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Rating: It's 1985 and the iron wave that hit the musical world at the beginning of the '80s has now reached enormous dimensions. Riding this wave, whether you remember them or not, were also the Teutonic Accept. Among the pioneers of heavy metal and perhaps true precursors of the Power genre (listen to the famous track Fast as a Shark to believe it), this band has managed to give the genre significant musical depth, thanks also to their unmistakable style that makes them appear as the Heavy counterpart of AC/DC and which, in my opinion, also manages to match them artistically.
"Metal Heart," their sixth release after the acclaimed works "Restless and Wild" and "Balls to the Wall," is a health certificate that announces to the whole world how their sound was still vigorous and unstoppable, and can easily be pointed to as their highest artistic expression along with the two previously mentioned albums and the subsequent "Russian Roulette." With that said, inserting the album into the stereo offers a delightfully exciting sensation that can only grow in unison with the immediate entrance of the title track. With lyrics that are halfway between a futuristic-catastrophic action movie like Terminator and an anthem to the supremacy of the "metal race", "Metal Heart" grows slowly and powerfully, supported by the imposing choirs of the indispensable army of metalheads commanded by the charismatic Colonel Udo Dirckschneider, a vocalist with a particular voice that will capture your attention right away with his Brian Johnson-like singing style (although looking at the timeline, it should be said that Johnson uses a Dirckschneider style).
"Metal Heart" explodes in its contained aggression; it's measured, it's threatening, it's a declaration of war to anyone who wants to confront Accept, more determined than ever. In the midst of the song, you can't help but be pervaded by a sense of satisfaction, with the progression of a solo so metallic sonically that it feels like dental floss entering one ear and exiting the other without giving you peace, and following the cheering choirs of the chorus is a timeless emotion. The next track is the classic sudden thrill of novelty from Accept; after the threatening entrance, the atmosphere becomes decidedly lighter and more carefree, "Midnight Mover" is that classic '80s style song that would have been perfectly at home even in a disco of the time and to which one cannot remain indifferent. It continues at full speed with a classic from their repertoire, "Up to the Limit" is as rockish as you would want to find on the album, while "Wrong is Right" is a sound assault that will overwhelm you and steal your heart. The situation becomes sweeter with "Screaming for a Love Bite" which still maintains a pleasantly lively style, subsequently "Too High to Get it Right" takes back the headbanging stimulus with a Udo who cries and shouts like a black metaller in the grip of an exorcism.
A dark bass riff leads us into that atmospheric concentrate of times gone by, "Dogs on Leads", brilliant and hysterical. "Teach us to Survive" reveals sounds and a style that I could say came out of a '40s Noir film, particular and unstoppable, it effectively continues the pace of an album that so far shows no real weaknesses, and continues not to show them with the eruption of another classic from Accept's repertoire, "Living for Tonite". We've reached the end of the album... and what an end! Not even time to recover from the journey and "Bound to Fail" explodes in all its victorious solemnity. If the opener appeared like a declaration of war, the ending seems like the declaration of a foregone victory, with that air of megalomania that would fit perfectly as the soundtrack of a film like "Triumph of the Will", where Adolf Hitler delivered his speech inflaming the crowds and walked among the vast and proud German troops, just like in that film, Colonel Dirckschneider incites the final battle for his ecstatic army, and it can be sworn that given his origins he took inspiration from that historical documentary.
In conclusion, "Metal Heart" turns out to be a classic of Accept's repertoire and, consequently, of the entire Heavy Metal genre. Saying whether it's the best or not of their discography is a moot point; depending on tastes, everyone will designate their favorite. What is certain is that albums of this caliber cannot go unnoticed by a genre enthusiast. If you haven't yet experienced Accept, this might be an excellent opportunity to gift yourself something this Christmas—a record of high-crafted Heavy Metal.
With that said, I leave you with what is the title track's lyrics, it's a very simple and direct text, but it is a great testament to the passion for a musical genre and is the perfect transposition of the soul of a band too often left to languish in its past by the new generations of which I am a part.
It is 1999
The human race has to face it
They are confronted with the truth
Its secret - mysterious
A surgeon said it in the news
The human race is dying
But the result is no disease
Searching for you
Metal heart! metal heart!
They found it everywhere
Metal heart! metal heart!
Lifeless piece of steel
The scaring fact was even told
Total confusion
They found the same nightmare
Heartbeats - timebombs
Metal heart! metal heart!
Unplugged they're dying
Metal heart! metal heart!
Unplugged they die
Metal heart! metal heart!
They found it everywhere
Metal heart! metal heart!
Lifeless piece of steel
Metal heart! metal heart! metal heart!
Unplugged they're dying
Metal heart! metal heart!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Metal Heart (05:24)
It is 1999
The human race has to face it
They are confronted with the truth
It's secret -- mysterious
A surgeon said it in the news
The human race is dying
But the result is no disease
Searching for you
Metal heart -- metal heart
They found it everywhere
Metal heart -- metal heart
Lifeless piece of steel
The scaring fact was even told
Total confusion
They found the same nightmare
Heartbeats -- timebombs
Metal heart -- metal heart
Unplugged they're dying
Metal heart -- metal heart
Unplugged they die
Metal heart -- metal heart
They found it everywhere
Metal heart -- metal heart
Lifeless piece of steel
Metal heart -- metal heart -- metal heart
Unplugged they're dying
Metal heart -- metal heart
03 Up to the Limit (03:47)
Too many things happened today
Too many words I don't wanna say
I wanna be cool but the heat's coming up
I'm ready to kill 'cause enough is enough
All I can say - out of my way
Before I get to the top
All I can feel is wild running blood
Please stop - you better watch it
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
Do me a favour and leave me alone
The most I love you is when you're gone
Please, disappear and don't come back
I'm not the kind of guy you can check
All I can say - out of my way
Before I get to the top
All I can feel is wild running blood
Please stop - you better watch it
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
To the limit - up to the limit
To the limit - up to the limit
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
Up to the limit
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
It's getting up to the limit
Up to the limit
To the limit - up to the limit
To the limit - up to the limit
06 Too High to Get It Right (03:47)
Getting everything is easy for you
Fail for anything is something you can't do
If it doesn't work in the way you want it for
You start dreaming until it's right
Lie is lie - and truth is truth
You'll turn it 'round, let someone else go down
You won't remember and no one would wonder
How you change it upside down
Too high to get it right
(too high to get - too high to get)
Too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - to get it right
To get it right
You can't deny it you're leaving your world
You are so restless, who's the one who's hurt
Living in your dreams and who seems to care
Cheating you is easy, 'cause you don't understand
Holding on - letting loose
Don't you feel that you are confused
Too many words - not spoken out
Too many things you've not thought about
Too high to get it right
(too high to get - too high to get)
Too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it right) - to get it right
(too high to get it right) - too high to get it right
(too high to get it - too high to get it - too high to get it)
Too high to get it (right)
07 Dogs on Leads (04:24)
He stares at her, his teeth are bare
Blood gets hot, he wants it now,
He wants it rare, but something's there
That holds him back from the attack
Before the kill he feels the thrill
Something is there, that cools him off
And it seems some kind of tough
What a force on leads
They wait for you, they're getting big
But they can hide, their lust is huge
Some are nice, and some are false
And all they want is that you believe
That they are just like you and me
They're talking sweet, they're acting calm
They are so smooth, they're so nice
But if they could they would bite
Dogs on leads - dogs on leads
Dogs on leads - dogs on leads
Oh, it's so mean
No one knows that they're outrageous
As long as they are treated gracious
Once cut off they're getting wild
But someone's there, who leads the lead
And they can walk in a line
And they dance on a rein
Something's there that cools them off
But it seems some kind, some kind of tough
They're all
Dogs on leads - dogs on leads
Dogs on leads - dogs on leads
Dogs on leads
And the sweetest of the sweetest
Is a hunter held on leads
They're the nicest - they're the calmest
No one knows it - who's the beast
Don't you turn 'rough, it's too dangerous
So you better catch the lead
If they're hungry, they might hurry
And you better feed the need
Dogs on leads - dogs on leads
Dogs on leads - dogs on leads
Oh yeah!
Dogs on leads - dogs on leads
Dogs on leads
Dogs - dogs on leads
10 Bound to Fail (05:07)
Drifting down what we passed
It's done over and over again
We've just been losing a part
To be in another winning team
We turned the tables and times
Reject the failures for the pride
It's a replay or a change
Who knows when the new game starts
What have we done
What a deal
We're bound to fail
'cause you failed before
We're bound to fail
'cause you failed before
While you have been so wrong
We have to live by self defence
We are mistaken by you
There is no way we can win
We wanna change it
Is it true
We're bound to fail
'cause you failed before
We're bound to fail
'cause you failed before
We wanna change it
What have we done
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Other reviews
By ilfreddo
It’s a distillation of creativity in its purest form that twists and blooms on a historical axis.
Metal Heart, for example. I wish I were able to build my days, the normal ones, this way. Without too many schemes.
