U.D.O.

Rev-Raptor

AFM
rating icon 7.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Rev-Raptor
02. Leatherhead
03. Renegade
04. I Give As Good As I Get
05. Dr. Death
06. Rock'N'Roll Soldiers
07. Terrorvision
08. Underworld
09. Pain Man
10. Fairy Tales Of Victory
11. Motor-Borg
12. True Born Winners
13. Days Of Hope And Glory


Sometimes you just need a straight forward heavy metal album that mines familiar territory with denim 'n' leather passion. That's what you get with a U.D.O. album and "Rev-Raptor" does nothing to steer the band away from that well-worn path. Most fans would agree that such a characteristic is a good thing.

Perhaps not apparent after only a spin or two, you may find that "Rev-Raptor" ends up a slightly better album than "Dominator" in large part because it has more of a consistent top-to-bottom feel to it, although some hair splitting was involved in that assessment. In addition to the sound of the diminutive one's voice bringing one word – and one word alone - to mind ("metal"),"Rev-Raptor" is chock full of mostly mid-tempo, iron-riffed grooves, many of which feature those "lighter" (i.e. picking, beat, ominous vibe) verses for which Dirkschneider has always been known, whether in U.D.O. or ACCEPT, and big choruses that are just melodic enough to get the job done. "Leatherhead", "Pain Man", "Rock 'N' Roll Soldiers", "Underworld", and the title track are all definitive examples of it. However, the tunes that are of a quicker tempo, such as "Renegade", "Terrorvision", and "Motor-Borg" (a notably catchy one),also happen to be among the album's most memorable, especially the latter two. Even "Dr. Death", with a chorus that comes off a tad hokey, will grow on you. A flowing, one might even say laid back, tune called "I Give as Good as I Get" is a good one too, as is the slower paced "Days of Hope and Victory", which boasts a certain majesty and features a triumphant refrain.

"Rev-Raptor" may not include any tracks that would be in contention for all-time-classic status. But it also doesn't include among its 13 cuts any throwaways. There are several here in fact that are strong additions to the U.D.O. catalogue. What all of that really means is that as a traditional album of German heavy metal, "Rev-Raptor" is solid through and through. U.D.O. still gets it and we still need it. By the way, I'm digging the Transformers-meet-The-Joker-and-Green-Lantern artwork that is found throughout the nicely assembled booklet.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).