JUDAS PRIEST and ACCEPT. Rob Halford and Udo Dirkschneider. Heavy Metal and Heavy Metal. Wanna introduce your teenanger cousin to the magic of our music? Wanna transfer knowledge 'bout what it means to play and sing Heavy Metal? Here's the deal; above. And, if Rob's rather keen on playing with JUDAS PRIEST again, Udo - aprt from some selected ACCEPT reunion shows the last years - carries on with his own band. Nearly 20 years of solo career, can you imagine? Mastercutor breaks loose and everything is familiar, once again.
Udo Dirkschneider receives a warm applaud, anything he does. Though few U.D.O. albums can be considered as 'Metal clasics', it is essential to be noted that the man still contributes the best he can to what to refer to as (pure) Heavy Metal music. Many will see this release as another one added to the endless list of 'simply good' Metal albums, but - regarding some bands/artists in specific - such releases bear an extra dimension. Thus, two years after 2005's Mission X the sharp-edged throat of the Solingen, Germany legendary singer delivers a brand new album that shows nothing less but what U.D.O. presents the last years. Take it or leave it.
Featuring the same lineup (during the last three years), Mastercutor sees no surprisingly different approach in songwriting and instrumentation. Razorous riffs, pounding drums, fat bass lines, blade-ish solos, sharp vocals from Udo and a tracklist varying in tempos. The Wrong Side of Midnight is a song I'd also pick to be the first single off the new album, plus banging tunes like We Do - For You and Mastercutor or 'touching' ones like One lone Voice would suit also good. Still, who cares? You know what to expect from post-No Limits (1998) offerings from U.D.O., huh?
The above statement may be the main drawback - once again - for those who will considere it as one. Mastercutor is a Metal album with limited chances to excite you; there's no doubt you'll adore the songs included but the 'formula' Udo has build the band's tunes on is rather stiff with a slight opportunity for performing something stimulating. Can you live with this fact? Then carry on banging your head to the wall in the sound of The Wrong Side Of Midnight. Otherwise, it seems the ACCEPT/U.D.O. archives were never your favourite ones. Or, you weren't theirs...