Touchdown

Touchdown is a record on which U.D.O. powerfully polishes the feel of the traditional heavy metal it has long upheld. Hard guitar riffs, a driving rhythm and Udo Dirkschneider’s distinctive roar clearly set the band’s outline from the moment a song begins. Even as veterans, that hard-edged core does not waver in the least. True to a title recalling American football, there is a powerfully advancing momentum throughout. Placing sing-along-suited choruses, rock-solid mid-tempos and accelerating numbers in turn, it carries the listener to the end without rest. Faithful to its style yet never falling into heaviness for its own sake, it feels good that it keeps a current-day strength. Rather than chasing trends, it sounds out, without hesitation, the German heavy metal it does best. It is a work that lets you feel the strength and accessibility of German metal at once. Proving with confidence that Udo Dirkschneider’s passion and character have not faded at all even deep into a long career, it is a fulfilling record.