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German Heavy metal legends ACCEPT are no strangers to the metal scene, having formed way back in 1968 by Michael Wagener and Udo Dirkschnieder under the experimental “Band X,” and later becoming Accept. They released their first self titled album in 1979 (the long wait was due to band members being called into German Military and then later a lot of band member changes), and then a further 10 full length albums were released between 1980 and 1996. Unfortunately in 1996 the band called it a day, regrouping in the summer of 2009 with new singer Mark and what came after was a shock to the band. They signed with top label Nuclear Blast, their video for Teutonic Terror reached number one in the MySpace Video charts and headlined a day at Sonisphere in Istanbul and Bucharest (Metallica and Rammstein were the other two headliners). Now with their 12th album release ‘Blood of the Nations’ we can see just how well the new vocalist is getting on in his new role and whether they are still firmly on the ball or are just another has been.
There’s some strong and heavy riffs straight away with the first track ‘Beat The Bastards’ the dirty but frankly awesome vocals of the brand spanking new member (he joined in 2009 to be exact) Mark Tornillo. This track is sure to make you chant “Beat the Bastards Down” with your fist punching high in the air! ‘Teutonic Terror’ got my head swaying from side to side, catchy indeed, reminding me a lot of Judas Priest. It’s amazing to hear vocalists like this with their uber high “let’s pull on our balls” notes.
The album title track ‘Blood of the Nations’ again blows me away at just how talented this vocalist is and the group vocals with the chorus lines sounding almost Viking-ish. A slower track yet not failing to deliver some quality metal fuelled riffs and bass lines.
Most of the tracks on the album I loved, but a few more that are in need of a mention are; ‘Shades of Death’ due to its epic and quite spooky sounding intro with the acoustic guitar and eerie sounds in the background. 50 seconds in some big crunchy riffs slap you in the face. The lyrics seem fitting too; “Cursed… there’s a curse on the ground…Terror’s drawing near, a dark force all around… out on the streets of fear”. The slowest and quite moving track ‘Kill the Pain’ starts with some atmospheric keyboards and a relaxing guitar. The lyrics telling a tale of loneliness that you can almost hear in his voice. The solo is nothing short of astounding and lasting most of the second half of the track, its genius, I’m not complaining. Last but not least was ‘Bucketful of Hate’ I was impressed with starting with the intro to what sounds like a jack in a box melody, then straight in with some 80s thrash riffs and some wicked pinch harmonics.
Well... I certainly wasn’t expecting that! Every track is a pure gem and the new vocalist just blew me away with his abilities. The guitar solos are full of passion and the drumming heavy. The group vocals were an adding bonus to this already perfect album. Accept.... definitely NOT has-beens!!
http://www.myspace.com/accepttheband
