Udo Dirkschneider, one of Heavy Metal's best preservers, thunderbolts Heavy Metal again! He created masterpieces with Accept, albums that are forever imprinted on the Metal Hearts of metalheads everywhere (albums like Balls to The Wall and Metal Heart are by all means some of the best Heavy Metal albums ever).
What people shouldn't forget though is that Udo also created masterpieces during his solo career (Animal House, Mean Machine, Holy etc) and...still keeps on doing that!
Former Accept singer returns with another ass-kicking album, Thunderball! Together with his comrades: hard-tuned Stefan Kaufmann (ex-Accept drummer, continued his musical career as a guitarist), talented Lorenzo Milani (ex-Gotthard drummer), bass-shredding Fitty Wienhold (ex-Bullet bassist) and thundering Igor Gianola(guitars); Udo Dirkschneider  raises his middle finger to all of those who dare to believe Heavy Metal is dead.
Thunderball was recorded in 2003, quite shortly after the release of Nailed To Metal, which was a live recording and includes a whole lot of Accept's classic hits, like Princes of The Dawn, Balls To The Wall, Fast As A Shark and more.
With most of the songs (like Thunderball, Pull The Trigger and Fistful Of Anger) giving me an unimaginable feeling like the one I had when I first listened to Breaker and Balls To The Wall, the album seems to be a fist full of concise riffs, alive with Udo's vocals, choirs, moments I'm sure everyone will remember after their first audition of Thunderball.
There are also two softer songs in Thunderball, The Magic Mirror and Blind Eyes, with the first one maintaining an epical mood through it's fabulous choirs, under softer tunes (than the rest of the album) and the second one bringing out a more sensitive and melancholic feeling. Trainride In Russia is a tribute to Russia's folklore music, with U.D.O. sending out their own special thank you to all their crazy fans up there! A most enjoying song (and something different).
Here's an album that'll make our necks ache from headbanging, make our voices suck (from singing along) and that'll make your neighbors go Oh no, he's listening to Heavy Metal again!. If Heavy Metal is what you want, Heavy Metal's what you'll get, thanks to U.D.O.!