ACCEPT – Blood of the Nations (2010 Nuclear Blast)
I had a few Accept albums at home: Metal Heart, Balls To The Wall and Eat The Heat. I’d never bought an Accept album when it was a “new release” before, and I’d never bought anything post-reunion. I suppose I was interested in the music I was familiar with and nothing beyond that. When I heard they were reuniting with a new singer I was instantly skeptical. I was ready to bring the hate!
Some glowing reviews on the Eddie Trunk show opened my ears, and when Eddie started playing new tracks like “Beat The Bastards” and “Teutonic Terror”, I was hooked! New singer Mark Tornillo (who I’d never heard before, but have found out was critically acclaimed as the singer of TT Quick) had filled Udo’s teeny tiny little shoes and somehow made them fit, plus added his own style. Tornillo is not a screamer like Udo, but he can scream when necessary, and damn…it sounds awesome when he does!
New singer or not, the difference between a real fresh start (like Accept) and a mere tribute band with a new singer (like Quiet Riot) is new material. If the new material sucks, then there is no point. If it stands up, then the band is vindicated. I was glad to report that Accept’s new material was awesome. I don’t like to throw that word around lightly, because too many people overuse to pump up their favourite bands. Well, a) Accept has never been a favourite of mine, and b) this album really is awesome. Every song has life. The riffs courtesy of Wolf Hoffman are alive, powerful and catchy. Vocal melodies are traditional metal. Everything about this album is traditionally metal except the loud n’ proud, raw modern production by Andy Sneap. In short the album sounds great.
There’s also some solid groove on this album. Take “Pandemic” for example. It reminds me of the old Testament classic, “Electric Crown” in terms of groove and tempo. As far as I’m concerned, Accept absolutely nail it on Blood of the Nations, from the rock solid rhythm section to the screaming leads.
I’m really glad I got this album, and this edition. The bonus track “Time Machine” is one of the stronger songs. Yet every song is equally strong, there are no weak links in this chain. It’s just a great album from start to finish and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do.
This album is rejuvenation. You have to hear it to believe. That they followed it with the equally strong Stalingrad is almost as astonishing.
5/5
mikeladano.com 
Great review (and not just because it agrees with my take on this album, although it most certainly does). I was able to see Accept live on both the Blood of the Nations and Stalingrad tours and they put on as good a show as I’ve ever seen. Not only do they sound great, to include Tornillo, they clearly are having a blast, and it is infectious.
Wolf Hoffmann is a true “happy metal” great. For fun, you might want to check out his ’97 solo album of classical standards, called “Classical.” Unlike the Yngwie and Paul Gilbert takes on classical music — which can also be great and enjoyable in their way — Wolf turns the songs into emotive, bluesy riff offerings. The CD can be listed at exorbitant prices on some sites, but is available cheap from the Accept official website.
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Hey thanks Victim! I have heard OF Wolf’s classical albums, but never heard one. I’d like to check that out. I do like classical music anyway and that sounds like an interesting slant on it.
Speaking of Wolf being a happy metal great, Smilin’ Wolf sure looks like he’s having a blast these days! Which is the most important thing! He should be able to enjoy his band he obviously has the right mix of guys to do so. And Peter Baltes is always reliable too.
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That was brilliant – what a great video too. I don’t own a note Accept have ever played, a bit too screamy for me I always thought, but I may well invest in thsi one. Proper metal.
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Not familiar with the group but I appreciate the careful use of the adjective ‘awesome.’ It’s like the teacher/coach who screams all the time, screaming loses its impact quickly. If awesome is only brought out occasionally, it has weight!
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Don’t think I’ve heard anyone say anything bad about Accept’s new music. Sounds very promising!
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You won’t hear anything bad from me that’s for sure.
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I found this review to be Acceptable.
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Just Accept that your pun was rotten but my review was more than Acceptable.
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Hahaha oh Dude you know I love these reviews. You also know I have a hard time passing up puns and word play. Remember Triumph? Exactly!
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I Accept your explanation and I hope you will Triumph in all your comings and goings!
Actually Aaron in all seriousness I think you would like this album a lot.
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I Triumph-antly Accept your good tidings. And I really liked that song in the video you embedded. Too bad it didn’t really look like the guy was actually playing the drums in it. It was distracting. But hell yeah, that wa sa great song! If the whole album is cool like that, you know I’d dig it!
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I know what you mean, I had the same thought. But I do love to see Smilin’ Wolf smiling his way through the opening there. He looks so happy to have Accept back together. It looks real.
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He does look happy. Either it’s because the band is playing again, or because he’s really proud of that little fill lick he came up with…
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I like that lick too, I’d be proud of it! Wolf’s an interesting guy, I’ve heard him on the radio a number of times, and as mentioned above he does classical albums too.
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Mike we owned the same three Accept albums ….Eat The Heat was a mess but hey,blame it on the new guy,blame it on the record company,blame it on Udo…..blame,blame,blame ..
But I did like the track Love Sensation ,perhaps if they called it sumthin other than Eat The Heat it would have done better…..
Blood Of The Nations is a good comeback……
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I really liked Generation Clash on Eat the Heat. It was different and dark but I never really got the music video. Guy shaved his head, big deal.
As always, Wolf is great in this.
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A good song, yeah, but the re-recorded version for the Death Row album with Udo on vocals is much better in my opinion.
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I gotta say I do prefer the original but this is heavier.
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I remember being very sceptical about this album when it was about to get released. The last time Accept tried to make a record with another singer the whole thing hit shit creek and the band even split up. But it took only one look at the Teutonic Terror video (what a brilliant song – WE WILL GIVE ‘EM THE AXE!!!) for me to realise that the band was back for real.
I have been an Accept fan since I heard the Restless And Wild album back in 1982 and I put this album right with the classics – Breaker, Restless & Wild, Balls To The Wall, Metal Heart. I have also had the pleasure of watching this line up live on a couple of occasions and they really nails it. Udo might be one hell of a personality, but I don’t miss him at all.
Here’s my thoughts on the latest Accept album Stalingrad.
And this my views on their gig at Sweden Rock earlier this year:
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Thanks for the links Jon!
WE WILL GIVE ‘EM THE AXE!
They just found the right guy this time, that’s all there is to it, and I like the music that resulted. Looking forward to more.
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Yes. That and the fact that they know by now that they are a metal band and that’s what they do best. Eat The Heat was a really poor attempt to go for the American pop metal market.
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I don’t know if I’d call it really poor myself. I haven’t listened to it in a while. I’ll have to put it in and see how it stands up. David Reece was a good singer although obviously not the right singer.
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Reece is awesome! But his voice and way of singing is better suited for melodic hard rock.
I take out Eat The Heat once in a while just to see if I change my mind on that album, but I never seem to do just that. I always though that album sounded fake, like they were trying too hard to become a mainstream hard rock act. The best songs on that album are the ones that leans more towards their metal roots, like Generation Clash or Hellhammer. But stuff like Stand 4 What U R or Chain Reaction are embarrassing, I think.
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The song titles are pretty bad, that’s for sure. Even Prince wouldn’t have had a song called Stand 4 What U R. Ewww. Sounds like a Kesha song or something equally bad.
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This songs is great in its Acceptnessy nature! Glad to hear some strong new stuff from them. Just a clarification on the Classical Album he adapts classical music but not necessarily classical guitar pieces. He has done that before like Marche Slave and Fur Elise on Metal Heart.
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The more Acceptnessy the better right Mike?
I’m really curious about the solo Wolf albums. I’ve basically put a “stop” on buying new music until Christmas. So unfortunately it will have to wait. But you know how it is, it can get expensive this time of year!
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