CD 1
01 - Falls of the empire
02 - Kill the pain
03 - Amamos la vida
04 - Can't stand the night
05 - No time to lose
06 - Mistreated
07 - Breaking up again
08 - The king
09 - Shadow soldiers
10 - Wanna be free
11 - Neon nights
12 - Writing on the wall
13 - Glad to be alone
14 - Winter dreams
15 - Udo - heavy rain

CD 2
01 - Seawinds
02 - Drifting apart
03 - Pomp and circumstance
04 - Just by my own
05 - It's hard to wind a way
06 - Twist of fate
07 - The galley
08 - The curse
09 - Time machine
10 - The beast inside
11 - Generation clash 2
12 - Love sensation
13 - Lay it down
14 - Udo - In the darkness
15 - Udo - Sweet little child
16 - Udo - Unspoken words

Peter Baltes - Bass 
Wolf Hoffmann - Guitars 
Mark Tornillo - Vocals

When the band originally formed in 1968, they were known as Band X, and featured vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarist Michael Wagener (who later went on to become a famous record producer, mixer, and engineer), bassist Dieter Rubach and drummer Birke Hoe. The band officially became Accept in 1976, when Udo assembled a new lineup, featuring Udo on vocals, Wolf Hoffmann and Gerhard Wahl on guitar, Peter Baltes on bass and Frank Friedrich on drums.

Accept have reformed and called it quits several times. They first split-up in 1989, reformed in 1992 and then broke up again in 1997. In 2005, the key members of Accept briefly reformed for a tour that was believed to be their last due to Udo Dirkschneider's insistence that he would not be involved with any further recordings with Accept. In May 2009, however, the rest of the line-up from the 2005 tour regrouped permanently with Mark Tornillo as the new vocalist.

Lyrical collaborator "Deaffy" was a pseudonym used by long-time band manager Gaby Hauke, who is now married to Wolf Hoffmann. --- metal-archives.com

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1		Hung Drawn And Quartered	4:40
2		Stalingrad	6:01
3		Hellfire	6:13
4		Flash To Bang Time	4:10
5		Shadow Soldiers	5:51
6		Revolution	4:14
7		Against The World	3:39
8		Twist Of Fate	5:43
9		The Quick And The Dead	4:27
10		Never Forget	4:52
11		The Galley	7:22

Bass – Peter Baltes
Drums – Stefan Schwarzmann
Guitar – Herman Frank
Guitar – Wolf Hoffmann
Vocals – Mark Tornillo

Much like Overkill’s Ironbound, Blood Of The Nations was seen by many listeners as Accept’s glorious comeback and one of their strongest releases to date. But while Overkill never split up, Blood Of The Nations was Accept’s first studio album in nearly fifteen years and had a new singer replacing the classic Udo Dirkschneider. Needless to say, the group’s second album with Mark Tornillo has a lot to live up to.

As expected, things have been scaled back on here in comparison to the previous release. There are only ten songs instead of twelve this time around and there aren’t as many longer tracks. Yet at the same time, the uplifting feel has been retained and the energy is as aggressive as ever.

The band dynamic also hasn’t changed much as the guitars are instantly commanding, the bass is present, and the gang vocals retain their choral yet ballsy flavor. Tornillo’s performance is also strong and seems to be a little more comfortable this time around, leading one to blasphemously wonder if he may turn out to be a better fit for the band than Udo ever was. He certainly has a stronger grasp of the English language and Andy Sneap’s signature production touches certainly don’t hurt.

Even if there aren’t as many tracks as before, there is a good deal of variety. A good number of the album’s songs are faster paced tracks driven by upbeat riffs and the contrasts of the lead and gang vocals. This is best demonstrated on “The Quick And The Dead” and “Revolution” though “Hung, Drawn, And Quartered” makes for a great opener and “Against The World” makes for some dumb fun.

There are several outliers that help keep things interesting. The band’s grandiose side can be seen on the triumphant title track and “The Galley,” the latter being the longest track on here with its somber guitar finish and the former appropriately including a snippet of the Soviet Union’s national anthem. “Hellfire” is also noteworthy and has an upbeat feel similar to “Pandemic” with some foreboding guitar melodies.

“Shadow Soldiers” and “Twist Of Fate” are easily the album’s most unusual songs. Both are slightly darker tunes with melodic touches that are just shy of power ballad territory. But while the former reminds one of the classic “Head Over Heels,” the restrained refrains on “Twist Of Fate” sound like early Dokken for some reason. It’s definitely an intriguing listen that makes a little more sense when you consider that Peter Baltes was that band’s original bassist…

As expected, Stalingrad serves as an entertaining follow-up to one of the greatest comeback in the last ten years but is ultimately not quite as mind blowing. That said, the songwriting is just as great and manages to prove that the previous album wasn’t just a lucky shot. One can wonder if they’ll ever pursue a darker direction but you also shouldn’t try to fix something that isn’t broken… ---Twisted_Psychology, metal-archives.com

ACCEPT za sprawą nowego wokalisty Marka Tornillo złapał wiatr w żagle – uderza jeszcze mocniej i dosadniej niż na poprzednim bardzo udanym albumie „Blond Of The Nation”. Płyta „Stalingrad” utrzymana jest w arcy szybkim metalowym tempie, powalającym starą riffową szkołą . Płytę rozpoczyna pędzący do przodu „Hung,Drawn And Quartered” ukazujący nowe oblicze ACCEPT w pigułce. Absolutnie powala tytułowy „Stalingrad” za sprawą bezczelnie klasycznego szybkiego riffu, fenomenalnego wykorzystania w solówce gitarowej hymnu ZSSR, oraz chóralnie odśpiewaną zwrotką nośnego refrenu. W motorycznym „Flash To Bang Time” zespół brzmi nad wyraz agresywnie, miksiście i przekonująco. Najnowszy album to jednak także kompozycje nieco bardziej szlachetne w których przede wszystkim liczy się klimat,a zespół ma okazję zaprezentowania słuchaczom nie tylko instrumentalnej maestrii, ale także sztuki budowania dramatyzmu, liryzmu i epickości. Najlepszym przykładem takiego myślenia jest fenomenalna „The Galley”. Kompozycja rozwija się wprost szablonowo, zachwycając umiejętnym użyciem akustycznych motywów, skontrastowanych z potężnym charakterem całości. Kolejnym killerem jest „Shadow Soldiers” umiejętnie wykorzystujący elementy balladowe prowadzące do iście Power metalowego przebojowego refrenu, który po kilku przesłuchaniach staje się wręcz zaraźliwy w swej nośności. Za sprawą heavymetalowego dialogu instrumentów „Twist Of Fate” kojarzy się nieco z ironową szkołą,ale w żadnym wypadku owe nawiązanie nie jest zarzutem,a zaletą. Nie sposób nie wspomnieć o „Against The Word” który z powodzeniem stanie się koncertowym evergreenem,za sprawą porywającego refrenu zabarwionego chwytliwym riffem.

Na „Stalingrad” absolutnie brak jednego ………. słabych i przeciętnych momentów. Szlachetna metalowa szkoła w duchu klasyki, do miana której album wyrasta. Polecam. ---Janusza, zatopionywciszy.wordpress.com

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1 	Die By The Sword 	5:00
2 	Hole In The Head 	4:01
3 	The Rise Of Chaos 	5:16
4 	Koolaid 	4:58
5 	No Regrets 	4:20
6 	Analog Man 	4:10
7 	What's Done Is Done 	4:08
8 	Worlds Colliding 	4:28
9 	Carry The Weight 	4:33
10 	Race To Extinction 	5:24

Bass – Peter Baltes
Drums – Christopher Williams
Guitar – Uwe Lulis, Wolf Hoffmann
Vocals – Mark Tornillo 

Accept don’t have a great deal to prove with The Rise of Chaos. Having burst (eventually) into the ‘80s European metal scene with Restless and Wild and come back ferociously in 2010 with Mark Tornillo replacing the inimitable Udo Dirkschneider on vocals, the Germans’ reputation is secured. And, despite shifting one guitarist and a drummer, as well as trimming this album down to a slimmer 46 minutes, not a great deal has changed since Accept’s new era began.

The guitars have quite a crunch to them, with plenty of modern techniques on show, some of which can be put down to Uwe Lulis’s days in Grave Digger, to whom the lurch of ‘No Regrets’ and ‘Hole in the Head’ is comparable. However, there is also the presence of several more hard rock elements, not least the steadier riffing of ‘Koolaid’ and ‘Analog Man’, both of which rather defeat their backward-looking lyrical themes by competing with the modern production, even if Tornillo’s gnarly voice adds a bit of authenticity.

On the flipside to the metallic modernity, the choruses and lyrics hint at a band attempting something a little simpler. By reducing song lengths to under five minutes, there is less opportunity to wander away from the basic template, something that is evidenced by a bulk of very predictable song structures: these 10 songs tend to be propelled by riffs and seek a foothold by way of choruses that are memorable on first listen, yet don’t exactly dig deep into poetry to do so. The repetition of “What is done is done, the bullet’s left the gun” on ‘What’s Done Is Done’ or the frankly bizarre refrain of “Don’t drink the Koolaid/Don’t taste the holy water” on ‘Koolaid’ seems a touch disappointing, particularly considering the lack of effort that has gone into titles and themes, in addition to the lackluster lyrical hooks.

As a listen, The Rise of Chaos isn’t poor, nor are Accept likely to release a poor effort with the quality of their line-up; nevertheless, for all its catchiness and the bite of some of the riffs in ‘Die by the Sword’ and the title track, this represents a step back for the band. Fans may be happy, but certainly not ecstatic. ---gasmask_colostomy, metal-archives.com

To już czwarty album od czasu, gdy w 2009 roku teutońska maszyna wróciła do studia. Miał to być ich pierwszy od trzynastu lat krążek, w dodatku nagrywany bez charyzmatycznego wokalisty Udo Dirkschneidera, którego zastąpił Amerykanin Mark Tornillo. Accept tylko raz wydał płytę z innym wokalistą, a praca Davida Reece'a, podobnie jak całe "Eat The Heat", nie przypadły do gustu ani fanom, ani krytykom. Biorąc pod uwagę te czynniki, mało kto oczekiwał, że zespół stworzy cokolwiek interesującego. Tymczasem wszystkie wydane dotychczas albumy cementują status grupy jako legendy metalu, która nie traci agresywnej energii. Nie inaczej jest z najnowszym "The Rise Of Chaos".

Parę miesięcy po premierze "Blind Rage" z Accept pożegnali się gitarzysta Herman Frank i perkusista Stefan Schwartzmann. Zostali zastąpieni przez odpowiednio Uwe Lulisa (wcześniej w Grave Digger i Rebellion) i Christophera Williamsa (znany z Blackfoot), z którymi reszta zespołu dokończyła trasę koncertową i wzięła się do pracy nad nowym materiałem. Zmiany personalne można uznać za udane - da się wyczuć różnice w porównaniu z poprzednimi dokonaniami grupy, ale jednocześnie obaj muzycy wpasowali się w przyjęty styl niemieckiej formacji. Nieco bardziej widoczne jest to w przypadku Williamsa, urodzonego w czasach, gdy Accept miał już na koncie sześć płyt, w tym "Balls To The Wall" i "Metal Heart". W tym przypadku młodość tożsama jest z szybkością. Perkusista narzuca mocne tempo w "No Regrets" czy cwałującym "Carry The Weight", dbając o speed metalową stronę grupy. Równie dobrze (jeśli nie lepiej) wychodzi mu tradycyjne heavy metalowe granie - klasyczny rytm "Koolaid" i "Analog Man" czy porządne walenie w bębny na "Worlds Colliding", jednym z najciekawszych utworów na krążku.

Lulis odnalazł wspólny język z Hoffmannem. Na "The Rise Of Chaos" ostre riffy nie są rzadkością, a mimo to nie powszednieją słuchaczowi (w przypadku heavy i thrash metalu dzieje się to zaskakująco często). Do najlepszych należą te z "Race To Extinction", "What's Done Is Done" i wspomnianego "Worlds Colliding". Gitarowy duet dostarcza nam też kilka ciekawych solówek, jak choćby w "Hole In The Head", rozcinającym "No Regrets" czy "Koolaid", gdzie dodatkowo dostajemy intro w stylu Judas Priest.

Tytuł płyty nawiązuje do ogólnych działań człowieka na całym świecie. Zespół dopatruje się ich przyczyn w samej naturze ludzkiej ("We're an evil seed from the soul of a serpent / An evil breed in a valley of thorns"), co prowadzi do wszechobecnej degrengolady ("On the news, another bombing, the feds can't stop global warming / Give now! Or children will die, more planes fall from the sky"), przestrzega i doradza zmianę ("We can change this story, adapt and compromise / Balance is mandatory, open your eyes"). Wszystko to podane w bardzo przyjemnych charkotach i skrzekach Tornillo. Mimo to, w niektórych kawałkach można było dopracować refreny.

Mamy prawo zakładać, że następny krążek Accept będzie równie dobry, co wszystkie wydane w tej dekadzie. Mógłby być również nieco dłuższy, bo "The Rise Of Chaos" to nie tylko najkrótszy album zespołu od momentu powrotu do żywych osiem lat temu, ale najkrótszy w ogóle od czasów "Russian Roulette" z 1986 roku. Przydałoby się też usłyszeć nowy materiał na kilku koncertach w Polsce. Tym razem już nie w roli suportu Sabatonu. ---Jędrzej Rakoczy, rockmagazyn.pl

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01. Metal Heart
02. Midnight Mover
03. Up To The Limit
04. Wrong Is Right
05. Screaming For A Love-Bite
06. Too High To Get It Right
07. Dogs On Leads
08. Teach Us To Survive
09. Living For Tonite
10. Bound To Fail

Musicians:
Udo Dirkschneider - Vocals
Wolf Hoffmann - Guitar
Jorg Fischer - Guitar
Peter Baltes - Bass Guitar
Stefan Kaufmann – Drums

With 1985's Metal Heart, German metal institution Accept attempted to add catchier choruses and melodies to their high-octane guitar riffing in a clear ploy to crack the American market. Not that this move in any way upset the balance of their thus-far smooth-running metal machine, which had been gaining momentum with every release since the start of the decade. No, Metal Heart was certainly a step toward accessibility, but a cautious one at that -- and, frankly, there was no toning down when it came to the lacerated larynx of gifted lead screamer Udo Dirkschneider. You gotta hand it to Accept, they sure knew how to make an entrance by now, and the apocalyptic title track is about as dramatic as it gets (the operatic "Bound to Fail" comes close), with guitarist Wolf Hoffman taking the helm on a long, mid-song solo excursion containing equal nods to Beethoven (very nice) and Edward Van Halen (get real). First single "Midnight Mover" is next, and along with the even more melodic "Screaming for a Love-Bite," it places obvious emphasis on hooks and melodies (and proved to be the toughest to stomach for the band's more hardcore fans). But despite another strange detour into jazz territory with the bizarre "Teach Us to Survive," Accept still packed amazing power, heaping on their Teutonic background vocals for the ultraheavy "Dogs on Leads" and gleefully pile-driving their way through relentless moshers like "Up to the Limit" and "Wrong Is Right." The brilliantly over-the-top "Too High to Get It Right" finds Dirkschneider screeching like never before, and to cap things off, the band really cooks on "Living for Tonight" -- arguably the best track all around. A winning set. ---Eduardo Rivadavia, allmusic.com

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