By: William Clark
Accept has proven, once again, that the only way they can go is up. After a 14-year hiatus, Accept emerged from their metal hibernation in 2010, boasting a new powerhouse lead singer, Mark Tornillo, as well as their most successful and arguably strongest album yet, Blood of the Nations.
The new album would quickly prove to be a major milestone for Accept, as it showed that even after 42 years of dominating the metal music world the members of Accept could still channel that signature, enormous amount of power and energy into their music that originally swept fans away.
Maybe it was the overwhelmingly positive response that Blood of the Nations received, or just the amount of joy that went along with returning to the studio and making a terrific record, but Accept soon felt pressured to deliver another frequently thrilling album. The product of this pressure is Stalingrad.
Stalingrad shows Accept picking up immediately where they left off with Blood of the Nations. Those heavy guitar flourishes and high pitched primal screams, that both make Accept’s music instantly recognizable, take turns showing off throughout Stalingrad, while military-esque backup vocals attribute to the sinister sound you’ll find drenched throughout the entire album.
Stalingrad is packed to the brim with instant classics, with tracks such as “Hung, Drawn and Quartered” and “Against The World”, that I expect to be staples of their live performances.
Lead vocalist, Mark Tornillo, gives a terrific vocal performance on Stalingrad, and helps make the loss of original lead vocalist, Udo Dirkschneider, vaporous.
While there are many similarities and comparisons between the two singers, Mark quickly stands out by asserting higher levels of personality, passion, and power into his vocals, and proves that he is his own singer in Accept, and not just some Udo sound-alike.
Overall, Stalingrad is a worthy and successful follow-up to Blood of the Nations, which showcases the finest qualities of all five band members.
The entire album is an overwhelming metal attack for the eardrums. Still, there are stand out tracks, like “Against The World”, “Shadow Soldiers”, and the title track.
Stalingrad is filled to the brim with great material, attitude, and talent. In my opinion, no metal album collection is complete without the inclusion of this new Accept outing.
