German metal legends Accept dish out their 16th studio album Too Mean to Die. Lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann is now the only remaining founding member, following the departure of bassist Peter Baltes in late 2018. Will this dampen any of the impact on this release?
No chance. You don’t need to think too hard or be ‘in the mood’ to listen to an album like Too Mean to Die. If you enjoy your metal straight up, no nonsense and…ahem…balls to the wall (sorry), then you have come to the right place. Leave your worries at the door and jump straight into the mosh pit of elation. Remember, like the world used to be before 2020 hit us harder than a Mike Tyson right hook? Oh how we took the humble mosh pit for granted.
Vocalist Mark Tornillo – who has now been at the helm of Accept for over a decade now, continues to bring his trademark husky, aggressive barks and wails. Sounding as good as ever and again adds an aggressive edge to the album.
Zombie Apocalypse kicks off Too Mean to Die with a riff straight out of Painkiller. But not about the brain eating wanderers as one might anticipate. Following Armoured Saint pointing out the end of our attention spans, Accept join the party detailing humanity’s obsession with technology consuming our lives. This theme is present throughout the album, adding a modern aesthetic to a thoroughly throwback album. Overnight Sensation is one for the TikTok generation.
Title track Too Mean to Die harks straight back to classic 80s pumping speed metal. Accept being a major reason for its existence in the first place affords them this right. The Undertaker has everything you need from a moody metal anthem, with a bassline so groovy it would make Austin Powers gasp for breath.
There are guitar riffs galore all throughout the album. With modern musical composition in metal growing ever more complicated, it’s refreshing to hear good old fashioned focus on hooks and riffs. Sucks to Be You is a glorious classic 80s metal party anthem. Too Mean to Die closes out with an eastern influenced instrumental Samson and Delilah. Tying up the album cover and perfectly rounding out the album.
Accept have here given us a good slice of 80s speed metal. What else should we have expected? They have been doing so for 4 decades now. The album is titled Too Mean to Die, and with Accept continuing to push out quality albums like this, the legends live on.
Score 7/10
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