Review | Accept – Humanoid

Napalm Records

April 26, 2024 was the release day of the latest Accept album ‘Humanoid’. And really, little has changed about the bands formula. Wolf Hoffmann again took care to maintain the band’s deeply rooted DNA, even on this new album.

The production of this album was in the very capable hands of Andy Sneap [Judas Priest, Amon Amarth, Testament, Saxon, etc.] and it should come as no surprise that it sounds technically delicious again. Soundwise it also reminds a bit of the sound of the forementioned bands.

THE REGULAR VOICE

Singer Mark Tornillo again provides the recognizable vocals with his sandpaper voice and puts down a fine performance. Of course, the man has been the regular voice of this band for quite a few years now [since 2009].

Accept delivers 11 brand new tracks on ‘Humanoid’ that fit seamlessly into the band’s immense oeuvre. Anyone expecting something innovative after more than 48 years will be in for a rude awakening. Accept stands for a delicious pot of heavy metal, PERIOD!!! And let’s face it, that’s what they do best.‘Humanoid’  opens with ,,Diving Into Sin’’ and ,,Humanoid’’. Two uptempo tracks that immediately show that the musical course of the previous album ’Too Mean To Die’ is being continued.

,,Frankenstein’’ is a bit more midtempo in terms of structure, as is ,,Man Up’’ which even features a sort of sing-along chorus. And with ,,The Reckoning’’ it just goes full throttle again. ,,Nobody Gets Out Alive’’ is another fine midtempo rocker. With ,,Ravages Of Time’’ the band has delivered a power ballad, which doesn’t impress me much. And before I fall asleep we happily move on to another nice riff oriented up-tempo song with ,,Unbreakable’’. ,,Mind Games’’, ,,Straight Up Jack’’ and ,,South Side Of Hell’’ round out the album in a mid/up tempo based fashion.

ACCEPT – THE CONCLUSION

The song quality of the whole album is very much above average. But whether there are any true Accept classics on it? I wonder. Maybe I should give it some more listens in the hope that some outliers will emerge after all.

For now, I’m missing the real standouts. Nevertheless, with ‘Humanoid’ Accept manages to add a fine 17th chapter to the band’s catalog. Fortunately with the recognizable elements you can expect from this band. Fans will be pleased with this addition.

Release date: 26 April 2024