Band:	Accept
Album:	Blind Rage
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	August 15, 2014
A review by:	ScreamingSteelUS

Disc I
01. Stampede
02. Dying Breed
03. Dark Side Of My Heart
04. Fall Of The Empire
05. Trail Of Tears
06. Wanna Be Free
07. 200 Years
08. Bloodbath Mastermind
09. From The Ashes We Rise
10. The Curse
11. Final Journey
12. Thrown To The Wolves [Japanese bonus]

Disc II [limited edition digipack DVD/Blu-ray] [live]
01. Intro
02. Hung, Drawn & Quartered
03. Hellfire
04. Restless & Wild
05. Losers & Winners
06. Stalingrad
07. Breaker
08. Bucket Full Of Hate
09. Monsterman
10. Shadow Soldier
11. Amamos La Vida
12. Guitar Solo Wolf
13. Neon Nights
14. Bulletproof
15. Aiming High
16. Princess Of The Dawn
17. Up To The Limit
18. No Shelter
19. Pandemic
20. Fast As A Shark
21. Metal Heart
22. Teutonic Terror
23. Balls To The Wall

Now that Accept have climbed back to the top of their game and swept up the spotlight with a pair of excellent albums, their challenge lies in maintaining their grasp on success. Despite song titles like "Dying Breed," "Fall Of The Empire," and "Final Journey," Blind Rage does not spell the end to Accept's second wind; it is the next chapter.

While Blind Rage isn't as dynamite as Blood Of The Nations, it does improve upon Stalingrad, itself an excellent album. Of this new bevy of classics, Blind Rage most recalls Accept's (first) heyday with riffs and choruses reminiscent of Restless And Wild and Metal Heart material. After "Stampede" appropriately opens the album, bulldozing everything in its path, "Dying Breed" pays tribute to all of your favorite heavy metal pioneers and legends - a group to which Accept could truthfully be said to belong. The first few songs alone provide plenty of assurance that these Teutonic Terrors haven't lost their touch.

Much of Blind Rage is wrapped in a somber sobriety, from mournful marches to emotional choruses, making this album one of the darkest and most serious in Accept's catalogue. Of course, no true Accept album would sacrifice the opportunity to shower its listeners in forceful, dominating riffs and the pure, unadulterated heavy metal attitude that makes Accept such a titan even after all these decades. These two aspects mix heartily throughout the album, making it not only dramatic and emotional but as hard-hitting and indefatigably heavy as ever.

Wolf Hoffmann could play trip baroque dubstep-core through a tin can and it would still be earth-shatteringly badass. His legendary metallic tone is the base from which Accept grows, and his solos always bear the distinction of sounding necessary. His solos do not fill space, nor are they just vehicles for him to show off; they become truly part of the songs. With the dream team of Hoffmann, Peter Baltes, Herman Frank, Stefan Schwarzmann, and Mark Tornillo, all of whom sound as though they were made specifically to kick ass in this band, Accept cannot fail.

Accept is a great example of a band that doesn't need to be fancy to succeed. "Trail Of Tears," "Dark Side Of My Heart," "From The Ashes We Rise," and the whole rest of the album step up to the plate with nothing but loud riffs, louder shrieks, and a hell of a lot of attitude - and that's all Accept requires.

Clearly, this new, re-vamped Accept has a lot more to say. Blind Rage testifies to their unflagging strength and solidity. From the first notes of "Stampede" to the last ones of "Final Journey," Blind Rage muscles its way to the top and delivers one monstrous blow after another.