Wolf Hoffmann has to make a living. The last time I paid any attention to Accept was when they were touring without Udo for "Eat the Heat". Accept was opening up for WASP, when I caught them. I thought it was weird then, but now with just Wolf as the band's sole original member, it is just business. Mark Tornillo does a fair enough job replacing Udo, he gets the right sound from his vocal chords, but his personality is a little bland. There was something darker and more deviant about Udo. This more vanilla element to his voice is heard in the second song. He sounds like any generic thrash singer in the vein of Overkill, who was taking inspiration from Accept in the first place.
"Frankenstein" still does not grab me after a second. I can appreciate the songwriting invested in "Man Up" even though lyrically the chorus is silly. "the Reckoning" works as generic middle-of-the-road 80s metal, and sounds like something from the new Judas Priest album. This us funny because that album got praised but brown nosing press, but this one will be ignored when they are of the same quality. "Nobody Gets Out Alive" sounds like it should be on the next Motley Crue album. "the Ravages of Time" is a fitting power ball with a hint of melancholy to it, this is true to who the band is. When they try to reach back into the past with "Unbreakable' it feels similar to the last Judas Priest album where it feels like they just asked AI to write an Accept album. Totally dialed in with little fire to it.
The big chorus to "Mind Games" feels more authentic, despite being stuck in 80s tropes. 'Straight Up Jack" is a drinking song, for a generation that has already been to rehab, which makes it feel more like an AC/DC song. "Hava Drink on Me" if we are going to get specific. "Southside of Hell" is more metallic, but not that much more inspired. I will give this album an 8.5, which is what the latest Priest album got, it's fitting since its top-tier talent dialing it in, is better than mid-level talent dialing it in. Just dropped on Napalm Records.
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