UDO is the German based band of former Accept lead singer Udo Dirkschneider with the "Mastercutor" being the eleventh studio release. If you unfamiliar with the band, from the start Udo wanted his namesake to be something in the spirit of Accept and it surely is, and has been since the debut album "Animal House".

"Mastercutor" borrows much from the Accept handbook as recognizable melodies are present at first listen to the title track, first video 'The Wrong Side of Midnight' and the crushing riff/rhythm section to 'The Instigator'. A nicely done one, two, three punch. Udo really makes it easy to pick out the melody and he does it every time whether it’s a heavy or lighter track case in point 'One Lone Voice' that follows 'Instigator' with its clean guitars and less than aggressive delivery is very tuneful and pleasing. 'Tears of the Clown' (the mastercutor), about the scary face painted character on the cover uses some orchestrated keyboards and a piano to bring out the emotion to the ballad. 'Walker of the Dark' and more so 'Master of Disaster' use industrial tinged guitar riffing patterns and drum beats for somewhat of a more modern approach.

As a point of reference, if I had to do a compare/contrast the music of UDO to Accept, UDO has moments of classic Accept tracks like the faster over the top 'Fast Like A Shark' to mid paced chunky riff driving rhythms of 'Balls to the Walls' (ie; 'The Devil Walks Alone') and the more commercial sounding chorus of a song like 'Screaming for a Love Bite'.

Now while UDO utilizes a dual guitar attack the twin guitar leads are much less prominent unlike Accept. Former Accept drummer Stefan Kaufmann took up the axe for UDO in 1997 for "Solid" and has been complimented by Igor Gianola since "Holy" in 1999. The two work very well together.

"Mastercutor" I think is a well rounded UDO album and their strongest with this lineup. I recommend it as well as "Thunderball", "Holy", "No Limits", and "Faceless World".