Accept – Blood of the Nation (2010)
Blood of the Nations is twelfth studio album of Accept, released in 2010, after a fourteen-year break (the previous studio album was released in 1996). It is the band’s first album with Mark Tornillo as a vocalist. In addition, guitarist Herman Frank plays on the album for the first time after the studio album Balls to the Wall was released. That’s why the release of Blood of the Nations was not so long-awaited as it was mysterious: it was difficult to guess how the band will be sounded with Frank and Tornillo, after 14 years of almost complete silence, and even without Udo. There were certain changes in the style of the band (first of all, in the vocals), but the unity of the sound has been preserved, and the founders of “teutonic metal” are easily recognized. The is an influence of the albums released by the band in the 90s: sound includes elements of speed metal and thrash. The material is performed rather good. The album begins with “Beat the Bastards”. Real heavy metal should sound this way!
It is one of the most expected albums of the decade! Even despite the reproaches against Hoffmann and Baltes that they have defiled the honor of the band, having a new vocalist, who replaced Udo, skeptics can not deny the fact that the album was successful. Only the fact that the album debuted at number four on the German charts, says a lot. Mark did a good jobt, he is not Udo, and he does not have to be like him, no one is going to mimic anybody, Mark sings in his own style, and he does it good, by the way. The voice of Mark is very pleasant, the ballad “Kill the Pain” is the gem of the album, it is stunningly beautiful and soulful. Excellent solo by maestro complements it. The album is quite energetic, it is a true heavy metal. Here you can find gloomy songs, such as the “Shades of Death”, “The Abyss”, and very fast, powerful songs, such as “Locked and Loaded”, “Beat the Bastards”. All the the solos are magnificent, because it’s Hoffman! I would like to note the song “Pandemic” – it is an old-school heavy metal song with perfect solo that can be ranked as one of the best solo of Wolff, the song is catchy particularly thanks to him. And the chorus is very catchy too. And it is difficult to find weak song in this album. Oddly enough, the best track of the new album was the bonus track “Time Machine”. It is the best because of Tornillo’s vocals, and three powerful vocal lines, ranging from almost blues to catchy chorus, are accompanied by excellent riffs. Not everything on the album is so good as it was with Udo, but this is certainly a very worthy and original page in the history of the great band. I recommend this album to all fans of hard rock. Good mood is guaranteed!