Accept – Restless And Live (2CD, DVD, blu ray out 13th January 2017 (Nuclear Blast)

Teutonic metal at its absolute extreme and best, Accept have been recording for over 35 years and are still as blistering as ever.

With their roots dating back to the late 60s with former (and original) vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, the band’s sound has always centred around out-and-out shred and screaming high vocals; the band were one of the most influential bands on the development of the Speed and Thrash metal scenes. Accept proper formed in the mid to late 70s, and Udo’s unique high vocals and screams epitomised the sound, with hits like ‘Balls To The Wall’

Original vocalist Udo left after a brief 2005 reformation, so when the band got going again in 2009 they hired former TT Quick vocalist Mark Tornillo to much acclaim and haven’t looked back.

This live album, recorded on the Blind Rage tour, and over 2 CDs and 27 tracks recorded at a number of venues, you get material new and old, more than a greatest hits live set, but a timely reminder of just what classic extreme metal should sound like. Raw, shredding, riffing, screaming, there’s more each individual track than most metal bands manage on an entire album. Check out the virtuoso guitar work on tracks like the opening ‘Stampede’, ‘Panic’ and ‘No Shelter’, and the infamous ‘Fast As A Shark’ (original scratched record opening included) is one Nigel Mansell couldn’t keep up with.

New members and old play together as if they always have, and long may they continue to do so. 9/10

Joe Geesin

Accept are

Mark Tornillo – vocals

Wolf Hoffmann – guitar

Uwe Lulis – guitars

Peter Baltes – bass

Christopher Williams – drums

CD1

01. Stampede

02. Stalingrad

03. Hellfire

04. London Leatherboys

05. Living For Tonite

06. 200 Years

07. Demon’s Night

08. Dying Breed

09. Final Journey

10. From The Ashes We Rise

11. Losers And Winners

12. No Shelter

13. Shadow Soldiers

14. Midnight Mover

CD2

01. Starlight

02. Restless And Wild

03. Son Of A Bitch

04. Pandemic

05. Dark Side Of My Heart

06. The Curse

07. Flash Rockin’ Man

08. Bulletproof

09. Fall Of The Empire

10. Fast As A Shark

11. Metal Heart

12. Teutonic Terror

13. Balls To The Wall