von holydio1 » 2. Juni 2010, 19:23
Date: May 26, 2010
CLASSIC ROCK Magazin UK
Then And Now
Once again the Islington O2 Academy witnessed a truly historic moment. Back in early March it was Kiss, but tonight it was the triumphant return of the seminal German hard rockers.
I arrived at the venue early, as the band were doing an exclusive listening session for their forthcoming album Blood Of The Nations (due out on August 20, via Nuclear Blast) We were treated to eight of the 14 tracks. The album has been produced by Andy Sneap of Sabbat fame. And I must say here and now itâs an absolute barnstormer of an album. Along with Armored Saintâs La Raza, itâs the best metal album Iâve heard this year. The production is phenomenal; Sneap has done a grand job and seems to have injected a new lease of life into Accept.
New singer Mark Tornillo (formerly with power metallers T.T. Quick) commands from the off. The opening cut Beat The Bastards almost blew the speakers, as Tornillo snarled: âBurn the bridges down!â My personal favourite was Shades Of Death â seven minutes and 33 seconds of pure bliss. A beautifully crafted metal song, with clever hooks and tasty solos from Hoffmann and Frank. I could go on, but there is a show to review.
Accept went on stage at 8:45pm and played for an intense and staggering two hours and 10 minutes. This was a new-look Accept. The aformentioned Tornillo now on vocals, Stefan Schwarzman (formerly with Helloween) on drums, and the rest of the band were as before at the Hammy Odeon in 1984. Opening up with Metal Heart, Tornillo easily filled the shoes of Udo Dirkschneider, in fact he reminded me of Brian âBeanoâ Johnson with his gruff delivery. It really was a trip down memory lane as the devotedly partisan crowd lapped up all the old favourites such as Midnight Mover, Living For Tonight, Restless And Wild, Son Of A Bitch, Losers And Winners and London Leatherboys.
Two new numbers were also in there, namely The Abyss and Teutonic Terror, and both went down very well. But it was the oldies the metalheads craved and Accept duly delivered with rousing versions of Fast As A Shark, Up To The Limit, Iâm A Rebel and Princess Of The Dawn. Encore? Of course, and it was a nice touch to see Andy Sneap guesting on guitar for the chant-a-long classic Balls To The Wall.
I actually preferred this show to the Hammersmith gig.
Accept were on fire, and with a strong comeback album should be making a lot of noise in the months to come. And when they come back perhaps could include Thunder And Lightning and Screaming For A Love Bite in their already impressive repertoire. When Blood Of Nations is released in September, buy it. You wonât be disappointed.
Suffice to say that, all in all, tonight was very Accept-like!