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Style: heavy metal, power metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Year: 2021
Home: Germany
Members: Mark Tornillo ~ vocals
Wolf Hoffmann ~ lead guitar
Uwe Lulis, Philip Shouse ~ rhythm guitars
Martin Motnik ~ bass
Christopher Williams ~ drums
I've reviewed a few early Accept & some U.D.O. albums, confessing surprise at how enjoyable they were, but I figured I had to be fair & review a post Udo album. This is the band's 16th album & the fifth with frontman Mark Tornillo. It also features a new bassist & rhythm guitarist. Tornillo's voice isn't too far a stretch from Udo, barely a hop. Perhaps its Udo's twin brother with a bit of Brian Johnson from AC/DC thrown in. Which means, if you like early Accept than don't be afraid to check out current Accept. There will be more here that is familiar than not. What will be here? A brutal attack of intense proportions that likely got missed by many metalheads in the world of Covid 2020 where all eyes were on other things. Too Mean To Die is as if the band looked at their career, looked at what made them & their peers successful, forgot about trends or what anyone else is doing, & just blasted it old school like no time had passed. Its old school being classic NWOBHM metal. Straight to the point. Nothing fancy. Nobody is re-inventing the wheel, but just rocking the template. The drums provide the backbone. The singer growls, but not too much. The rest of the group chomps away at riff after riff like a vulture swooping down. It was an enjoyable 50 minutes. Yet, having said that, the songs are largely forgettable as you feel like you've heard them all before in decades past by other bands. Sometimes I found myself thinking 'this sounds exactly like somebody, now who is it?' Thankfully the band stays away from the blues, as with Tornillo they'd likely sound too much like AC/DC. The songs could be more memorable, as the riffs were plentiful but the hooks few. Everything sorta blends into everything else, & stand-out moments were likely because this sounded too much like classic moody Accept. This is essentially one of those albums that you'll enjoy listening to, but you likely won't remember it. The one moment you will remember is maybe the anthem power ballad "The Best Is Yet To Come", but more because it feels out of place, like a different band & you've heard better. Too Mean To Die is good metal that hits most of the right buttons & not much more.
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