It takes real heart, guts and a lot of passion to enjoy longevity in Heavy Metal, and still make a living from it. Udo Dirkschneider (ex-ACCEPT), one of Metal's most respected and prominent vocalists, has been going at it for over 30 years… and he's over 55 years old for Pete's sake! You have to give the man credit for being able to still belch out those signature screams, grunts and growls like he has been all these years, virtually without fault. He really hasn't lost a single bit of his voice. It's gotten raspier over time, but there has never been any noticeable change in his ability to execute, especially in the studio. What's more is Dirkschneider continues to put out a high volume of albums with his band U.D.O. almost as consistently as KISS used to in their prime. "Animal House" (1987), "Mean Machine" (1989), "Timebomb" (1991), "Solid" (1997), "Holy (1999), among others were all excellent albums. I still pull these out and blast them on the stereo whenever I feel like it.

So what to say about U.D.O.'s latest effort, "Mastercutor" (meaning the master executor)? Well, after the luke-warm "Man And Machine" (2002), the overly repetitive "Thunderball" (2004) and the uninspiring "Mission X" (2005), this is a step in the right direction, but not without its own minor disadvantages. Most of the tracks on "Mastercutor" are hard-hitting and aggressive as hell, and will most likely have you banging your noggin on any hard (or soft) surface you can find. There is something different though in the overall "feel" and "atmosphere" of the songs. The traditional U.D.O. "sound" has shifted towards something a little more modernized, leaving that "classic" feel somewhat out in left field. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not as familiar.

The good news is, as mentioned earlier, there are some pretty heavy tracks here. The best has to be opener "Mastercutor", which lyrically pokes fun at reality shows - apparently. Right from the get-go, you can hear the power in Dirkschneider's voice (get a load of the window-shattering scream at the beginning and end - guaranteed to scare the pants off your grandma) backed by the crunching riffs and thundering drums. "The Wrong Side Of Midnight" follows suit with its hard-rocking rhythm and catchy chorus, while the first-pounding "The Instigator" is more reminiscent of older U.D.O. (one of very few traces on this disc). "Walker Of The Dark" is a prime example of the transition to the more modernized sound - interesting guitar riff too. "Master Of Disaster" is one of the fastest tracks, loaded with pounding double kick and an infectious thrashy vibe in the chorus.

Over the years, there has been a lot of debate over whether Dirkschneider can write a ballad or not. He's written his share of decent ones in the past ("The Healer" and "Dancing With An Angel" for example), but he does excel better with the faster ones for sure. There are two ballads included on "Mastercutor" - "One Lone Voice" and "Tears Of A Clown". The first one is catchy and worthy of repeated listens, but the latter is just plain awful. The melody sounds like something a bunch of first graders with no musical knowledge could play blindfolded, the lyrics don't make sense, and the subject matter… why would anyone feel the inspiration to write a song about a clown? This one sticks out like a sore thumb and should not have even been included in the track listing. Anyway, getting back to the rockers now… "Vendetta" and "The Devil Walks Alone" round out the more worthwhile heavy ones, but "Crash Bang Crash" is extremely annoying to listen to and will make you want to pop a few Tylenols within a matter of seconds.

You would think that most people at age 55 would be slowing down, work less (maybe even retire), or spend more time in their rocking chairs. Not Udo Dirkschneider. He's not done yet. There is more work to be done, more albums to be released, more cities to be metalized. And why would he stop anyway? He loves what he does, the fans love the music he creates, and he has four other band members that help him to continue moving forward. From a personal standpoint, it would be great to see Dirkschneider pump out least another few albums, be it with U.D.O., or even ACCEPT, which is highly unlikely. Regardless, if he can just stick to the path he's been walking all these years without veering off too much, then we'll all enjoy some more kick-ass Metal, Dirkschneider-style!