Legendary German/American heavy metal titans ACCEPT have shared the official music video for “The Reckoning”, the second single from their upcoming album “Humanoid”
Due on April 26 via Napalm Records, “Humanoid” was once again produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by critically acclaimed heavy metal producer Andy Sneap.
ACCEPT‘s Wolf Hoffmann states about “The Reckoning”: “We’re thrilled to release ‘The Reckoning’ as our second single. It’s is one of our favorites from the new album: hard-hitting, solid metal with lyrics about a poignant life theme. We hope the fans enjoy it as much as we do.”
Fans can immerse themselves in the upcoming album on an interactive web site, where they can reprogram the robot that is featured on the album cover, and discover different parts of the album in the process. Pre-save “Humanoid” now to gain access to the web site here.
ACCEPT has never shied away from hot button issues, and this album is no exception. Yet the band’s 17th studio album is certainly not a concept album. It deals with topics like AI and how our reliance on technology is gradually stripping away our individuality. ACCEPT offers a warning in this new album and title track, “Humanoid”. Since singer Mark Tornillo will never be an advocate for the digital age, he counterbalances the title track with raw emotions, frailties, significant rites of passage we encounter on the path of life and characteristics that make us uniquely human: feeling uncomfortable, getting older, dealing with hurt, disappointment, and the final stop for everyone: death.
“Humanoid” is a ferociously electrifying, dynamic and subtly nuanced platter with tongue in cheek humor, as heard in biblical references on “The Reckoning” — an ode to concert audiences — a thrilling new spin on the “Frankenstein” story and “Straight Up Jack”, a track that surely would have been a Bon Scott-approved drinking song.
The opening track “Diving Into Sin” gives listeners a hair-raising energetic jolt with its Middle Eastern-influenced intro, and an almost aggressive, screaming vocal from Tornillo setting the rest of the album up for a most bountiful feast. “Unbreakable” is as much about the band as it is the bond between ACCEPT and their fans, in the concert arena — an easy going “Hey, let’s do this” kind of rock song.
“Mind Games”, on the other hand, has a vintage feel, circa “Metal Heart”. “No One Gets Out Alive” seems tailor made for live shows. It says that regardless of life’s circumstances, rich, famous, or not, death is the great equalizer. Upbeat and aggressive with guitar interplay, “Southside Of Hell” ends the disc with a wonderful bit of wordplay, courtesy of Tornillo.
ACCEPT “Humanoid” track listing:
01. Diving Into Sin
02. Humanoid
03. Frankenstein
04. Man Up
05. The Reckoning
06. Nobody Gets Out Alive
07. Ravages Of Time
08. Unbreakable
09. Mind Games
10. Straight Up Jack
11. Southside Of Hell
Last month, ACCEPT released the official music video for the “Humanoid” title track. At the time, Wolf stated about the song: “The song plays with the omnipresent topic of artificial intelligence (AI). In a strange way, we have entered exciting times now… This digital revolution has a huge impact, probably bigger than anything humankind has ever gone through. The Industrial Revolution was huge, but this might be even bigger, and we’re just at the beginning of it. However, I’m also a little afraid that humanity gets lost and pushed aside in all this stuff. The song is pretty impactful and provoking!”
ACCEPT recently announced a massive European headline tour, with more than 20 shows across the continent for autumn 2024. This summer, ACCEPT will also return to some of the world’s most important rock and metal festivals, like Wacken Open Air, Hellfest and more, following their South American spring tour.
Hoffmann commented: “I am extremely pleased with ‘Humanoid’. The album has great energy throughout! Working with the best metal producer Andy Sneap was once again a lot of fun! We are a great team. We all love the new album and look forward to playing it live! Hope our fans will like it as much as we do.”
