UDO: Mastercutor

Cover	Release	Style
	2007-05-21	heavy metal
	Label
	www.afm-records.de / www.rockinc.nl
	Website
	www.udo-online.de
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	50:39	AFM 159-2
	Review by / Translated by	Rating
	Vera	7,5/10
nederlands	Review
Stability in the metal world; it does exist! For years Udo Dirkschneider makes straight forward metal albums – from time to time we have a reunion tour with his old band Accept – and the line-up of UDO has been the same since long. We know what to expect: uncomplicated, yet adequate metal in the vein of Judas Priest, with a smile and a tear, the typical excited voice of der Udo and excellent guitar skills. ‘Mission X’, released in 2005, was a strong album in this series, this one is a bit less captivating, yet offers enough material to see those fists rise in the air during wild live gigs. The album was preceded by a single ‘The Wrong Side Of Midnight’ in April, which is one of the best compositions of ‘Mastercutor’. This pumping track has some oriental influences, riffs are tight and we have an as keen as mustard guitar solo. I do not like the big-band introduction of the title track, but of course that is all about show. For after all these years, Udo remains a professional entertainer. We hear slogan-like metal in ‘We Do – For You’ and ‘Crash Bang Crash’, simple songs that have only one purpose: sing along with a beer in your hands. The album is produced by guitarist and long time buddy of Udo, Stefan Kaufmann and has a very modern guitar sound in songs like ‘Walker In The Dark’ and the very heavy, scanned ‘Master Of Disaster’. The dark timbre of the first one pleases me, in the second track there is a cold industrial mood while the catchy chorus is the opposite. One can find two ballads on ‘Mastercutor’. In ‘One Lone Voice’ Udo sings differently (with normal lower voice) and he should do that more often (like in the early Accept days). This is a marvellous song, but the other ballad ‘Tears Of A Clown’ has a proclivity to cheap sentiment. ‘Vendetta’ reminds me most of all of the Accept era. Conclusion: best tracks are ‘The Wrong Side Of Midnight’, ‘One Lone Voice’, ‘Walker In The Dark’, ‘Vendetta’ and the powerful ‘Dead Man’s Eyes’. As you see, a pretty large sprinkling. For fans of Accept and Judas Priest enough quality to purchase this, though there are a few weaker tracks. The special edition includes two bonus tracks and the videoclip of ‘The Wrong Side Of Midnight’.
Musicians
Udo Dirkschneider: vocals Stefan Kaufmann: guitars Igor Gianola: guitars Fitty Wienhold: bass Francesco Jovino: drums
Tracklist
Mastercutor (5:17) The Wrong Side Of Midnight (4:54) The Instigator (3:48) One Lone Voice (4:20) We Do – For You (4:04) Walker In The Dark (5:01) Master Of Disaster (4:14) Tears Of A Clown (3:53) Vendetta (4:12) The Devil Walks Alone (3:21) Dead Man’s Eyes (4:27) Crash Bang Crash (3:06)
Discography


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