Timebomb

Timebomb is a hard-edged metal record centered on Udo Dirkschneider’s gritty roar and sharply chopped guitar. Turning from the melodic bent widened on the previous album, it returns to a rougher, more linear aggression. The songs cut away the excess and move forward, making the weight of the riffs and the push of the rhythm clear even in fast passages. From the urgency of the title track “Timebomb” and the aggression of “Metal Eater” to the speed of “Thunderforce” and the weight of “Burning Heat” and “Soldiers of Darkness,” every song carries a hard-edged drive. A construction that fully trusts the force of the voice and the band’s linear aggression, rather than flashy decoration, runs throughout. Functioning as a record that concentrates the steel of the Accept line more roughly, it is a work on which early U.D.O.’s aggression reaches one peak. A clean-handed choice to win on the pure force of riff and shout over melody feels good — a powerful record answering listeners who want unadorned, rugged, hard-edged German heavy metal.