U.D.O.
Rev Raptor

June 2011
Released: 2011, AFM Records
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

Ex Accept frontman Udo Dirkschneider has been in the solo artist spotlight business for nearly 25 years, and now in 2011 he has lade a fresh set of cards on the table by the name of Rev Raptor – The 13 song gargantuan titan of an album which adds a selection of catchy versed, positively heavy tracks to U.D.O’s ever increasing back catolouge.



When you think about previous U.D.O albums you think of: Crunchy Power Chords, Whaling but yet catchy vocals and mechanical sounding guitar solos’s. As usual Mr Dirkschneider does not disappoint giving us huge anthems like “Leatherhead”, “Renegade”, “Dr. Death” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldiers” to indulge our ears with. Each of them follow your basic verse, chorus, verse, chorus style, but is this simplicity which makes it stick in the listeners head. That insane riff in Renegade which leads into the words:



“Laid to rest, my request, by the best, by the Renegade. I see scared, cold and bare, U’ll beware of the Renegade” Is just mindblowing. Just imagine a thousand people screaming that at the top of their lungs. Now, that would be a crowd pleaser, as would most of the songs on this album.



The Diversity on this album is second to none as well. You have the mix between the charging and heavy, to the soft and some what ballady. You have tracks like “I Give as Good I Get” where Udo takes a mellower and smoother approach to the vocals, where in the other hand you have tracks like “Motor Borg” in which we see Udo’s darker and more harsher side to the music. It’s this diversity which keeps the listener interested. Rev Raptor isn’t just blinkered into a full out mosh fest, it gives the listener time to relax and thoroughly appreciate the softer tracks as well.



Mr Dirkschneider unfortunately is catching on a bit now and his vocals aren’t always what they used to be. His voice seems quite creaky and crunchy in some of the songs on this album. Sure, it adds to the machine like presence of Rev Raptor, but is a shame to see such an awesome metal heads voice going bit by bit. If you are a die hard U.D.O fan you will love this album, but if you have never heard of U.D.O before (Who the fuck are you? Get out of town!) then you should definitely buy this album first.



Hopefully U.D.O will be over in the UK this fall and maybe he will drop some of these killer tunes in his live set!



Reviewer: Matthew Seddon