By Monk
There are bands from whom you know more or less exactly what to expect each and every time they release a new album. Iron Maiden with their epic lyrical thematics and galloping bass riffs. AC/DC with their basic four-four mid-paced rock ‘n’ roll bravura. Anvil with their tongue-in-cheek-to-cheek no-nonsense sense of fun. Rammstein with their OTT camp take on industrialism. And, of course, Accept, with their traditional balls to the wall (sic) fuck you if you don’t like it Teutonic cross between old school and thrash miens. So, why fuck the formula. Well, thankfully the now crossbred German-American titans do not do so with this, their 17th studio album in their almost 50-year long career, as while it addresses some very modern themes it remains the sort of traditional heavy metal opus we have come to expect and love from the band.
From the hedonistc headspin of opener ‘Dive Into Sin’ to the traditional fist in the air pumps of the title track and ‘No One Gets Out Alive’, the faux epic pomposity of the ‘Frankenstein’ (a brilliant insertion given the album’s overall thematic) to the typically gravelled delivery of the token ballad (‘Ravages Of Time’) to the ‘DC vibe of ‘Straight Up Jack’ and the trademark rousing finale that is ‘Southside Of Heaven’, this is Accept doing what Accept do best, and that is delivering high quality but no nonsense, unpretentious classic metal guaranteed to get your feet tapping, your neck snapping and your fingers shredding that faithful old air guitar you’ve left abandoned since… well… Accept last released an album \m/
There is one piece of irony about this album: despite lyrically addressing the dangers of the advances of AI, and how, to quote the band themselves, “our reliance on technology is gradually stripping away our individuality”, the artwork looks… well, suspiciously like its been artificially generated, not least in its thematic similarity to quite a few other albums I have had land in my inbox in recent weeks… or are the conspiracy theorists finally getting to me?
But this is a minor quibble and should not serve to detract from the fact that Accept have once again delivered exactly what we would expect of them, and that is a fuck-off solid heavy metal embedded in the traditions of the mien but still managing to sound fresh, relevant and vibrant. Once again, the old school can take some of the young pretenders to school and teach them more than a lesson or three in how to deliver the heavy metal goods \m/
‘Humanoid‘ is out now.
Accept play their only ÜK date as special guests to Skindred at the Steelhouse Festival on Saturday 27 July.