Accept’s 21st century resurgence is one of the all time great metal comeback stories. Against all odds, the band proved there was life beyond classic frontman Udo Dirkschneider, returning stronger than ever with the now classic Blood of the Nations (2010). The nearly as strong Stalingrad: Brothers in Death (2012) and Blind Rage (2014) quickly followed, and then, things got played out. While both The Rise of Chaos (2017) and Too Mean to Die (2021) had their moments, at their core, they felt like less inspired rehashes of BOTN. Taking this into consideration, I went into Accept’s latest album, Humanoid, with much skepticism.
For one, here was a legacy band who had now released five albums with an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude. And while that works for the likes of Saxon, Overkill, and AC/DC, in Accept’s case, things were starting to look bleak. Was there anything they’d be able to do differently on Humanoid to set it apart from the pack? As the opening one-two punch of “Diving into Sin” and the title track kicked in, I had my doubts. Sure, all of the Accept signatures, the shrill vocals, Teutonic riffage, anthemic spirit, and so forth, were present. It just felt as if we were going to be treated to the same album yet again.
Thankfully, these feelings of uncertainty were quenched from the ultra melodic glitz of “Frankenstein” onwards. I’m not sure if it was an intentional effort or not, but Humanoid leans heavily into the melodic/accessible/borderline hard rock approach of albums like Metal Heart (1985) and Russian Roulette (1986). While they’re best known for the brute force of proto-thrashers like “Fast as a Shark” and “Breaker”, I always felt it was unfair that Accept didn’t receive equal recognition for penning flat out catchy tunes akin to their peers Scorpions. Humanoid is rife with these types of songs, in which hooks outweigh heaviness.
Cuts like “Man Up”, “Nobody Gets Out Alive”, and “Mind Games” are charming slabs of anthemic arena metal, defiant in delivery and boasting no shortage of earworm melodies, while simultaneously sounding distinctly Accept-ian. The loud and proud “Unbreakable” has me thinking it would be a far more worthy title track for this album than “Humanoid”, while the drunken “Straight Up Jack” serves as the obligatory Krokus-esque sleazefest that Accept has managed to squeeze into each album from BOTN onwards. Aside from the snoozefest ballad that is “Ravages of Time”, there’s really no duds on here. Sure, some songs are better than others. I’ll even argue the hard rock moments trump the metal ones, but there’s nothing truly atrocious to be found.
Despite recent concerns of these German legends toying with AI, Humanoid isn’t nearly as robotic as its title and cover art would have you believe. It’s actually Accept’s strongest outing since Blind Rage. In many ways, it feels like the successor to Russian Roulette that never was, even though technically that would be U.D.O.’s Animal House (1987). Perhaps Humanoid is the successor to that album? Whatever it is, it’s a metallic breathe of fresh air, boasting a bevy of old school anthems for a new school world, one in which metal hearted humanoids lurk right around the corner.
7 out of 10
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Judas Priest, Saxon, U.D.O.