By DJ Monk
The history of heavy metal is littered with collaborations, of various degrees of success, between bands and orchestras, from Deep Purple’s groundbreaking ‘Concerto…’ through Metallica’s flawed but iconic ‘S&M’ to abominations such as Kiss’ trip to Melbourne and more recent successes such as the highly impressive Royal Albert Hall performances by Alter Bridge and Heart. By and large, most of these collaborations have seen the bands concerned performing a “greatest hits” set, featuring their biggest pops re-imagined for a new setting. So, what makes this latest offering from legendary German frontman Udo Dirkschneider stand out from the crowd? Well, a few things…
First of all, it is an album of totally new material – and it’s a concept album to boot! Plus, the Musikkorps der Bundeswehr is not an orchestra per se, but actually a “concert band” featuring the finest musicians in the German armed forces, under the tutelage of renowned international conductor and composer Lieutenant Colonel Christoph Scheibling, who collaborated with not only Dirkschneider but also his former Accept bandmates Stefan Kaufmann and Peter Baltes on producing the 15 songs. It’s also not the first time that this particular project has emerged into the spotlight, as the roots of this collaboration between the two bands, U.D.O and the Musikkorps der Bundeswehr, are grounded in a show-stopping performance at the mighty Wacken festival back in 2015.
Despite all of its extraneous elements, such as saxophone solos and feckin’ bagpipes, at its heart ‘We Are One’ is a fucking amazing heavy metal album. I would add “pure and simple”, but those would be anomalies as, by its very nature, it is not pure heavy metal – it’s got a feckin’ orchestra on it, for Odin’s sake – and neither is it simple. But, in a weird way, that descriptive also applies, as it is an album that contains all of the characteristics you would expect from a good, if not great, metal opus: it has fist-pumping anthems with big, bombastic choruses, massive melodies, ravaging riffs, shredding solos and the innate ability to get your heading nodding vigorously, your New Rocks vibrating against the floor, your devil horns raised high and a grin the size of BoJo’s ego on yer gob!
‘We Are One’ also redefines the entire power metal genre, taking it to the next level in terms of the fulfilment of its ambition: I mean, if you’re going to do things properly and full-blooded, then do them PROPERLY and FULL-BLOODED. And don’t take any prisoners. That is exactly what Herr Dirkschneider has done here: he’s done it properly, he’s done it full-blooded and he certainly hasn’t taken any prisoners.
This is heavy metal for the 21st Century. It defines and redefines. It’s bold. It’s ambitious. It’s HUGE. It’s brilliant.
- ‘We Are One’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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