Catching Up: 2020 Pt. 9

ACCEPT: TOO MEAN TO DIE

I have developed a greater appreciation for Accept over the last several years.  I think they are a highly underrated band that was extremely important not just to the German metal scene, but the metal sound in general.  They should be considered a formative band.  The band is deep in their second life at this point since their return after a 15-year hiatus in 2010.  This is their fifth album since the return, and though Udo Dirkschneider has long since left the band, they still sound just as fresh and vital as they did when they returned.  The formula is mostly the same, but they are still capable of "Balls to the Wall"-style fist-pumping true metal anthems.   

CRYPT DWELLER: THE FORBIDDEN DARK ARTS

I remember being sort of underwhelmed by this release the first couple times I heard it.  This is one I bought because of the album art.  I am not sure what the issue was before because I really got into this when I was listening in preparation for this blurb.  The band this reminds me most of is Acid Witch.  It's death/doom with absolutely disgusting riffs and decayed and rotting vocals.  The horror vibes are loud and clear.  There are samples from various movies that add to the atmosphere.  The songs do tend to sound a little too much the same and it makes it kind of a difficult listen for nearly an hour, but this has grown on me.

CURSE: THE AWAKENING...AND THE OLD

I am a big fan of blackened thrash metal, and so of course I am going to grab something that I come across, especially one from Sweden, the country that brought us Nifelheim.  And that is definitely the starting point for comparison's sake.  This is a fairly short six-song EP.  The band is at its best when they are playing fast, most notably on the title track.  There are a couple of slower tracks which are not nearly as impressive.  I was hoping to hear something more from this band, this is a very promising EP, but they have yet to release anything else.

RUIN LUST: CHOIR OF BABEL

Ruin Lust is the sound of chaos.  The band does an excellent job of building up this atmosphere of complete and utter annihilation.  There is nothing pretty here between the rampaging riffs, thunderous drumming and sepulchral vocals.  These are not songs, they are anthems to violence.  This is not a release for the weak of heart.  It is not a particularly enjoyable listen, but it hits on a primal level.

MIDNIGHT: REBIRTH BY BLASPHEMY

After nearly 20 years toiling in the underground, Midnight managed to achieve attention by Metal Blade Records and Decibel Magazine.  This did not come at the expense of their sound thankfully.  Raised on an unhealthy diet of Venom and Motorhead, Midnight retained their fast as hell, blasphemic style.  And with song titles such as "Fucking Speed and Darkness" and "Devil's Excrement", their rise to the sort-of-big-time hasn't softened their edge either.  Longtime listeners (and I am one) know what to expect from a Midnight album and this absolutely delivers.  

Accept: Restless and Wild (1982)

Accept, to me, is a band that has not really gotten its due as an extremely important band in the history and evolution of metal.  They were possibly one of the first metal bands to truly touch on speed metal and are a major step from Judas Priest and the NWOBHM to Helloween and Blind Guardian.  In addition, Accept's first frontman Udo Dirkschneider should be more recognized for being such an important and influential singer.

This is Accept's fourth full-length album and is the jumping off point for most speed metal bands.  That is thanks to the title track and, of course, "Fast as a Shark".  Pay no attention to the rather ridiculous song title, this is a balls-to-the-wall (see what I did there?), rip-roaring track that spawned an entire subgenre.  There are some slower tracks on the album, such as "Neon Nights", but "Fast as a Shark" is the song that most remember from this release. 

The band is in terrific form throughout the album, crafting an absolutely perfect representation of what it meant to be a metal band in the early 1980's.  The riffs were heavy and loud, Udo's vocals were powerful, despite the fact that he is not close to what I would consider a GOOD singer.  His rough, gruff tone fit the music exceptionally well though.  Accept takes the sound that Judas Priest really perfected and runs with it.

Accept really should be more renowned than they are.  They were a very impressive early 1980's metal band that had a big impact on the speed metal genre.  Unfortunately Accept kind of gets the short end of the stick, not getting their proper mention along with groups like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.  This album should be a metal classic.

Accept: The Rise of Chaos (2017)

Despite the band's high status as German metal pioneers, I have never really gotten too much into Accept's material.  That is not to say that I do not like the band.  Quite the opposite.  I love "Balls to the Wall" and "Midnight Mover".  I also really like "Losing More than You've Ever Had".  But for some reason, I never picked up my first Accept album until 2010's Blood of the Nations, a monstrous return to form for the band.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that Udo Dirkschneider is no longer with the band, but after getting that album, which admittedly took some time to grow on me, I have finally started to really open up to the band.

That brings us to this year's The Rise of Chaos.  This one is very similar to the 2010 classic, but unfortunately slightly pales to it in most respects.  The songs are not quite as memorable.  The riffs are not quite as sharp.  The vocals are not quite as savage.  That is not to say that this is a bad album, far from it.  It is a terrific slab of traditional heavy metal, it just does not live up to one of the band's greatest albums.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all.

One of the biggest issues I have with the album is that some of the lyrics are a little bit laughable.  I doubt they are all to be taken seriously, but songs like "Hole in the Head" which repeats the refrain "I need you...like a hole in the head" is positively juvenile.  I was also not sure quite what to make of the title "Koolaid", until seeing the lyrics, after which I came to enjoy that track quite a bit.  I can though really identify with "Analog Man" as I also prefer the old ways of vinyl and cassettes to our current computer-driven society.

Despite some of my minor gripes, this is still a very strong album.  Several tracks like "Die by the Sword", the title cut, and "Worlds Colliding" stand up quite well to any of the band's prior classic songs.  This is a band that has been at it for over 40 years at this point (two original members remain), and yet, they still sound fresh and powerful.  That is damn impressive.  Accept really should be on the same pedestal as contemporaries like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

This is a terrific album that just does not quite live up to one of its predecessors.  Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as this album stands up quite well on its own.  One thing this album did do though, is convince me to go back and find their older releases.  I have a lot of catching up to do.   

Initial Impressions: Accept: Blood of the Nations

Okay I admit it.  I have never really gotten into Accept before.  I never really tried.  I recognize that they have been around for a very long time, dating back to the NWOBHM in fact.  But I never really checked them out.  I have heard "Balls to the Wall"  many, many times and in fact love that song.  But for some reason I just never really got around to picking up an album by them.  Then this album was voted Album of the Year on the Metal Maniacs website in 2010.  So I decided at some point I would start with this one.

Accept does not get the recognition they deserve.  A lot of that is probably geographical.  Accept came out of Germany with their first album in 1979.  This was at the height of the NWOBHM and Accept was left out in the cold even though they had a minor hit with the aforementioned "Balls to the Wall" and some well-received albums.  However, the band continued until a hiatus from 1996 to 2010, putting out some decent music in fact if the reviews on the Metal Archives are to be believed.  That is a longer shelf life than most of the NWOBHM bands enjoyed.

Musically, Accept sounds like a heavier version of Judas Priest.  They have traditional-sounding metal riffs, strong melodic sensibility, a liberal usage of guitar solos, and a strong and gritty vocal performance.  While diminutive frontman Udo Dirkschneider is no longer with the group, the new vocalist does a passable job at sounding like him.  This does still sound like the band that recorded "Balls to the Wall".  The band does not sound like they were coming off a 15 year hiatus.  This album sounds great.  Every song on here is terrific.

I will be looking into Accept's prior discography after hearing this.