Accept – Blind Rage (2014)

As one of the songs in this release mentions, Accept is one of the last of a dying breed of hard rocking bands that constantly deliver quality over quantity. Wolf Hoffmann and company manage to set the bar even higher after their most recent scorcher releases “Blood of the Nations” and “Stalingrad: Brothers in Death”. With their newly found singer, Mark Tornillo, the band is soaring higher than ever before and “Blind Rage” is a testament to that.

Opening with the no-bullshit onslaught led by “Stamped” and the super catchy “Dying Breed”, the band continues to do what they do best: deliver epic Heavy Metal songs without complications. Being consistent is one of the Accept’s best assets and through songs like “Dark Side of My Heart” and “Fall of the Empire” we can hear the band’s signature sound greatly enhanced by a modern production.

With Wolf and Herman Frank leading the riffing barrage, epic tunes like “Trail of Tears” greatly highlight their excellent skills of writing intricate songs with brilliant leads and melodic sections. The drummer of Stefan Schwarzmann is again impeccable and really keeps that traditional Heavy Metal vibe going through brilliant songs like “Wanna Be Free” and “200 Years”, both excellent Metal anthems.

Not being a one trick pony, the band changes things up on songs like “Bloodbath Mastermind” and “From The Ashes We Rise”, a tracks that have a darker and more melodic edge to them. In terms of epic Heavy Metal anthems, we completely recommend the killer “The Curse” and its brilliant slower pace, filled with killer guitar solos.

As a whole, “Blide Rage” is one hell of an album that shows that Accept is not slowing down in one bit and that their excellent releases since 2009 have not been a fluke. Bringing nostalgic fans along the new wave of Heavy Metal fans together, the band is doing a great job in unleashing timeless epics with almost every song in this release fitting the description. If you are a Metal fan, you should not miss this album.

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: August 19th, 2014

Genre: Heavy Metal

Country: Germany