Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Accept
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release: 2014
Running time: 58:39
Rating: 4.5/5
The veterans of classically tuned (Teutonic) heavy metal aren’t letting up on the message. Albums keep coming every two years, or a bit over two. »Blind Rage« is already the third in a row made on that kind of schedule. Accept still feel right at home at Nuclear Blast Records and under the producer’s baton of Andy Sneap, and, crucially, they’re sticking with an unchanged lineup. We’ve ticked off the key elements of Accept’s musical vision these days, so there’s not a moment’s doubt that »Blind Rage« strays stylistically from the character of its two predecessors, »Stalingrad« (2012) and »Blood of the Nations« (2010). Accept wield the magic wand of crafting noble (primordial) aesthetics out of pure-blooded metal phrases with practiced hands, and in their case that’s nothing other than a cranked-up, skull-crushing rock n’ roll »stampede«, fronted by the screechy, throaty vocals of the by-now thoroughly embedded Mark Tornillo, who once again proves that Udo Dirkschneider really isn’t missed in the studio (his closing »scream« in Blodbath Mastermind will blow the top of your skull clean off).
Blind Rage opens in the frenzy of an extremely agitated bull, whose face, going by the cover art, with a little imagination looks like Udo after a long spell without a razor. That’s imagination talking, of course, and the band would surely answer such hints by saying it’s pure coincidence and nothing more.
Accept keep their lyrics socially critical, with a peace-loving message, and warnings about ecological catastrophes remain a constant. All that capital needs, in the delusion of its creator called »humankind«, is to self-destruct and self-generate. For how much longer? History just never teaches us anything. In the opening of the new album the band bet everything on unforeseen aggression and the desire to squeeze the maximum out of the feeling of blind rage. The opening Stampede carries the typical rock ‘n’ roll elementalism in the guitar phrasing, but with a shade more semitone prosthetics, which isn’t exactly usual for Accept, and Tornillo deliberately delivers the verses clipped, with the melody pared down to a minimum. Chords and notes are boiled down to the bone in the track, and everything is subordinated to the creation of a devastatingly raging blindness. The song does have one of the essential trademark Accept traits, though: those shouts of manly vocals stacked in harmonies, which hit like booming gang shouts as they join Tornillo’s basic chorus lines. So the Accept constant from day zero onward is present on this album too, not only in the opener Stampede but pretty much everywhere. The excellent mid-tempo Dying Breed puts things right back in their usual place straight after Stampede. The track evokes compositional parallels with Teutonic Terror from the album »Blood of the Nations« and, in its bombastic payoff (that is, in the degree of musicality captured), it’s an excellent leveler after the aggressive opener. Taken as a whole, the album leaves you with the sense that it’s a more varied and dynamic studio effort than its predecessor »Stalingrad«. That goes for the main guitar phrases, which string together greater variety between songs, and for the even more dedicated detailing of the songs, with guitar ornaments in the transitions and in the spiced-up figures of the »middle eight« passages. Further into the album there are quite a few moments that link the new times with the shine of the classic musical tricks and habits of the old Accept school. One example is the rock ‘n’ roller Wanna Be Free, which will fire up especially well live if the band decides to put it in the set list, and which in its similarity joins Dark Side of My Heart in the first part of the album. Both songs have grabby choruses. Then there are songs with bigger melodic and atmospherically pompous payoffs and typical theatrical drama effects, like From the Ashes We Rise, as well as Fall of the Empire and the closing stretch of the album with the »deepened« mini epic suite The Curse and the excellent closer Final Journey. Next up (in its lead phrases) is the classically built 200 Years, which draws the best from Accept’s »numismatics« of the golden eighties, and then the utterly dramatic and apocalyptic Bloodbath Mastermind. In short, when you walk through the songs of the new album, you realize that the two-year gaps between the last three albums, which could have risked exposing a lack of ideas or creative barrenness, are by no means necessarily harmful. The musical ID card of »Blind Rage« firmly objects to that.
Evidently the energy, or chemistry, among today’s Accept crew is the factor that lifts the band’s musical gospel above any worry about sliding into worn-out repetition because of releasing albums too fast. Accept are too experienced for that, and in their golden years they’re also in outstanding live form, since they pretty much tour the planet nonstop. A limited-edition, content-expanded version of this album includes a bonus live DVD (or Blu-ray) with a complete concert by the band from April 12, 2013, in the Chilean capital Santiago De Chile. Herman Frank has meanwhile fired up his Victory again, which only adds to the good fitness of these otherwise seasoned veterans of German metal. Many »old nags« hold up quite a bit worse in their years when it comes to ideas. Not to mention those Accept once drew great inspiration from (right, Metallica?). An extremely good indicator of great experience and a polished feel for building perfect compositions that optimally combine melody and punch, though, are the cleverly designed »middle eight« passages, where Accept often completely change the arrangement of the chords, creating an unexpected turn in mood and building up the dynamic course of events on the album! And it’s precisely in the »middle eight« passages that Hoffmann and Frank show off the great virtues of their hand skills with a weave of outstanding guitar solos, by which this duo is instantly recognized. Of course Hoffmann is once again the band’s lead soloist, though Frank is no worse a guitarist, as his role in Victory proves, where he handles the lead solos on all the band’s songs.
On the album »Blind Rage« everything stands exactly as it should. In line with the band’s tradition. They don’t let up on modern production or on the inspiration of metal veterans, and so they keep their artistic bloom in full swing. Even in the band’s golden years. An album that takes no prisoners in its malevolent, devastating swing of aggression is a new manna from heaven for the ears of all Accept fans and one more textbook example of how to reach maximum expressive payoff in a metal composition through a tightly condensed approach of stringing together short, simple tricks. Classically built heavy metal. Typical »Germanness«. Accept once again deliver the best they know and can do. And that’s the point. »Blind Rage« is an excellent new album, and you’ll happily fill your collection with it, adding to the rich and immortal discography of the one and only Accept.
Lineup
Mark Tornillo – vocals
Wolf Hoffmann – guitar
Herman Frank – guitar
Peter Baltes – bass
Stefan Schwarzmann – drums
Production
Andy Sneap
Track list
01. Stampede
02. Dying Breed
03. Dark Side Of My Heart
04. Fall Of The Empire
05. Trail Of Tears
06. Wanna Be Free
07. 200 Years
08. Bloodbath Mastermind
09. From The Ashes We Rise
10. The Curse
11. Final Journey
