Too Mean to Die Accept

• 1 Zombie Apocalypse 05:35
• 2 Too Mean to Die 04:21
• 3 Overnight Sensation 04:24
• 4 No Ones Master 04:10
• 5 The Undertaker 05:37
• 6 Sucks to Be You 04:05
• 7 Symphony of Pain 04:39
• 8 The Best Is yet to Come 04:47
• 9 How Do We Sleep 05:41
• 10 Not My Problem 04:21
• 11 Samson and Delilah 04:31
• Total Runtime 52:11

Info for Too Mean to Die

Formed in 1976 in Solingen, West Germany, Accept are still flying the flag for German heavy metal, point proven by their upcoming studio album Too Mean To Die.

Whether it’s frustration from Covid (which has delayed the album release from Jan 15th till the 29th due to a pressing plant closure), they have pulled out all the stops for these eleven tracks here.

The grandiose crunchy riffed intro for ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ heads off into some mauling mid paced thrash metal. Lead vocalist Mark Tornillo still has his glass chewing rasp, especially in the catchy but still caustic choruses. An air raid tinged guitar solo adds to the panic of the song subject and glorious lead guitar work makes for an early album highlight.

There is no pause for breath as the title track leaps straight out of the starting blocks with some neck breaking grooves pinned down by some powerhouse drumming as the guitar solos fly out from speaker to speaker!

Another attention grabbing riff comes from ‘Overnight Sensation’. It’s all pounding heavy metal full of quirky lyrics that include “I need an instant gratification, I’m an overnight sensation. A subject of adoration, an overnight sensation”. It surely has rock radio airplay written all over it.

‘No Ones Master’ is a fist clenching chest beating tirade from Mark as his lyrics are belted out loud and proud and are very thought provoking as they portray corruption as guitar mayhem midway adds to the intensity.

A deceivingly quaint acoustic intro to ‘The Undertaker’ heads off into almost doom metal territory with its evil vibes. It’s a bass guitar dominated epic and the lyrics are spat out with an evil glee backed by monstrous choruses as it closes on the intro.

No frills raging heavy metal is the spotlight stealer for ‘Sucks To Be With You’. It’s a metal monster chock full of finger blistering lead guitar work.

Snappy snare work and a bludgeoning main riff make for one of the heaviest tracks here as ‘Symphony Of Pain’ goes seismic with kick drumming and unholy vocal screams.

‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ is a ballad with balls. Once again it’s another song with thought provoking lyrics and a very welcome side to their repertoire.

Jabbing riffs and an embittered vocal drive along ‘How Do We Sleep’. It’s another future anthem with a call to arms oeuvre.

‘Not My Problem’ will keep the headbangers busy as it rages hard and heavy for 4 minutes of proto thrash full of huge choruses.

This vociferous album closes on ‘Samson And Delilah’. It’s an instrumental curveball that builds and builds on a wall of ballistic riffing peppered with melodic guitar lines. It’s so powerful I had it on repeat play many times and it goes to show that you don’t have to play at 100mph to get your point across.

Mark Tornillo, vocals
Wolf Hoffmann, guitar
Uwe Lulis, guitar
Philip Shouse, guitar
Martin Motnik, bass
Christopher Williams, drums

Accept
ACCEPT, who once had their origins in the city of Solingen, a city of sound, have been a worldwide music phenomenon for more than 40 years. They still impress with razor-sharp guitar licks and a steel-hard sound. The band created all-time metal classics like “Balls To The Wall”, “Metal Heart” and many more. Countless world tours and headline slots at the biggest, cutting-edge festivals cemented the band’s reputation as one of the best, hottest and loudest live acts ever. In addition, the band has sold millions of records, has achieved gold status in the USA, top 10 chart positions worldwide and a number 1 album (Germany, Finland) for “Blind Rage” (2014).

Now with “Too Mean To Die” their 16th studio album is in the starting blocks - it is the fifth album that US vocalist and front man Mark Tornillo has put his incomparable vocal stamp on. Recorded in the world music capital of Nashville (USA), ACCEPT’s music was once again produced by British master producer Andy Sneap, who is responsible for the mix. Sneap, who works for Judas Priest and Megadeth among others, has also been responsible for all ACCEPT productions since 2010.

Special circumstances often lead to very special albums. This is certainly true for “Too Mean To Die”, which of course alludes to the Corona period, although in a different way than one might assume.

New to the band, and thus to be heard for the first time on an ACCEPT album, is Philip Shouse (Gene Simmons Band, among others). The US guitarist fights hot duels with Hoffmann, while Uwe Lulis makes the guitar trio perfect and provides the right rhythm.

Just how varied the ACCEPT guitar trio performs on the new album is proven by one of the secret highlights: ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ – a beguiling ballad in which Mark Tornillo is at his best. The metal world knows that Mark can scream like no other, but here it shows once again that the frontman can also sing magnificently.

A singer with whom the characteristic string virtuoso imposed another “seal of approval” right at the beginning of their 2010 collaboration with the milestone “Blood Of The Nations”, a seal of quality that is still going strong today. On “Too Mean To Die” the congenial duo Hoffmann and Tornillo present the highlight of their work so far.

In addition, ACCEPT have strengthened their team even further with newcomers Martin Motnik (bass) and Philip Shouse (guitar), thus forming an unbeatable team together with “Drum God” Christopher Williams and “Rhythm Master” Uwe Lulis.

There’s no doubt that with “Too Mean To Die” ACCEPT are once again playing at the top of the Champions League of the genre. Wolf Hoffmann & Co. present the (music) world eleven masterpieces at the beginning of 2021 - eleven songs for eternity!

This album contains no booklet.