ACCEPT - BLOOD OF THE NATIONS

Blood of the Nations

Nuclear Blast Records - 2010

http://www.acceptworldwide.com

Here's a reunion of sorts that I don't think anyone really thought would come about.

After years of being broken up, the band got back together with original singer Udo Dirkschneider for a tour but when it came about that the other members wanted to do a new album, Udo had no interest.

Enter new singer (their third, the other was David Reece) Mark Tornillo and now they have really set themselves a path back to the hearts of metal fans.

Packaging: The high glossy cd case and booklet indicate a real effort to give a high class backing to the new album. The standard song lyrics and photos of the band members are included. I did like the thematic approach of the identifying dog tags for the members though. Also included are two stories. One how the band came to be as it is now constituted and the other one is about the songwriting for the band in the past and now. I was really pleased with how the packaging turned out.

The Music:

If you were worried that Accept was going to hire some high powered smooth as silk voice, let me allay your fears. While Mark Tornillo isn't nearly as gravelly voiced as Udo, he holds his own quite nicely in the whiskey and razorblades throaty vocals.

To be honest I had never heard of him before but this guy just kicked my butt.

Producer Andy Sneap crafted the band's sound to maximum effect. One of the stories in the CD booklet gives an insight how he helped the band to focus on writing all killer no filler songs.

The anthemic nature of Accept's past is alive and well on Blood of the Nations. The high gear is hit from the opening track "Beat The Bastards". The band's first "single" "Teutonic Terror" is a bit slower in tempo as track number 2 but no less heavy. (It also turned out a pretty decent performance video).

"The Abyss" was a pretty solid rocker but I did think when the song dropped into a slower delivery, it kind of stalled the song. The title track was utterly fantastic. The big backing vocal on the chorus was a plus.

"Shades of Death" was decent and "Locked and Loaded" was a total speeding down the highway kind of rocker.

"Time Machine" has a sly sneaky feel to it, the main lyrical verses start off with a free and easy delivery and then as it moves towards the bridge and chorus it gets heavier and a bit of that vicious metal growl works its way in.

I have to say that guitarists Wolf Hoffman and Herman Frank seems to be having a rollicking good time on this disc. The guitar work is solid (no surprise) and spectacular (again no surprise). Hoffman's got the flash of a guitar hero but the chops of the seasoned veteran who knows how to craft the power riffs necessary to capture the listener's ear.

"Kill The Pain" was the band's "ballad" track and while I am not opposed to ballads or slower softer type of songs, I do have a higher standard for them. I want them to be GREAT not just good. Unfortunately for me, I just did not get into or connect with this track at all.

The band kicked back into speedy rock and roll with "Rolling Thunder" and Tornillo blasted through the lyrics while the band kept the beat and pace musically. You can say the same for the succeeding track "Pandemic".

"New World Comin" was a solid track, I liked the guitar work mostly on this one. It was more of a mid tempo track but with that muscular backing sound that keeps the song from falling into schlock.

"No Shelter" was another uptempo rocker I found to be good.

The bonus track "Bucketful of Hate" stars off with an intro that reminds one of a sing-along nursery rhyme and then the power chords kick in to blow that image from your mind. And what a killer song they chose to end the CD on. It just tears at your throat and doesn't let you go until the final notes.

When a band gets back together it is always a bit worrisome. Will they be able to put out something worthy to their glory days or will it be an exercise in futility that makes you question why you ever liked the band in the first place.

I'm happy to say that Accept has hit it out of the park. They got a superb replacement for Udo Dirkschneider and came up with an album that taken as a whole stands up fine alongside Metal Heart and Balls to the Wall.

For me the only misstep is the ballad "Kill The Pain". Otherwise, call this a 9 1/2 out of 10, 4 1/2 stars out of 5, or Grade: A

This is what we as music lovers should expect from musical heroes of our past coming back for another run at the brass ring!

Favorite tracks: Beat the Bastards, Blood of the Nations, Time Machine, Pandemic, Bucketful of Hate.

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Permalink Reply by TageRyche on April 23, 2011 at 11:05am

I'm not sure if he sent them the link or just copy and pasted the review but I got an email from the tour publicist asking for the link to the review which I sent to her. So she definitely got the link to here.