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ACCEPT - Too Mean To Die - 7/107/10
Summary
Nuclear Blast Records
Release date: January 29, 2021
[spoiler title=’Metal Express Radio – Ratings Scale’ style=’default’ collapse_link=’true’]
10.0: Cannot be improved! Perfect, instant classic! Essential in any record collection.
9.5 – 9.9: Fantastic, spectacular and outstanding!
9.0 – 9.4: Amazing release! It just lacks that little extra spice to make it perfect.
8.5 – 8.9: Exceptional release! Will likely rank among top ten albums of the year.
8.0 – 8.4: Great release! It has many different qualities.
7.5 – 7.9: Above average! It is an enjoyable release.
7.0 – 7.4: It is not brilliant, but has many strong points.
6.0 – 6.9: It has its moments, but is not that strong.
5.0 – 5.9: Slightly above average, does not stand out. Good outweighs bad by just a little.
4.0 – 4.9: Just below average, bad outweighs good by just a little.
3.0 – 3.9: Mediocre. There might be a song or a performance that is enjoyable, but that is it.
2.0 – 2.9: Very weak! There might be a light at the end of the tunnel, too many flaws.
1.0 – 1.9: This release gives the word “terrible” new meaning.
0.1 – 0.9: Awful! Avoid at all cost. There is nothing good to say about this release.
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User Review
( vote)The Backstory
Too Mean to Die is the 16th studio album by German Heavy Metal heroes Accept. It is their fifth album with current vocalist Mark Tornillo.
The Album
The intense opening track “Zombie Apocalypse” plays off like the climatic scene of a horror movie. Thunderous double kicks and driving heavy riffs command the album’s title track “Too Mean to Die.” Mark Tornillo’s voice is just a powerful as ever. While the first two songs represent the modern Metal sound of Accept, the 3rd track “Overnight Sensation” sounds like classic Accept. It has a little more 80s style sheen and melody to it, and not so much drums. This continues for the next few songs.
The slow intro to “The Undertaker” draws you into a false sense of calm. Before you know it the track grows with ferocity. “Sucks to Be You” is simple in it’s chorus and delivery. “Symphony of Pain” is 100% Wolf Hoffman from the fiery solos to the crunchy riffs, to the nod to Classical pieces of music. “The Best is Yet to Come” is a either an homage to fellow Germans the Scopions or a fuck you to them. Even though it gets kicked up a notch, Accept should leave the ballads to the Scorps.
Christopher Williams drum skills are on full display on “How Do You Sleep.” However, this is the second song in which the band uses a “wooooe ooooo ooooh” gang chorus. Once per album is enough. The album finishes just as intensely as it started with “Not My Problem” and the instrumental “Samson and Delilah.”
The Verdict
Too Mean to Die is just what you expect from the Hoffmann/Tornillo-era of Accept. It’s heavy, with some radio-friendly sheen here and there. It’s not perfect. “Zombie Apocalypse” and “The Undertaker” are a little hokey, especially lyric wise. The slow parts of “The Best is Yet to Come” really doesn’t fit the energy of the rest of the album. Too Mean to Die is a little like a defanged cobra. It’s still scary, but not deadly.
TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!
Tracklist
- Zombie Apocalypse
- Too Mean to Die
- Overnight Sensation
- No Ones Master
- The Undertaker
- Sucks to Be You
- Symphony of Pain
- The Best is Yet to Come
- How Do We Sleep
- Not My Porblem
- Samson and Delilah (Instrumental)
Accept is
Wolf Hoffmann – Guitar
Mark Tornillo – Vocals
Uwe Lulis – Guitar
Philip Shouse – Guitar
Martin Motnik – Bass
Christopher Williams – Drums
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