U.D.O. - Dominator (2009)

I have a lot of passion for Udo Dirkschneider. He is truly one of the elder statesmen of metal music today, and his commitment and ability to release album after album of consistent, catchy material is rare for someone so far into his career. That he manages to stay completely true to his roots in the legendary Accept is nothing shy of a miracle. His grating, air raid siren vocals have not grown tired after all these years, and let's face it, he is one of the very CREATORS of power metal. So much of it is molded in his image, and so much fails to live up to it.

None of this can excuse the horrible choice of cover art for this album. It is truly awful to behold, and worthy of a mass recall (and at least one termination of employment). But albums are fortunately more than just their cover art, and after a few listens, Dominator, his 12th solo album, does deliver. It picks up right where Mastercutor left off, and while it doesn't reach the height of that album, it features at least a half dozen excellent tracks. You will immediately recognize the mid paced hard rocking of "Dominator", "Infected" and "Speed Demon", they all sound like German Power Metal 101: The Accept Strain. But these are surprisingly not the strongest moments of the album. The throbbing, fist pumping "Black and White" revels in its true Priest-like glory. "Heavy Metal Heaven" opens with an excellent percussive section, I simply melt when I think how amazing this song would be at some outdoors arena festival. "Doom Ride" and "Stillness of Time" are glorious, the latter again a fist shaking anthem with lighter accompaniment. "Devil's Rendezvous" straddles the line between blues, power metal and polka folk, quite a unique song for U.D.O., and fun.

As usual, the man's voice sounds amazing. It has lost none of luster, though few of the songs have him wailing at full power. As usual, the lineup features veterans and rockers from the European scene, including Stefan Kaufmann (Accept) on guitar. The mix is clean and top flight. Like any U.D.O. album, the appeal will be limited for spastic youths hellbent on noodly power metal like Dragonforce or Rhapsody. But if you enjoy the pure strain of German perfection, as only bands like Accept, Grave Digger, Primal Fear, Helloween, Blind Guardian, Rage and UDO have delivered these many years...you'll fit right in. It's not one of his best records ever, but it has enough good moments to keep me entertained until the next. Just don't look at the cover.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.udo-online.de/