Since the dawn of time and the poisoning of his mind by the Serpent of the Garden of Eden, Man has always believed himself to be the equal of God, thinking that he could do as well as him, or even better, in the act of Creation and of breathing Life into bodies of various compositions, omitting that only the Source was the artisan of souls. This is how for several millennia, in all civilizations, alchemists and occultists of all faiths and plural origins worked to discover the secret of existence and tried as best they could to monopolize the science. of this vital energy which animate us all since our conception in the womb. Many urban legends tell us about zombies, Golems or vampires. Others, like Mary Shelley, tell us the adventures of a monstrous character, the work of a completely frozen Swiss scholar, in 'Frankenstein, Prometheus of modern times'. Today we have Chinese cloners and Japanese and American engineers, with the duplication of DNA to recreate individuals using 3D printers as well as dummy uteruses or the reconstruction of metal skeletons equipped with unpredictable artificial intelligence. These researchers push the vice to the point of wanting carbon copies of human beings by integrating larger-than-life skin and humanoid characteristics into these cybernetic organisms. Isaac Asimov, in his great wisdom, has given us a detailed study of the “dangers” generated by these anthropoids if they were disseminated among populations through a series of books as successful as they are fascinating, soberly entitled ‘The Robots’. In the 1980s, American director James Cameron himself worried about the consequences if these automated creatures, designed by what must have been a common military operating system, had rebelled against their makers because of this completely corrupted software having become aware of its existence. It was through this deeply philosophical reflection that the film ‘Terminator’ and the saga that followed was born. Today, the subject still sparks lively debate, particularly among religious people who see these automatons as a direct affront to the Lord. However, far from being a trivial theme, androids and other cyborgs are at the origin of various and ridiculous fantasies in the conspiracy sphere. Should we therefore abandon questions about the real usefulness or possible danger of these men of steel and their synthetic brains? The exploration of possibilities persists via free applications such as ChatGPT or Midjourney, platforms which, in time, could have completely freed themselves from the rules of decorum to supplant us as the dominant species and make countless professions disappear. , starting with that of musician.
This is, moreover, a subject that Wolf HOFFMANN, co-founder and guitarist of the group ACCEPT, very recently addressed. Having tested the capabilities of the AI in the development of song lyrics which, according to him, proved more than surprising, as these texts were remarkable, he confessed his admiration coupled with concern in the face of what is one of the greatest challenges facing Humanity in the 21st century, namely the survival of living things and the progressive replacement of the anthropic species by machines, which also occurs through transhumanism and the attraction to dematerialized solutions, - cryptocurrencies, digital administrative services, contactless or smartphone payment, video games, implantation of RFID passes in the wrist or hand at metro terminals -. Many artists have taken up this theme for decades, but it is in heavy metal that tongues have been loosened the most. DIO on Angry Machines, Blaze BAYLEY on Silicon Messiah, U.D.O. on Man And Machine, SAXON with the refrain Man And Machine and many others denounced what seemed to them an imminent danger. Now, it's the turn of the ACCEPT squad to address this recurring leitmotif in the hardened steel scene that is ours with this supercharged Humanoid.
Far from being a concept on this 17th album, the plot nevertheless hovers quite often throughout the 48 minutes of this new opus made in Germany. From Diving Into Sin to Unbreakable via Frankenstein and Humanoid, the Germans occasionally give us some suggestions to lead us into philosophical reflections so that we think about what the world could become if these “abominations” managed to take control of our most sensitive institutions and infrastructures. We would then experience a terrible waking nightmare and we could definitely lower the curtain. However, there is no point worrying, what should happen will happen anyway, regardless of all the efforts of our fellow human beings to stop what is not a phenomenon but an obligatory passage which will take place in the future. A few decades ago, the KISS quartet was tempted by a substitution into avatars, let's admit it, much less successful than their flesh-and-blood alter-egos.
Humanoid begins on Arabic notes like Wherever I May Roam by METALLICA, with this Phrygian mode which incredibly freaks out the proponents of Christian propriety, on Diving Into Sin, a powerful piece like Die By The Sword which allows ACCEPT to start this umpteenth washer on the wheel caps. This antiphon focuses on celerity, classic solos and martial choruses like Hole In The Head. A beautiful introduction that launches the minstrels onto this tortuous musical bobsleigh track that is Humanoid, which will alternate between straight lines conducive to dazzling accelerations and turns that encourage you to take your foot off the gas. From the first seconds after the introduction, we feel the quintet perfectly at ease and totally in good shape. You only have to listen to the high perched lines of Mark TORNILLO, the massive rhythm section of Martin MOTNIK and Christopher WILLIAMS, or even the swift playing of guitarists Wolf HOFFMANN and Uwe LULIS, to realize the obvious : time truly has no influence on the abilities of our troubadours. The experience of Wolf HOFFMANN, Mark TORNILLO and Uwe LULIS is matched only by the enthusiasm of the youngest recruits: drummer Christopher WILLIAMS and bassist Martin MOTNIK, respectively members of the squadron since The Rise Of Chaos and Too Mean To Die. The vocalist Mark TORNILLO (TT QUICK), the guitar player Wolf HOFFMANN (the only employee of the ACCEPT forge since its beginnings, now boss) and the other mandolinist Uwe LULIS (ex-GRAVE DIGGER, ex-REBELLION) are all old hands of the metal scene since the 80s who have totally mastered their subject at their fingertips, so have no trouble in blowing our minds with tracks that literally take our breath away.
Such as the incisive Humanoid, the group's first single, which is a monumental slap in the face and an implicit reference to Metal Heart, of which it is an extension, notably with this album cover, the work of Gyula HAVANCSAK, which represents the same metallic heart , this time as a window frame onto a Blade Runner-esque world in the background. An ingenious idea which allows the quintet to combine the past with the present. Or the original Frankenstein on which, once again, this eighties aura hovers, although in terms of pre-chorus melodies it is quite reminiscent of Koolaid on The Rise Of Chaos. The rest of the title makes people clap and shake their hair, so much so that we are in the spatio-temporal paradox of Doctor Emmett Brown: it is a song on a classic metal basis but in a modernized vein which reassures just as much as it brings freshness to an ensemble which will be more or less in the same configuration throughout. Was this a conscious desire of Wolf HOFFMANN during the studio sessions? Or did this shift from the current face towards something more traditional take place surreptitiously during the writing and recording? Difficult to say, as the group has already wandered into such convolutions since Blood Of The Nations, notably on Pandemic and Locked And Loaded, even on Against The World, 200 Years, Analog Man or Hole In My Head, Too Mean To Die having more of a hard rock aspect, which excludes it from this McFly trip in the first years of its discography.
However, ACCEPT also knows how to renew itself. The baroque and thrashy Southside Of Hell is the perfect example. What is striking here is the balance between old and new. The quintet had already done this to us, but this is even more blatant. Because nothing is missing on Humanoid to take us thirty or forty years back. There is the bouncy Unbreakable, the inexhaustible Mind Games, more conventional cantatas like “Man Up and Straight Up Jack. There are also terribly banal compositions like Ravages Of Times, a listenable but horribly boring ballad. When you listen to it, the impression of déjà vu is obvious, since it is a gloubi-boulga of Kill The Pain and The Undertaker with a pinch of Winter Dreams and Amamos La Vida. This mixture is relatively unbearable and it would be particularly pleasant if the Teutons offered us next time a more ballsy album with only Stalingrad-style arias. The Reckoning, Mind Games and Nobody Gets Out Alive make up for this slight deviation while literally accelerating.
Indeed, Humanoid brilliantly presents the different facets of the Teutonic war machine that were offered during its various periods of existence. Of course, we're not treated to the groove metal of Death Row, or even the country farce of Predator or the fiery "glam" of Eat The Heat, which would have been out of place. However, the mayonnaise has set very well, as usual, for fourteen springs. It is tasty and lends itself very well to vegan barbecues, which are essential at the moment, given the summer temperatures and the sun shining brightly. When it doesn't float. In short, the new ACCEPT album is a butchery that shatters the eardrums and provides a lot of pleasure in this somewhat chaotic first half. So, when morale is low, a shot of Man Up and, presto, the fishing comes back with a bang. Despite its possibly pessimistic words, this litany still remains positive thanks to its catchy rhythm, even heady at times, and its regular encouragement to get back in the saddle when everything is going wrong. After all, the group has gone through some not very cool times over the last thirty years. However, his survival instinct pushed him to constantly get back up to face adversity, guitarist Wolf HOFFMANN being this valiant locomotive which trains him to tenacity and perseverance, no matter the pitfalls. Likewise, a shot of Jack Daniel’s (Straight Up Jack) and, again, the train gets back on track. In moderation, eh. That said, the ACCEPT machine has existed for more than four decades now, it was necessarily unthinkable that the training would do it in reverse by going into something completely different stylistically speaking. Wolf and his friends are fans of traditional heavy music. Doing death, power or prog would have been an unwelcome anachronism, knowing the careers of Wolf HOFFMANN, Mark TORNILLO and Uwe LULIS, not to mention the tastes of “newbies”. This is how it is normal to see the quintet playing on the contrasts between the robust Balls To The Wall, Blood Of The Nations or Russian Roulette and the gentle Breaker, Metal Heart or Blind Rage, all on one and the same Pont-ACCEPT cake. Ultimately, Humanoid is like T-101, not only an alloy of metal and humanity, but also a bridge between the cyborg of 1984 and the cyborg of 2014, that is to say having taken from the bottle , but not obsolete by a bolt. ACCEPT has many more chapters in its history to write in the book of its life in the near future, starting with an American tour with KK'S PRIEST, idol of the original six-string player, which will see the company perform at legendary Whiskey-à-Go-go in Los Angeles, the highlight of the trip in the USA, where Bruce DICKINSON gave two surprise concerts at the beginning of March. Humanoid has come to reinforce with its essential presence an already very solid discography, even if strewn with wanderings, although this is yet another burst of musical intelligence which proves once again, if there was a need for demonstrate it, all the talent of the group in producing albums of very high musical quality and that the elders are still the masters in the field. The young wolves of the NWOTHM still have a lot to learn from the "old" sea wolves like ACCEPT who have been sailing the seven oceans for ages, even though the kids from HAUNT, RAM or STRIKER were still only spermatozoa in the starting blocks hanging from their respective daddies. From this Humanoid emanates a terribly constructive firepower which ignites the throbbing and delights the zygomatics. Such a release in such a chaotic moment is a blessing, as was AC/DC's Power Up in 2020. Finally, heavy metal is on the rise in this strange year 2024. After the births of SAXON, by Bruce DICKINSON and JUDAS PRIEST, it would have been completely illogical for ACCEPT not to have a seventeenth offspring either. Boudiou, that makes a lot of people in the smala. And I'm not telling you about the crazy family allowances. No more jokes, Humanoid is a return to favor for the first cousins after Too Mean To Die, which was a little too lively and relatively uneven in its structure. Which made it very close to Blind Rage, although with a more serious tone. Nevertheless, supporters of the Solingen native squadron are thirsty for monumental riffs, cataclysmic rhythms and singing that constantly plays like a cat. And our favorite people from across the Rhine do it really well thanks to Andy SNEAP's hardened steel production. The proof with the record you currently have in your hands, your turntable or neatly stored in your discotheque. So, it’s true that Humanoid is not going to revolutionize the genre, but it provides a lot of thrills and enjoyment. And that’s already a given, we’re not going to complain about it these days.
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