ACCEPT CD Review

ACCEPT – Humanoid

Label: Napalm Records

Popular Score

They are an institution within heavy metal. What’s more, I would dare to say that one cannot consider themselves heavy if they are not a follower of the legendary German band. For many they were the precursors of speed metal and thrash with riffs as wild, overwhelming and incendiary as those of “Fast As A Shark”. So I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that we are talking about one of the essential names in the history of our music, at the level of heavyweights like JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON, SCORPIONS… Obviously, its glorious past can never be surpassed, but it It is true that since the American vocalist Mark Tornillo He joined the band in 2009. The Germans seem to be experiencing a second, or third, youth. However, not everything was going to be praise when it came to talking about the present of the formation of Solingensince after the departure of one of its fundamental pieces: the bassist Peter Baltes in 2018, to end up joining forces with the legendary Udo Dirkschneiderthe formation was under the direction of the tireless guitarist Wolf Hoffmann for his previous “Too Mean To Die”. If we leave aside his production with the charismatic udo in front, and the album they recorded with the American vocalist David Reece at the end of the 80s, this “Humanoid” is the sixth work of the era Screwand its seventeenth studio installment.

As has been customary in their latest releases, -specifically since they began recording with Mark Tornillo-, the band has once again placed the famous producer, -and current live guitarist for JUDAS PRIEST- behind the controls, Andy Sneap, from their Backstage Recording Studios Ltd., in Derbyshire, United Kingdom, so we could say that in terms of sound we are faced with an absolutely continuous album, which continues to influence the “Sneap formula” of how a heavy work should sound. traditional metal in the 21st century. Where we do find changes is in the record label that publishes the new work of the Germans, since after a long and successful career with the almighty Nuclear Blast, the band has decided to change scene and has signed for the independent Austrian Napalm Records.

A suggestive melody of oriental aromas will be the one that marks the opening bars of “Diving Into Sin”, which is responsible for starting the album at a mid-tempo rhythm, emphasizing one of the qualities that has marked the personality of the German group throughout of his extensive career: his commitment to rhythmic themes, in which the riffs are responsible for driving the cut together with the aggressive vocal lines of a Tornillo, – through which it seems that time does not pass -, the voracity of a catchy chorus that stays spinning in your head along with the grip that the tandem guitars print Hoffmann/Lulis to confirm that little has changed in the band’s conception for this new work. Although looking at the artwork he has created Gyula Havancsák and the title of the album, “Humanoid”, we might think that we are facing a concept album, the truth is that this is not the case. However, there are several issues in which ACCEPT They address their concern about how technology is imposing itself and controlling us little by little and in a way that seems irreversible. And without a doubt one of those that best captures this concern is the homonymous theme itself that begins with the quintet giving a good account of its most ruthless side, showing itself completely unleashed, to later delve into more melodic developments creating a dynamism that will become recurrent. throughout its four and a half minutes duration, and where once again the band will once again leave us another memorable chorus, -one of those that will surely be chanted loudly in their downloads by their faithful fans-, before the guitars end. leaving his calling card in a solo exercise full of melody and good taste.

Although “Humanoid” retains all the elements one might expect on a ACCEPT, I have the impression that the new compositions of the German combo have a more melodic nuance. But be careful, with this I don’t mean that we are facing a decaffeinated album, far from it, but perhaps the riffs are not as hurtful and relentless as in some of their previous releases. However, that does not mean that songs like “Frankenstein” do not have that indescribable metal claw that will be enhanced to its maximum expression by a Tornillo that twists his vocal cords when the song requires it, by a trademark chorus,- in which the choirs will once again have their important share of prominence -, and, of course, for those solo parts that make the song reach a notable height. I don’t think anyone can argue with them. ACCEPT which are one of the essential pillars of heavy metal in the Old Continent. But that does not mean that we all know that the band also has several very close ties with AC/DC, and that is something that can also be felt in this “Humanoid”, since “Man Up”, has a rock, badass and even quarrelsome, based on a linear structure and the grip of a highly addictive chorus, which encourages you to raise your glass and sing it along with the band.

Something darker, and much more attached to the canons of the rawest and most traditional heavy metal, sounds “The Reckoning”, which will again be solidly supported by the rhythm section made up of the American drummer. Christopher Williams and the bassist Martin Motnik, to let the guitars be the ones that give dynamism to the cut with their changes of speed while Tornillo emphasizes his frenetic final sprint with some apocalyptic screams. The most clearly hard rock phlegm will come from the hands of the funky “Nobody Gets Out Alive”, which with a very eighties vibe, and indebted to its time of greatest splendor, will be responsible for leaving us another chorus that will surely have a good following in your live downloads.

Although I wouldn’t call it a typical ballad, the truth is that “Ravages Of Time” will be the one chosen to give us a few moments of respite, although the strength and punch with which Tornillo interprets some of his verses, and the sharpness his solo guitar sounds, they will make the song gain in punch and intensity to the point of becoming a vibrant uptempo. The agile, incisive and dynamic guitars will soon prevail to star in the dazzling entrance of “Unbreakable”, a cut that substantially does not provide anything new or novel; but it has plenty of punch and punch, thanks largely to the punch that the choruses provide. Definitely Hoffmann and his boys wanted to bet on a winning horse, and boy did they succeed, since they have produced another piece that exudes heavy metal in its purest form, and also with those nods to classical music in his excellent solo development .

Another one that deliberately seeks to establish a bridge with its most classic material is “Mind Games”, once again betting on a very marked dynamic, with a drum set that inexorably sets the pace to let the compact choruses of the chorus be the ones. are in charge of creating that anthemic atmosphere that the Germans have known how to create so well, and that they have left us with pieces like the legendary “Metal Heart” for the history of heavy metal. Although in this new work of ACCEPT All the compositions are concise and direct, -none exceeds five minutes in length-, it is worth noting that the shortest is “Straight Up Jack”, just over three minutes in which the quintet once again captures that hard & heavy impregnated with eighties essences, giving a good account of a riff theme, without many frills, and in which the choruses/choruses in the purest AC/DC style will once again be felt strongly. But obviously we are talking about an album of ACCEPT so to close the album the most virtuosic and technical developments of “Southside Of Hell” could not be missing, which will accelerate until it becomes a time bomb commanded by a bombarding rhythm section and some fierce and fierce riffs that will serve to complete one of the best numbers on the album, and to leave us with an excellent taste in our mouths.

I don’t think that at this point in the film anyone will expect an abrupt change of rudder in the German ship commanded with an iron fist by the incombustible Wolf Hoffmann. ACCEPT They have been raising the banner of heavy metal for decades, and this new “Humanoid” is nothing more than another notch on their belt. And based on what we’ve heard, let’s hope it’s not the last. Hard heavy metal, authentic, genuine…, and without palliatives, that is what they offer us ACCEPT in this new installment of study. Although I think it should be noted that on this occasion they have opted more for immediacy, for concise themes, which enter the first listen, giving scope to several pieces in which the hardest rock choruses and choruses dominate. Be that as it may, that does not in any way cloud the value of their new compositions, nor the quality and dedication of a band that seems determined to continue expanding its legend while presenting its firm candidacy to become immortal, walking with a firm step towards the middle. century of existence.

Alfonso Diaz

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