ALBUM REVIEW: UDO bring you to the Steelfactory

Forty years in any profession is a special achievement in anyone book, but that’s exactly what UDO DIRKSCHEIDER has achieved with a solid body of work behind him and judging by this new album STEELFACTORY he still has plenty to offer, forget balls to the wall and try a dose of album opener TONGUE REAPER with a gut
wrenching scream from UDO that could fell a herd of buffalo at 100 yards, one of the most compelling voices in rock is back and making a big statement, pummelling drums from UDO’s son SVEN and soaring guitars from AUDREY SMIRNOV push the track along and then suddenly the listener is entertained with a almost melodic guitar solo before resuming at full throttle.

Next up is MAKE THE MOVE with its nod to the Schenker era Scorpions oozes out the speakers and personally if this track can make the live set then with its catchy
chorus is sure to be a fan favourite KEEPER OF MY SOUL is more a mid tempo track with gang like backing vocals and raging guitars that keeps you thoroughly entertained for its 4 minute duration time.

Imagine a steam train chugging along that’s what you get with RAISE THE GAME with UDO’S spoken word passages and more melodic textures thrown in for good
measure, much foresight went into the arrangement of this song and the listener is rewarded with one of the albums stand out tracks.

HUNGRY AND ANGRY piles on the chunky riffs with UDO spitting out vocals like a dose of filthy bile and certainly gets the toes tapping and the head rolling….. now
remind me where did I put my air guitar ? Special shout out has to go to producer JACOB HANSEN for the great production on this release and none more evident
than on ONE HEART ONE SOUL.

ERASER with its full on drum barrage and assault of the eardrums is SVEN’s moment to shine and the ferocity of the track again is an album highlight almost
replicating painkiller era Priest. Album closer THE WAY with its acoustic guitar and simple arrangement that slowly builds and builds into a fitting finale to
STEELFACTORY. The only negative on this release is the filler track ROSE IN THE DESERT which puts a slight dampener on proceeding but that said anyone with
a penchant for old school metal who really cant decide what to purchase this month then look no further than picking up a copy of Germanys home grown lung buster UDO.

Review by Steve Bruty

Originally published on Metal Planet Music

New album ‘SteelFactory‘ will be released on 31st August.

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