When you get to the elevated level that ACCEPT is at, your albums are pretty much critic proof. The band is going to write what they want and the fans will be there. In this case, Too Mean To Die practically writes itself, following all the hallowed and well worn traditions of ACCEPT. But it doesn’t seem fair to criticize them for sticking to a well worn path when everybody is going batshit crazy over the utter traditionalism of AC/DC’s PWR Up.
This is a pure ACCEPT album down to the last note, and the last atom. It follows the same gameplan as pretty much every other album in the Mark Tornillo era has, and longtime headbangers will love them for it. We got ball-breakers like the title track and ‘Not My Problem’ that are fast as a shark (cough, cough), along with fist-pumping crunch anthems like ‘Overnight Sensation’ and ‘How Do We Sleep’. And of course, we get a couple of ballads – in this case, ‘The Undertaker’ and ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ – along with some pompous tunes with a neoclassical edge (‘Symphony Of Pain’ and the instrumental ‘Samson And Delilah’). The sound of Wolf Hoffman’s lead guitar is something you could identify if you were under water and had your ears stuffed with cotton. Tornillo’s gruff vocals also hold up well.
Let’s face it, we’ve really heard this album before, and actually more than once. But as I said, it’s critic proof and ACCEPT continue to deliver Teutonic steel with few signs of impurity.
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
ACCEPT
Too Mean To Die
Nuclear Blast
3.5 / 6