review on the new and (so it seems) final album "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" of and by the infamous German Oi! roughnecks of GERBENOK released at the 30th of November of 2018 via the mighty "K.B. RECORDS" as a drop dead gorgeous digipacked 2CD (and I think also on vinyl) with the "A TRIBUTE TO PROBERAUM DEMO / LIVE IN ZEITZ" disc as a bonus. I wasn't aware of that GERBENOK are still around today and what shall I say, yes, this is a very pleasant surprise and if this will be their final album, if I understand the linernotes and some of the lyrics correct, then they are one more time going out in style and they are definitely leaving with a bang. Back then I wasn't sort of the biggest fan of GERBENOK also simply because I am normally in general not that much sort of the biggest fan of German Oi! in general and maybe that's why I lost them a bit out of sight, hm, but anyhow anyway and especially after this all sort of changed quite a bit in 2018, to say it that way to keep it short, it's all not that important after all and so here we are and GERBENOK deliver us their "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" album consisting out of four brandnew tracks, three new recorded classicks, and three so far unreleased Bootboy smashers and what we get here is bonecracking heavy and facesmashing hard stomping and cracking German Oi! that's driven forward by mercylessly pushing heavy stomping rhythm arrangements that shine in a pretty fresh light and showcase a nicely strong and in parts Chiswick inspired British mark that I wasn't aware of before in the sound'n'style of GERBENOK and that's so a very nice surprise for/to me. Also is the pace work very nicely flowing and GERBENOK manage to shake things very nicely up and keeping it so all fresh and exciting and as a fact I can't remember that the songwriting of/by GERBENOK was that strong and fresh back then. This is harsh and hard hitting and sharp aimed'n'cutting German Oi! of the gruff and grim kind that will please fans of the (older/earlier) KRAWALLBRÜDER, the DURSTIGE NACHBARN, old TOXPACK, SCHARMÜTZEL, and also some RAW INSTINKT and this for sure for all the right reasons. What really sets GERBENOK sort of apart is the fact that they really deliver great melody lines and showcase a strong focus on great melodic leads that really mark the songs massively and this also and again for all the right reasons. So expect songs that are delivered via hard'n'smart fresh and exciting songwriting with a very special and 'uniquely' own tone done and carried out by nicely skilled musicians and that are marked by highly charismatic very hard vokillz, sawing and crushing guitars, stomping drumming, and a loud'n'proud around strutting bass, enriched by massive backings and a huge hymnal sing-a-long potential. Add to this outspoken lyrics, a drop dead gorgeous artwork, sympathic linernotes, and a heavy cracking production sound and you have GERBENOK's "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE", a damn strong album that I can only calmly and highly recommend to anyone into (German) Oi!, yes, and of course also add to this the second disc "A TRIBUTE TO PROBERAUM DEMO / LIVE IN ZEITZ" that features GERBENOK's old demo recordings as well as a pretty cool live recording of them from back in the days. "A TRIBUTE TO PROBERAUM DEMO / LIVE IN ZEITZ" is (at least so in my book) definitely not on par with "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" with getting very roughly 8 out of 10 points from me and "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" earning strong 9 out of 10 points so in my book but that makes all in all still definitely the complete package and the real deal with 8,5 out of 10 points in sum and, again, I can only calmly and highly recommend this package to you outta there and this even when back in the days GERBENOK weren't that much up high on your personal favorite list, like in my own case too, because they really developed massively since for example "WER ZULETZT LACHT" and so better make sure to check them out these days. Cheers & Oi! Oi! Oi!

(8,5 of 10 points)

https://www.musik-sammler.de/artist/gerbenok/ (-link to a discgraphy page of/for the band)

GERBENOK - "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" (2018, "WIE TOLLWÜTIGE HUNDE" & "A TRIBUTE TO PROBERAUM DEMO / LIVE IN ZEITZ")