The 17th album by the unstoppable Germanic horde known as Accept is upon us and resistance is brutile. After the enjoyable machinations of 2021s Too Mean to Die, those who keep their balls to the wall opted to stick with the same basic formula. Their three-guitarist wall of sound is back along with no-longer-so-new frontman Mark Tornillo, and Accept find themselves in a late-career groove, very aware of who they are and what they want to be. And that means Accept continue to drift closer and closer to AC/DC territory as their core metal sound drills down further into hard rock idioms. This is still metal to be sure, but the hard rock hooks and overall simplicity of design are increasingly the key feature. Founding guitarist Wolf Hoffman continues to find inspiration in classical music but adroitly dumbs it down for thugs, goons, and mouth breathers, of which I am proudly one. If you loved Accept in the 80s or 90s or just over the past few years, you’ll recognize and appreciate the shit they’re throwing at the barroom walls here.
With hooks and balls the essential ingredient, opening mission statement “Diving into Sin” is like a slap upside the head from an old friend. It’s a rugged, dirty anthem with grit and attitude powered by beefy riffs from the axe triad that provides the foundation for Mark Tornillo’s raspy screeching, which sounds more and more like Brian Johnson on an ugly bender (that’s a good thing). Hoffman’s interesting guitar flourishes add an extra dimension to the hooliganism and everything feels tight and right. The punch-drunk rampage continues on the burly title track, which also benefits from slick guitar work, and the band elevates their game for the more epic-sized might of “Frankenstein.” This one is pumped full of machismo and a ne’er-do-well 80s verve and its forceful riffage and Tornillo’s constant exhortations that “I’m alive!” make me want to fight a mob of angry, torch-bearing villagers for the title of King of Windmills.
Also rock solid is the charming ode to toxic masculinity called “Man Up,” which will send the sensitive types scrambling for safe spaces as Tornillo implores you to hang tough through life’s rough patches. Move this one to your leg day playlist and suck it up, buttercup! “The Reckoning” is a primo example of why Accept have endured so long, riding waves of riff mania roughshod over your feeble defenses and making tales of destruction and doom sound exciting and fun. Hoffman and company cram an ass-ton of guitar pimpage into the song and it feels hard, lean, and hungry. “Nobody Gets Out Alive” is an uber-catchy rocker that sticks immediately, and to bring themselves in closer alignment with AC/DC, there’s a tribute to hard drinking called “Straight Up Jack.” There are no throwaway pieces and every track has its cool, catchy bits, with moody power ballad “Ravages of Time” offering some maudlin but effective pathos. At a reasonable 48 minutes with almost every song in the 4-minute window, Humanoid goes down like fine hobo wine and requires no chaser.
The biggest positive comes from what the three-headed guitar monster cooks up. Though the songs themselves are direct, no-nonsense rockers, Hoffman, Uwe Lulis, and young gun Philip Shouse dazzle with slick, enthusiastic leads and harmonies as Hoffman infuses the tumult with his love of classical music without ever coming down with Yngwie Madness. Hoffman excels at decorating these filthy cuts with a hint of classical grandeur and then retreating back to knuckle-dragging before things get too posh for comfort. Amid the 18-string maelstrom, Mark Tornillo stands strong, his whiskey and cigarette-seasoned vocal cords hard as nails and keeping things fugly and pugnacious. He makes the most of the rare opportunity to explore a “softer” side on “Ravages of Time,” but the rest of the album is all razor blades and axle grease.
Humanoid is another successful chapter in the second stage of Accept’s eternal crusade to build you a functional Metal Heart. It’s better and more consistent than Too Mean to Die, with their bare-bones style polished and improved upon. The writing is tight and the band sounds young, dumb, and full of…rum. I’ll take as many of these consistently hooky platters as these coots can crank out between now and the final reckoning. Hail, Hail Germania.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: NA| Format Reviewed: STREAM
Label: Napalm
Websites: acceptworldwide.com | facebook.com/accepttheband
Releases Worldwide: April 26th, 2024
