U.D.O. – Decadent CD (AFM)
If Rob Halford is the ‘Metal God’, then what do we call Udo Dirkschneider? His unmistakably powerful voice, the accent, the tone, and the over-all sound… it is only prominent in this German vocalist, an original, not a plagiarist. Fifteen studio albums in and Udo is still going sturdy; no real surprises here (only that the man himself seems to be singing as strong as he has always done) but who wants a big change from the sounds he is associated with? Rowdy metal riffs and a truly heavy beat solidify the content of ‘Decadent’ – which incidentally deals with the decadent behaviour of the rich upper classes worldwide. Why mess with a formula when it works well? Udo has created a number of true metal anthems over the years and there is no reason why ‘Mystery’, ‘Speeder’ or even the title track won’t become well known classics over the years. If it wasn’t for records like ‘Decadent’ heavy metal would be a washed-up sorry state of trend filed affairs. Mark Freebase