Approaching their fiftieth anniversary, Accept are without doubt one of the true veteran proponents of heavy metal. As dependable as a German car, the band prepare to release their seventeenth album. Humanoid is the sixth album to feature vocalist Mark Tornillo and the band have been on a fine run of form since his debut appearance on Blood of the Nations in 2010.
Humanoid opens with the turbo-charged Diving Into Sin. Bookended by a slower Middle Eastern tinged introduction and conclusion, it is a blazing and emphatic start to the album. Once the steadfast main riff arrives, the band dive fully into the classic heavy metal territory for which they are so well known. While there is often a Judas Priest-esque feel to the band, this is more to do with the common ground they inhabit than any need to mimic those other metal gods. Tornillo grabs the listener’s attention from the first words of the album, giving an exuberant and resounding performance. Rebelling against the system and some of the more cynical constraints of society, Tornillo delivers some of the most aggressive screams he has delivered on any album. You’re tired of conforming, the rules just tie you down / Cut loose and tear up this town / Flip off the normal, breaking from the chains / The routine just drives you insane. It is an arresting opening statement, as Tornillo attests. “I liked how the lyrics sounded and started spinning around in my head. In society, we‘re supposed to be respectful of each other and you can do this, but not do that and sometimes we don‘t want to live by the rules and just say Fuck it! I‘m not supposed to do it, but I‘m going to.” With a word of caution, Wolf Hoffman offers, “I‘m just reflecting on myself, but we all have that urge, from time to time (even if we don‘t act on it).”
Addressing a perceived stripping of our individuality through the rise of social media, AI and technology, the title track dwells on the potentially damaging impact of these developments and where they might eventually lead if left unchecked. “I‘m a little afraid that humanity gets lost and pushed aside in all this stuff,” says Wolf Hoffmann. “People are concerned that pretty soon, real artistry will become obsolete as technology is getting extremely good. The days have passed when you thought these things were coming in the future; they are already here. It’s a scary thought how the world will look in a few years.” Musically, the track unswervingly pounds with a penetrating fury. Shrewd use of dynamics and pace allow the different elements of the track to shine through: the steady but determined drums of the opening; the faster paced verse which sets up the narrative; and a slower thudding section, acting as a forewarning, redolent of a factory production line. We are indestructible, upgraded human beings / We are undeniable, the likes you’ve never seen.
Frankenstein is a new first-person take on the familiar story. There is a delicious malevolence in Tornillo’s vocals and a tenacious attitude in the mauling riffs. While Accept show just how powerful the band can still be, several slick guitar solos display the technical skills they also posses and throughout the track, Accept are clearly enjoying themselves enormously. I can feel the lightning, pulsing through these veins / Into the bolts that are secured within this brain / Struggling to consciousness, strapped down to this slab / I’m so confused I don’t know who the hell I am / But I’m alive, so alive, Break these chains …. Frankenstein. Man Up reduces the tempo somewhat, adds more than a dash of blues to proceedings and features some spirited, driving and vibrant bass from Martin Motnik, one of his best contributions on Humanoid. Well positioned on the album after the opening trio of tracks, it shows a different side to the band. Man up / Life is hard / Man up / Bite the bullet and wear the scars / Man up / You got to follow the spark / Man up / There’s only one way out of the dark.
The Reckoning returns us to stomping and crushing metal, featuring some of the heaviest moments on the album and an utterly blistering performance from Tornillo. Asked about the singer, guitarist and founding member, Wolf Hoffmann gushes, “He‘s been in the band for fourteen years and this is the sixth album in a row. We feel a lot of continuity there. It feels good, knowing he can sing anything we write.” Drawing on biblical references, Accept blast through a thunderous examination of the end of days. Horsemen ride into the night / Bringing chaos with fury and might / Sky turns black stars align / Rapture calls it’s the end of times / The heavens cry as darkness looms / Robbed injustice impending doom / Judgement strikes might revealed / Chaos unleashed your fate is sealed.
Much like the heartbeat of life, the repetitive but insanely addictive chorus of Nobody Gets Out Alive drives home the message through its insistent rhythm. Throughout the track, the indefatigable chugging groove from guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Uwe Lulis will have fans whipping out their air guitars and joining in with the band’s raw and honest exploration of mortality. Acknowledging the diversity of life experiences while uniting everyone under the common truth that life is transient, Accept have produced one the catchiest songs about death you are ever likely to hear - and enjoying the ride along the way. Well there’s good and there’s evil, all kinds of people / Runnin’ round with their heads up in the sky / There’s old and there’s lazy, young and fucking crazy / With one thing in common, no matter how hard they strive. A sister song of sorts to Nobody Gets Out Alive, the slow-paced lament Ravages of Time follows similar themes but focuses on seizing each moment after you realise you only live once. Wringing every ounce of pathos possible from both the music and the lyrics, it again draws attention to the wonderful track listing of Humanoid. Wonderfully balanced across its running time, the album effortlessly fluctuates between the band’s different styles.
As testament to their many years in the music business and their devoted fan base, Unbreakable, the most straight-ahead hard rock track on the album, is a glorious celebration of a band who never compromise and an audience that will stay with them to the end. Different lives and stories, together in one song / We raise hands and fists, high into the night / Voices in victory, reaching for the heights / Raging into the pit, with a tribal yell / We bend but never break, raising holy hell / We’re unbreakable / Together we’re unbreakable. Surely this song will be added to the setlist as it is perfect for the live arena and the possibilities for energetic crowd participation; there is even the sound of an appreciative audience midway through the track as Tornillo demands Let me hear you scream!
Mind Games has a different feel reminiscent of albums from the mid-1980s. “It has an earlier vibe,” Wolf concurs as he elaborates on the meaning behind the lyrics. “I think the best songs reflect on your own life, or someone else’s and you just tell the truth. I‘ve been thinking about dreams a lot lately. I never have these beautiful dreams. I have lots of fucked up dreams. They‘re either quirky and weird or they‘re downright nasty, where I have weird things going through my head. Sitting on an island, the sun is shining and it‘s all peaceful? I never have those kinds of dreams. I wish I did! Mind Games are certainly part of my life.” There is a certainly a more mysterious feel enveloping the track with the urgent riffing from Lulis and Hoffman warning of something unknown approaching. Twisted notions that make no sense / A dreamworld full of lies / Illusionary circumstance / Filled with endless surprise.
Accept fully embrace AC/DC style lyrics on penultimate track Straight Up Jack and although it is clearly the band having a little fun, it does not reach the heights of the rest of this extremely solid album and comes across a little throwaway. Rectifying this, Humanoid ends with the rampant five minutes of Southside of Hell, beginning with a march-like beat before blazing into a resoundingly muscular song encapsulating everything Accept does so well. The opening lines set a tone of foreboding and reference the classic notion that the path to damnation is well-travelled and steeped in history. There is road to perdition, and it’s paved with souls / Marked with age old traditions and lined with ancient scrolls / You know the quest for redemption , is an uphill climb / It’s a bone of contention, take one step at a time. With a blistering fervour, Southside of Hell closes the album in angst-ridden, magnificent style.
Over the last few albums, Accept have found a winning formula and they do not aim to alter that with Humanoid. A couple of the songs may not contain the most sophisticated lyrics you will hear this year but there is absolutely no denying they have added to their recent run of great albums. Returning producer Andy Sneap has once again made the band sound incredible. Moreover, the fact that they are producing material as solid as this almost five decades into their career will prove why they are just as important to the history of heavy metal as bands such as Saxon, Diamond Head or even the aforementioned Judas Priest. At this point in their career, the band are doing everything on their own terms and the album is all the better for it. Fans of the band will celebrate that Accept are still here, while those unfamiliar with them and looking for a great slab of heavy metal should acquire a copy of Humanoid as soon as possible.
Humanoid will be released on 26th April 2024 on Napalm Records. See below for information on their upcoming tour.
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