U.D.O. is a German Metal band founded by vocalist, Udo Dirkschneider (Accept), who has been performing his style of Anthemic Metal since the 80’s. Other band members involved are guitarist, Andrey Smirnov, guitarist, Fabian “Dee” Dammers, bassist, Peter Baltes (Accept) and Udo’s son Sven Dirkschneider on drums. U.D.O.’s new album, Touchdown, released on August 25th, was inspired by the ever-important goal for players and teams in American football, where those same principles are applied throughout Udo’s music career. Touchdown was produced by Martin Pfeiffer (Redhead Studio; Wilhelmshaven, Germany), and engineered by Stefan Kaufmann (ROXX Studio; Solingen, Germany).
There are quite a lot of tracks on this album, 13.
Isolation introduces the band with Sven’s machine-like drumming followed by Udo’s unique vocal. A little different to traditional heavy metal, the enjoyable inclusion of very skilled melodic shredding pushes U.D.O more towards power metal.
The Flood is heavy, and technical but not overtop, as headbanging is still a priority here.
Amazed by how many combinations of catchy riffs compiled into one album, The Double Dealers Club is no exception here. Andrey & Fabian’s guitar playing is faultless, supported by Peter’s equivalent bass work.
Fight For the Right, old school charm, hammering us into the ground. A familiar anthemic melody combined with U.D.O.’s own quirky spin.
Forever Free, I’m drifting to a faraway place where I will be forever free to live my life be who I am… just like the lyrics entails.
Punchline, blurring the lines between heavy metal, melodic metal and power metal with a whisper of gothic thrown in for good measure.
Sad Man’s Show has very catchy lyrics, enjoyable to the ears as the words roll easily off the tongue.
The Betrayer enthrals with technical footwork and soaring eastern melodic scales. An interesting cocktail of different influences creates a memorable and one-of-a-kind sound.
I’d like to elaborate a little more on Udo’s voice, it has a very distinct Gravelly sound. It reminds me a little of Angry Anderson or Brian Johnson but has a much darker, ballsy timbre. A superb match for the music of this Caliber, particularly Heroes of Freedom, where the Anthemic hooks entice the listener to sing along.
Immediately absorbed into the powerful world of exotic epic metal, Better Start to Run ticks all the boxes, high on my list of favourites.
The Battle Understood, heavy riffage, driving us forward, U.D.O. is no ordinary band and this album is extraordinarily well put together.
Living Hell keeps the melodic and hooky momentum flowing with U.D. O’s ubiquitous sound.
Touchdown, like its namesake. U.D.O. really has made a touchdown with this album. The band are obviously tight as Fuck… To find a mix of musicians, this extraordinary is like winning the lotto or a touchdown. It’s hard to say which song I enjoyed the most as there were a lot of gold nuggets, but standouts for me were Fight for the Right and Better Start to Run. A masterpiece with a unique and appealing to lovers of Power Metal, Melodic Metal and Technical Heavy Metal. This one’s a keeper.
U.D.O.: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Atomic Fire Records
Category: Album
Country: Germany
Reviewed by GG Baf
