Album Review: The Rise of Chaos by Accept

If Accept still means Balls To The Wall to you, well, join the club, because it still means that to the band too. The German power-metal pioneers really hit their stride with that landmark 1983 release and they've been chasing that wrecking ball buzz ever since. Sure, the production is better these days, but under the gloss they remain the same snarling, snapping heavy metal beasts they were back when Udo Dirkschneider was still wielding his truncheon for them.

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When Accept announced a reunion without original vocalist Udo Dirkschneider in 2009, there was trepidation among fans; a prior failed attempt to replace his distinctive snarl (1989's Eat The Heat) didn't auger well for a new line-up featuring vocalist Mark Tornillo (of vet US metallers TT Quick) alongside core members Wolf Hoffmann (guitar) and Peter Baltes (bass). To fans' surprise and delight, rather than damaging their genre-shaping legacy (influencing the birth of thrash and the wider scene in general), they've embellished it with a series of albums that could have followed Russian Roulette (1986), with The Rise of Chaos possibly their strongest reunion-era release so far. Working again with producer Andy Sneap (Saxon, Testament), Accept have never sounded more focused, honing their sound to its purest elements; riffs sharp enough to shave a grizzly bear, intelligent lyrics, memorable songs, and a vocal assault pairing Tornillo's raw, melodic roar with gang chant choruses.

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The 15th studio long-player from the venerable German metallers, The Rise of Chaos is Accept's fourth full-length since re-forming in 2009 with vocalist Mark Tornillo -- original frontman Udo Dirkschneider left the group in 1987. It's also the first LP to feature new guitarist Uwe Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, but fans of 2014's surprisingly vital-sounding Blind Rage will be pleased to hear that Accept 2. 0 is still a force to be reckoned with, especially if one's tastes lean toward the kind of uncompromising, no-frills Euro-metal that filled stadiums in the 1980s.

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