Review: Accept – Humanoid

Napalm Records (April 26^th 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

Since 2010, legendary band Accept has had a career resurgence that is quite remarkable, made even more impressive by recruiting a new singer for this resurgence, which is usually rejected by many long-time fans. Their strength lied in their material, with Accept releasing album after album of what I would consider some of their strongest output. The band now finds themselves celebrating 45 years since their debut album with their latest venture, ‘Humanoid’. There’s only one question applicable here. Can the band continue their hot streak with this, their sixth album, since their 2010 resurgence?

Admittedly, my friends and I were optimistic but cautious when they released the title track as the first single. While it was decent, it felt more like an album filler and not strong enough to be a single. I am happy to report that I found the song growing on me with repeated listens.  Second single ‘The Reckoning’ put all my reservations at ease. A solid riff typical of previous releases, this is exactly what I wanted to hear from the band. If you dug this single, I’m happy to report the album has melodies like this in spades.

It opens with my favorite track, the mighty ‘Diving into Sin’. It begins and ends with some sitars but sandwiched between is a killer riff that could only come from the mind of guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and fits nicely alongside every other great tune you can think of from the band.  Regarding choral background vocals, Wolf’s lower register contrasts well with singer Mark Tornillo’s screams, making this the chorus that stuck with me the most after repeated listens.

Other great tracks with that familiar sounding Accept melody include ‘Nobody Get Out Alive’, with its emphasis on living it up before you die; ‘Unbreakable’, an ode to fans of the band and heavy metal; and closer ‘Southside of Hell’, with references to redemption and going through hell to get there.  While it may sound dismissive for me to say the words “familiar sounding”, I assure you this is a compliment. The band knows their sound and what the fans what to hear and respond in kind.  I would expect nothing less.

With that said, there are a few parts of the album that change things up and keep it interesting. Two tracks follow more of an AC/DC template. ‘Man Up’ is a standout track in that no other song sounds like it.  It slows things down at just the right time with this groove rocker that has a guitar solo that also serves as a band breakdown, with a rhythm change that gets everyone involved and adds some depth to a song that could be rudimentary were it not for that change up.  ‘Straight Up Jack’ does more than have an AC/DC aesthetic. It sounds so much like that band that if someone told me it was a cover, I would almost believe them. Perhaps it is just the lyrics, which describes various ways to consume alcohol, but the riff and the song structure itself feels like it could belong on any number of AC/DC albums. Great song, nonetheless.

The biggest surprise comes in the form of a ballad, which is not something the band is known for. ‘Ravages of Time’ is all about aging and how life takes its toll on all of us. Mark’s singing style changes in a way not too dissimilar to what James Hetfield did with Metallica’s ‘The Unforgiven’ and has that song’s similar feel.

With that song, I did notice a theme to some of the tracks.  When I saw Accept on their tour a year and a half ago, Mark was going through an illness that sidelined him for several shows and the band relied on singer Jason McMaster to come in and assist.  The band made sure to point out on social media that singing these songs at his age can be difficult.  I bring this up because some of the lyrics have a slight melancholy feel to them.  Along with ‘Ravages of Time’, ‘Nobody Gets Out Alive’, and to a degree the title track deal with themes of death.  With lyrics like “Only one destination, no matter how loud you scream” and “One day there’s no tomorrow and no one can escape, the ravages of time”, it makes one wonder if the band is starting to feel the effects of their own mortality and that introspection is starting to shape their output.

The only song that I found slightly disappointing was ‘Frankenstein’. The lyrics are a bit too obvious.  What I appreciated about ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ (a song off their previous album) was how the song was a metaphorical facsimile to people walking around staring at their phones all day.  It’s a very clever way to discuss that topic.  There’s no subtlety with ‘Frankenstein’. The lyrics you think you would find in a song with that title are all there. That said, I really do love the scream Mark Tornillo releases before the second guitar solo. He really goes for it all there and if they do perform this song live, it will be difficult for him to pull this off on consecutive nights.

Producer Andy Sneap, who produced their last five albums, knows how to get the best sound out of this band. The album sounds as good as a metal album could sound and that makes this album another winner in the long running streak of fantastic albums the band has put out. This is a blind purchase for Accept fans and we are blessed in this day and age to still receive such quality output from a band that has been around for nearly 50 years. May the mighty Accept train roll on for many years to come.

Tracklist:

1. Diving into Sin
2. Humanoid
3. Frankenstein
4. Man Up
5. The Reckoning
6. Nobody Gets Out Alive
7. Ravages of Time
8. Unbreakable
9. Mind Games
10. Straight Up Jack
11. Southside of Hell

Line-up:

Wolf Hoffmann – guitar
Mark Tornillo – vocals
Uwe Lulis – guitar
Martin Motnik – bass
Christopher Williams – drums

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