Accept – Stalingrad (2012)

After their ridiculously awesome “Blood of the Nations” return, Accept set the bar very high for themselves and with “Stalingrad” they actually manage to match it. For over 50 minutes and ten tracks, one of the biggest names in Heavy Metal manages to deliver one powerful song after another one in the same vein as their previous release that introduced Mark Tornillo on vocals.

Since the opener “Hung Drawn and Quartered” we get to enjoy Wolf Hoffmann’s excellent riffing skills alongside Mark’s impressive vocals. The band keeps the momentum going by crafting super catchy chorus sections and a very strong drumming foundation for the track. The first undisputed anthem of this album is the title track “Stalingrad”. The band fuses their traditional approach with some melodic sections and a catchy chorus section that nicely pace this hard rocking song.

“Hellfire” and “Flash to Bang Time” keep the momentum going with blazing fast guitar sections and super tight drumming. “Shadow Soldiers” very melodic approach nicely changes the pace of the album and delivers a very powerful ballad-like anthem. In another change of pace, “Twist of Fate” delivers more of a hard rock vibe that is very mellow, and nicely grows into a full on epic anthem with awesome guitar solos.

For classical Heavy Metal anthems look no further and enjoy “The Quick and the Dead”, a song that is sure to be one for the ages thanks to its catchy guitars and excellent vocal performance. Just as epic as the opening track, “The Gallery” closes down this excellent release reminding us why Accept is one of the greatest Heavy Metal bands in history, and how their latest comeback has them sounding better than ever.

If we ever doubted that Accept could match “Blood of the Nations”, we just got slapped in the face with “Stalingrad”. The band has managed to comeback with an excellent team and lineup and these last two albums are great proof of it. If you never got into accept back in the day, this is your best chance to listen to them at their best.

Release: June 5th, 2012

Country: Germany