U.D.O. - Steelhammer

Heavy Metal
AFM

2013

1. Steelhammer
2. A Cry Of A Nation
3. Metal Machine
4. Basta Ya
5. Heavy Rain
6. Devil's Bite
7. Death Ride
8. King Of Mean
9. Timekeeper
10. Never Cross My Way
11. Take My Medicine
12. Stay True
13. When Love Becomes A Lie
14. Book Of Faith

For awhile there I really stopped paying much attention to Accept and Udo. They just kinda lost my interest somewhere along the way. I guess Accept just kinda drifted and Udo's solo stuff never Quite grabbed me. With Accept coming back strong with a new vocalist though my interest has been rekindled and I was wondering what Udo was up to these days. Figured I'd give this one a shot.

I think Steelhammer is pretty much what I expected it to be in terms of style, but maybe a little better in the songwriting department than I was necessarily expecting. This is pretty much straight forward traditional stuff, but it does have a lot of aggression with perhaps a bit of a heavier power metal touch to the production. Almost has that power/thrash vibe at times. The music complements Udo well and he sounds like his usual raspy self with his snarls and screams which add a nice touch of bite to the material. I'm reminded a bit of Primal Fear in terms of overall sound, especially the earlier stuff which mixed speedier and chuggier material. I like all of the songs on this album really, except for the one notable exception of Heavy Rain. Udo ballad? PASS. I'm sort of reminded of a bad Louis Armstrong song. Seriously, this is pretty terrible, but as it's the only glaring mistake on an otherwise solid album I can accept it and track forward.

For a straight ahead, no nonsense album, I definitely like this overall. It does a pretty good job of getting you pumped and both the vocals and music have a nice heavy edge. If I want something to just headbang to, driving along in my car, I can see this one finding my player.

Highlights: Basta Ya, A Cry Of A Nation, Timekeeper

Rating - 3.5/5