U.D.O. – Game Over [Japanese Edition +1] (2021)

While he recently released the debut album of DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG with former ACCEPT bandmates Peter Baltes and Stefan Kaufmann, Udo Dirkschneider’s own band U.D.O. is still active, and ready to release their new album “Game Over” this week. This Japanese Edition will be released tomorrow, including an exclusive bonus track.
There’s a lot of U.D.O. to sink your teeth into here. 17 tracks in total on this Japan version. 17 tracks of heavy, hard rock and classic metal to head-bang too. Age is but a number when it comes to Udo Dirkschneider and his vocals sound as amazing as they did 40 years ago. At least into the studio.
Though the rest of the band are no slouches; throwing out the riffs, hooks, beats and solos like this is some sort of retirement record.

For some people in recent years U.D.O. is dangerously repeating himself… really? The man is at the end of his career. What they expect, a pop-rock album?
“Game Over” is perhaps U.D.O. last album, and they provide fans with exactly what they want, and this is really important, they’re not half-arsing it.
When you see an album that is 16 tracks long, you would be forgiven for thinking there would be a ton of filler here but that’s not the case. Only a handful can be called ‘forgettable’ but even those have a moment or two that gets the metal hairs standing up on the body.
The rest? Total killer and not just for those of a certain age or with a whiff of stale denim or leather about them.

As confident as ever but with plenty to say (and not just about the climate and corrosion of the planet), ”Game Over” is U.D.O. as relevant as ever but also not afraid to just have some more traditional, straight-forward ‘for the love metal’ efforts here and there too.
In one track particularly, ‘Metal Never Dies’, Dirkschneider reminds us just how far-reaching metal is and what he has seen and been part of.

What more can be said? It’s a long album but it doesn’t drag and while head-banging away throughout will get tiresome, U.D.O. have certainly earned the effort with ”Game Over”.
Highly Recommended

01 – Fear Detector
02 – Holy Invaders
03 – Prophecy
04 – Empty Eyes
05 – I See Red
06 – Metal Never Dies
07 – Kids and Guns
08 – Like a Beast
09 – Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye
10 – Unbroken
11 – Marching Tank
12 – Thunder Road
13 – Midnight Stranger
14 – Speed Seeker
15 – Time Control
16 – Metal Damnation
17 – Wilder Life [Japan Bonus Track]

Udo Dirkschneider – vocals
Sven Dirkschneider – drums
Andrei Smirnov – guitar
Dee Dammers – guitar
Tilen Hudrap – bass

BUY
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/MICP-11640