If you’re compiling a list of grave injustices in the world of metal, put Panzerchrist not being one of the most revered death metal bands on the planet right at the top of your list. This Danish group’s last record, Soul Collector (review in Maelstrom), was one of 2000's best – rumbling and armored and oh, so great.

The new Panzerchrist is called Room Service. A very strange choice for a band whose last record was all about tanks and sung in German. There isn’t much insight into this aside from the minute and a quarter title track, a real blaster, that features vocalist Bo Summer exclaiming "room service!" the same way other bands would scream "blasphemy!" before the blast beats kick in and end the world. So it seems pretty arbitrary, like Summer could just as well be growling "ham sandwich!"

But Panzerchrist is still very much about the tanks. Room Service is a bit less hulking than the last record, as the Panzerchrist armored division has gotten a slicker, speedier upgrade. The production is bigger and fatter and more impossible than ever. Likewise, the songs are more aggressive, with drummer Reno Killerich’s much advertised skills on display. The label has been pushing the story of Killerich being named "world’s fastest drummer" after winning some absurd drum competition in which he double kicked the bass drums 800 times in a minute. Sounds like the NBA Slam Dunk competition. The dudes can slam like gods, but the most famous players don’t take part.

Listening to Killerich’s drumming on this record has you shaking your head in disbelief, as much because of how amazing the drums are played and how they’re produced, but also because of how you really can’t help but wonder if they’re REALLY being played that way.

But regardless of the truth behind the producer’s curtain, the fact remains that Killerich’s style is tailor made to this band’s aims. The percussive element plays up the image of the inside machinations of a hulking machine of war as it rumbles over a hill, empty bullet and shell casings falling by the wayside.

The new Panzerchrist is undoubtedly an improvement over the previous record in every way. The sound, the energy. But there’s an undeniable charm that Soul Collector still has over the new record. For one, the lyrics are no longer in German, and Bo Summer’s unmistakable beer- and phlegm- drenched vocals are a bit drier. The guitar leads aren’t quite as remarkable as before, but that’s more a matter of taste than anything. And even though it is slower and less refined in comparison, Soul Colector manages to play up the tank, in all its fascinating coarseness, better than that album’s successor. You come to expect Panzerchrist to be the musical tank, so much so that when track seven, a cover of Metal Church’s "Metal Church" rolls around, it sounds kind of out of place.

But Panzerchrist is gelling as a steady unit. Unlike on Soul Collector, the Danish five piece are in fact that. No more bass and vocal duties broken up between tracks, or guest musicians providing solos. Room Service showcases an excellent band rumbling on all cylinders, and as before, is an album that metal buffs cannot be without. (9.5/10)