U.D.O. - Mastercutor

Published May 03 2007

*=Staff's pick	Mastercutor The Wrong Side Of Midnight* The Instigator* One Lone Voice We Do - For You Walker In The Dark* Master Of Disaster* Tears Of A Clown Vendetta* The Devil Walks Alone Dead Man's Eyes* Crash Bang Crash

Genre	Heavy Metal	Udo Dirkschneider	Vocals
Tracks	12	Stefan Kaufmann	Guitar
Runningtime	51 Min.	Igor Gianola	Guitar
Label	AFM Records	Fitty Wienhold	Bass
Release	18 May 2007	Francesco Jovino	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Accept, Primal Fear

When it comes to a new U.D.O. album you think you know exactly what to get. It basically sounds as it always does and it is only a matter of the quality of the songs if you like one specific album more than another. When Mastercutor starts as usual with title track, nothing really stands against my expectations. It sounds like a U.D.O. title track should sound. A promising one. Quite hard. The first single The Wrong Side Of Midnight on the other hand is a bit special. When you have the whole picture, it is not representative for the rest. It is heavy mid tempo, there are oriental influences and the chorus starts with Udo singing accompanied only by a crackling 'vinyl' sound, before the whole band burst into a pompous and irresistible refrain. The best track on the album, no doubt!

The Instigator is basically another typical song, with a strong hard Accept-riff and a simple chorus. One Lone Voice is the first ballad - also with a familiar U.D.O. sound. You notice that Udo still sings with impressively strong voice, especially when he refrain himself from screaming out fully. You also notice the heavy drum sound, even in a ballad like this. We Do - For You would be the first filler. It feels like the song that is just always there on a U.D.O. album. In the bad sense this time. So far everything proceeds as expected. But that feeling will be totally cast aside in a moment.

With Walker Of The Dark, the album gets a new character. It is heavy as led, a bit monotone riffing and hard as granite. My thoughts go to Death Row, the forgotten pearl from the last Accept years in the 90s. Then comes Master Of Disaster, totally blowing away every form of expectation of what is to come. The unusual industrial elements in the verse turn into almost Rammstein-like riffing in the chorus. The drums pound like in a thrash song. But the melodic bridge and strong chorus is as it should be. It is by far the heaviest song I've heard so far from U.D.O.

After this small chock the ballad Tears Of A Clown breaks yet another time with the previous. It is piano and cello, just as in Blind Eyes. The song is okay, but I am totally allergic against crying clown lyrics. Vendetta returns to the heavy mid tempo, in the vein of Death Row. It has a riff that can move mountains and a simple, sticking chorus. The Devil Walks Alone is another mid tempo song, and the second filler. But with Dead Man's Eyes we take another step out in the deep. It is again the mix of industrial metal, Rammstein riffs and thrash drums. It surprises you a bit with a late chorus, just when you thought that you had 'got' the song.

Crash Bang Crash surprises you a last time. This is more catchy glam rock or… Quiet Riot, than stone hard Accept metal. Fun as a 'bonus'. Mastercutor is a more thought through, more worked through and simply fresher release than the routine product Mission No. X. I am totally happy that my long time favourites have shown to have new ideas and influences, renewed vitality and inspiration and good old strength and power.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
9	8	9	9	8

Summary
9 chalices of 10 - David