TageRyche
Senior Member
Accept
Humanoid
Napalm Records - 2024
With the immediate intro for the song "Diving into Sin" providing a cinematic vibe, the Accept album Humanoid gets off to quite the dramatic start.
After that opening, the more forceful metallic pacing kicks in and gives both the song and the listener a real shot of adrenaline.
But that's not really saying anything new when it comes to Accept, now is it? Though this is band's first album under the Napalm Records banner, it is their 17th studio album overall. The lineup features original guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, the now long-time vocalist Mark Tornillo alongside guitarist Uwe Lulis, bassist Martin Motnik and drummer Christopher Williams. They know what they are doing, to say the least.
The album's title track puts forth a story about a robot, which gives the song a science fiction type bent. It has the requisite attitude you might expect to find, though when I first listened to the track, I'll admit it took me a bit longer to really appreciate it.
Of course, I liked the juxtaposition Accept provides with the next song in the running order. To go from a science fiction type of song and then go all the way back to the classic horror monster vibe with "Frankenstein", that's pretty impressive that they could pull off both songs and make them well worth listening to. This track is pretty fast moving number and the way Tornillo's vocals give life to the lyrics (odd choice of words I know, given the song's subject matter) in an interesting way.
The more anthemic side of Accept's songwriting comes to the forefront on the track "Man Up". It features more of a mid-to-uptempo style with Tornillo exhorting "you" to deal with life head on even against the toughest of times. With the song title serving its purpose in the chorus, you've got an instant crowd participation song if you hear this one in a live show. Add in a pretty cool guitar solo and I know I was loving this song from the start.
The faster pacing of Accept returns on "The Reckoning". It's a bolt of lighting from start to finish and the guitar playing throughout the song only adds fuel to that fire.
I loved the chorus for "Nobody Gets Out Alive" for its rhythmic vibe but the lyrics from Tornillo are absolutely incredible throughout the song. The chorus makes it seem like the song could be another anthem track but I love the way the song confronts that regardless of what you do, or who you become...there's only one final destination...for everyone. Maybe that's a tad nihilistic, but I love the way the lyrics were infused and powered by the music so that the words didn't feel like they might drive you into a depression or something.
There's a slower, more deliberate delivery for the vocals (and the music) during the main lyrical passages of "Ravages of Time". Not exactly a ballad, but the slower style lets you catch your breath for a minute. Of course, when the song hits each chorus break, the music kicks up a fuss with a more in-your-face style. And the vocals get more pronounced as well.
There's a race day feel to the pacing of "Unbreakable", which makes sense the lyrics do actually reference racing in the first lyrical passage but this particular anthemic rocker is actually more of a reference towards the band itself staying strong against every challenge. One lyric does seem like it is more geared towards metal fandom itself but for the most part, this is Accept's version of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" for lack of a better description. It's a pretty damn cool song.
Kicking your butt right from the start, the song "Mind Games" delivers a powerful blast of metal. Effectively hard and fast, the song has a great sense of melody threaded within those power chords and I like how everything came together as a great complete song. This is probably one of the best songs on the album.
While I'm not a drinker, I do tend to enjoy a well written ode to alcohol and "Straight Up Jack" certainly fits the bill in that regard. I caught a brief line from a review on a website that said the track pretty much owes everything to AC/DC and as I listened to the song myself, it's not a bad comparison. A hard rocking number that gets into your blood and you almost feel compelled to pump your fists in the air as the chorus rattles around in your head.
The album officially closes out with the song "Southside of Hell" but there is apparently a bonus track called "Hard Times" on the album. I'm not sure which version of the album has that song on it but I know it wasn't the one I got.
Still, going back to "Southside of Hell", the song opens with an extended musical intro. It's got a lively step to it but when the track fully engages, the pacing increases that much more and you've got a pedal to the floor delivery rocking your socks off. I found that I dug the song's chorus a lot as well.
On the first listen to the album, the first two songs needed an extra listen from me to really get sucked into the whole album experience. That said, with Humanoid, Accept has continued their streak of thrilling their worldwide fanbase with a fiercely entertaining metal record that definitely stands up as some of the band's best work!
Humanoid
Napalm Records - 2024
With the immediate intro for the song "Diving into Sin" providing a cinematic vibe, the Accept album Humanoid gets off to quite the dramatic start.
After that opening, the more forceful metallic pacing kicks in and gives both the song and the listener a real shot of adrenaline.
But that's not really saying anything new when it comes to Accept, now is it? Though this is band's first album under the Napalm Records banner, it is their 17th studio album overall. The lineup features original guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, the now long-time vocalist Mark Tornillo alongside guitarist Uwe Lulis, bassist Martin Motnik and drummer Christopher Williams. They know what they are doing, to say the least.
The album's title track puts forth a story about a robot, which gives the song a science fiction type bent. It has the requisite attitude you might expect to find, though when I first listened to the track, I'll admit it took me a bit longer to really appreciate it.
Of course, I liked the juxtaposition Accept provides with the next song in the running order. To go from a science fiction type of song and then go all the way back to the classic horror monster vibe with "Frankenstein", that's pretty impressive that they could pull off both songs and make them well worth listening to. This track is pretty fast moving number and the way Tornillo's vocals give life to the lyrics (odd choice of words I know, given the song's subject matter) in an interesting way.
The more anthemic side of Accept's songwriting comes to the forefront on the track "Man Up". It features more of a mid-to-uptempo style with Tornillo exhorting "you" to deal with life head on even against the toughest of times. With the song title serving its purpose in the chorus, you've got an instant crowd participation song if you hear this one in a live show. Add in a pretty cool guitar solo and I know I was loving this song from the start.
The faster pacing of Accept returns on "The Reckoning". It's a bolt of lighting from start to finish and the guitar playing throughout the song only adds fuel to that fire.
I loved the chorus for "Nobody Gets Out Alive" for its rhythmic vibe but the lyrics from Tornillo are absolutely incredible throughout the song. The chorus makes it seem like the song could be another anthem track but I love the way the song confronts that regardless of what you do, or who you become...there's only one final destination...for everyone. Maybe that's a tad nihilistic, but I love the way the lyrics were infused and powered by the music so that the words didn't feel like they might drive you into a depression or something.
There's a slower, more deliberate delivery for the vocals (and the music) during the main lyrical passages of "Ravages of Time". Not exactly a ballad, but the slower style lets you catch your breath for a minute. Of course, when the song hits each chorus break, the music kicks up a fuss with a more in-your-face style. And the vocals get more pronounced as well.
There's a race day feel to the pacing of "Unbreakable", which makes sense the lyrics do actually reference racing in the first lyrical passage but this particular anthemic rocker is actually more of a reference towards the band itself staying strong against every challenge. One lyric does seem like it is more geared towards metal fandom itself but for the most part, this is Accept's version of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" for lack of a better description. It's a pretty damn cool song.
Kicking your butt right from the start, the song "Mind Games" delivers a powerful blast of metal. Effectively hard and fast, the song has a great sense of melody threaded within those power chords and I like how everything came together as a great complete song. This is probably one of the best songs on the album.
While I'm not a drinker, I do tend to enjoy a well written ode to alcohol and "Straight Up Jack" certainly fits the bill in that regard. I caught a brief line from a review on a website that said the track pretty much owes everything to AC/DC and as I listened to the song myself, it's not a bad comparison. A hard rocking number that gets into your blood and you almost feel compelled to pump your fists in the air as the chorus rattles around in your head.
The album officially closes out with the song "Southside of Hell" but there is apparently a bonus track called "Hard Times" on the album. I'm not sure which version of the album has that song on it but I know it wasn't the one I got.
Still, going back to "Southside of Hell", the song opens with an extended musical intro. It's got a lively step to it but when the track fully engages, the pacing increases that much more and you've got a pedal to the floor delivery rocking your socks off. I found that I dug the song's chorus a lot as well.
On the first listen to the album, the first two songs needed an extra listen from me to really get sucked into the whole album experience. That said, with Humanoid, Accept has continued their streak of thrilling their worldwide fanbase with a fiercely entertaining metal record that definitely stands up as some of the band's best work!
