It's a remarkable thing. He's been on stage for 30 years now, and most of his bandmates are hardly young either, yet every year and a half they collectively deliver a new release. So here we have the 11th studio release from U.D.O. As usual, it was produced by the band's guitarist Stefan Kaufmann, who has been working side by side with Udo Dirkschneider for 27 years; the album's music was written by the two of them together — again, a perfectly typical situation. No lineup changes have occurred since the recording of the previous full-length: the band's lead guitarist remains Igor Gianola, bassist Fitty hasn't gone anywhere either, and for drummer Francesco this is already his second studio effort with U.D.O. So before us lie 50 minutes of music enclosed in a rather unexpected booklet, strongly reminiscent of scenes from Stephen King's "It," while a digitally altered photo of Udo inevitably draws comparisons to a certain well-known A.L. Webber musical.
This is definitely not one of those discs that wins you over on the first listen, but don't toss it into a far corner if it doesn't click right away. Indeed, the music overall produces a somewhat uncharacteristically sluggish impression for U.D.O. — an absence of explosive energy and power. There are no anthem-like songs in the vein of "Independence Day" or swift, literally wind-rushing compositions like "Animal House." What there is: inner tension, toughness, pathos, drama — all very measured, literally squeezing the listener in a vise. A rather unusual effect from the music of Kaufmann and Dirkschneider. No bravado, and at the same time no furious expressiveness either — in their place come eerie melodies, and even the rockers on this album look completely new. As on the previous release, the album contains two ballads: "One Lone Voice" and "Tears Of A Clown," both quite strong — Udo has never had problems with that, going back to the early ACCEPT albums. Stylistically, they differ little from those we heard on "Mission No. X."
Just one wish for listeners: don't be frightened by this album's novelty and take it on its own terms, apart from any templates. In essence, the previous album was already a major step away from earlier work, so "Mastercutor" is, in a sense, its logical continuation.