The German metal legends Accept are back with their 17th studio album. If you remember, we loved their last one, so have been rather impatiently waiting for this one to be released since it was announced. The singles so far have been excellent, so I can’t wait to hear the full thing!
‘Diving Into Sin’ surprisingly opens slower than I expected, a fantastic clean, Egyptian-style guitar riff being the main focus. Even when the drums, bass and distortion comes in, it maintains that similar Iron Maiden Powerslave-era feel, which I love. Mark Torillo’s iconic vocals soon come in over the top as the pace quickens to more of the expected thrash styling. It’s utterly insane that, now pushing 70, Mark’s vocals are so fantastic and effortlessly powerful, really showing how well he looks after them. It all builds into an awesome chorus, both catchy and heavy in equal measure. The call-and-response style battle between Mark and the backing vocals, over the top of the awesome riffing, was exactly what I was expecting and hoping for with this album. And of course, we get a face-melting guitar solo tucked in the middle of this. The technical skill on display was awesome, and the cutting out part was really interesting! This is one hell of a way to open an album, and easily makes it onto our playlist immediately!
The album’s title track is up next, keeping things heavy in the same way and style the band are known for. The lyrics for this one are a tad on the nose, but the music behind them, and their delivery too, are all so good that it more than makes up for it. It’s a straight-forward modern NWOBHM track filled with everything you’d expect from the band; awesome riffs, huge choruses and blistering solos. And it’s another awesome song!
The same can be said for the likes of ‘Frankenstein’, ‘The Reckoning’ and closer ‘Southside of Hell’. All are fantastic songs, don’t get me wrong, giving off heavy Painkiller vibes as well as their typical output since their 2009 reunion. Heck, I loved the former that much that it’s another track that easily makes it onto our playlist! All three tracks are just rather similar, and also similar to the opening two tracks, and I simply don’t want to repeat myself over and over and make this review rather boring! As I said, all are great tracks that if you’re a fan of traditional metal you will certainly love!
Meanwhile, songs like ‘Man Up’, ‘Nobody Gets Out Alive’, ‘Straight Up Jack’ and ‘Unbreakable’ are all lighter, sounding more like their old-school 80s sound, closer to AC/DC or early Priest, like ‘Balls to the Wall’. Yet again, all are fantastic, foot-stomping tracks closer to rock than metal. I feel like I’m going to have the chorus of ‘Nobody…’ stuck in my head for days to come!
‘Ravages of Time’ is one of two slower songs on the album. It has a distinctly European, power/heavy metal feel to it immediately that I love. The clean guitars and simple drums fit together with Mark’s vocals just as well as the heavier stuff. The lyrics are pretty fantastic too, a bittersweet tale woven perfectly. The dynamics of the track are phenomenal too, going from stripped-back to the more distorted, massive chorus perfectly. And all of the guitar work is of course impeccable. I love this song, and I hate that it hits me far harder than it should. It’s another song that easily creeps onto our playlist!
The final track on the album is just as fantastic as all the others. ‘Mind Games’ feels like a perfect mid-ground between the 80s and 90s heavy metal sounds that the band straddle for most of the album. The main riff running through it is galloping awesomeness, and Mark’s vocals are just as on point as ever. And the backing vocals through the pre and chorus make it all so massively catchy and arena-filling. It’s another highlight track, for sure!
Overall: The more I listened to this, the more I loved this. After their last album I came into this with pretty high hopes, and while I at first felt a tad underwhelmed, by the end I was certainly feeling it. There really isn’t a bad song on the album, and I’d easily put a couple of them up there with some of the bands very best. Too Mean to Die was up there in our top 10 albums of 2021, and honestly looking back 8/10 then seemed a little harsh. I have to say I didn’t quite enjoy this as much as that last album, though that may change with subsequent listens. It’s a very good, overall more-solid release than the last one, so I’ll happily give it another…
The Score: 8/10