U.D.O.

‘Infected’ is the lead single, taken from UDO's forthcoming new album ‘Dominator’. Udo Dirkschneider has recently rejected the chance to rejoin Accept in favour of maintaining his solo status and, on first impressions, at least he may well have made the right decision. The EP kicks off with the extremely fast title track and for fans of vintage Accept and of Udo's solo work it's familiar, and welcome, territory. The bludgeoning rhythm section, courtesy of drummer Francesco Jovino and bassist Fitty Weinhold, set the tempo, the twin guitars of Stefan Kaufman and Igor Gianola provide the fireworks and Herr Dirkschneider's distinctive vocals are the final piece of this creative jigsaw. The next two tracks, I understand, are non album tracks and, as good as they are, they are perhaps too similar to each other and to 'Infected' to have been included on the album. The next track, 'Platchet Soldat', which translates as Cry Soldier Cry, is a revelation. It's a remix of a track from Udo's previous album ‘Mastercutor’ and I haven't heard the original but this version is relatively slow paced and haunting with superb use of uilleann pipes. I really wasn't expecting such a different style from Udo and I'm definitely going to check out the original. The last cut is a live version of 'Poezd Po Rossii' (Trainride in Russia) which was recorded in Moscow. This, again, is a superb track and is like a much heavier Pogues on speed with it's fantastic use of accordian (yes, I know!) and it's really bouncing beat. The atmosphere at this gig must have been amazing as you can hear the Muscovites in the crowd singing along at full voice. As a taster for the new album this EP serves a limited purpose. It only contains one track from the album so it doesn't give much of an insight. However, that is more than made up for by the fact that you get two non-album tracks, which probably won't be available elsewhere and a further two songs which, for me, are the highlight of this release. In short, if you're an UDO fan you have to buy this!

LABEL:

FORMAT:

AFM Records

EP

INFECTED

Review by Dave Uphill

RUNNING TIME:

24:18

RELEASE DATE:

29th June 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Infected
2) Systematic Madness
3) Bodyworld
4) Platchet Soldat (Remix)
5) Poezd Po Rossii

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Germany

"In short, if you're an UDO fan you have to buy this!"