DIRKSCHNEIDER AND THE OLD GANG – Babylon (Album Review)

A noble cause takes on a life all its own.

The eventuality of a one-off project becoming a formidable player on the heavy metal stage is not unheard of, but one exploding with the level of interest that 2020 charity-based super group Dirkschneider And The Old Gang (DATOG) has is particularly rare.

Originally slated as a short-term endeavor during the COVID lockdowns to support out-of-work musicians and crews, the popular response that ensued around their 3-song run via AFM Records was so unexpectedly large that it rivaled lead vocalist and standard-bearer Udo Dirkschneider’s own solo studio ventures.

This turn of events might have been chalked up as the result of quarantined fans having more time to spend on streaming sites, but a careful inspection of the magic that has been conjured by this sextet of veteran metal and rock stalwarts comes in the form of a potent blast from the past that fits the current craze of 80s heavy metal revivalism, as underscored in the riveting display of AOR-infused metal majesty that is this fold’s debut LP Babylon.

The sonic recipe dished out on this 12-chapter anthology of sonic power and triumph is almost completely analogous to the high era of Accept during the tail-end of Udo’s initial run with said German icons, namely the pomp-infused majesty that was 1985’s Metal Heart and classic mid-80s swansong and follow-up Russian Roulette.

The marriage of hard-hitting metal riff work projected through the duo of former Accept drummer turned guitarist Stefan Kaufmann and ex-Sinner and early U.D.O. axe-man Mathias Dieth and the soaring vocal counterpoint of Kazakhstan-born rock singer Manuela Bibert accomplishes a unique synchronicity with Udo’s dirty Brian Johnson-like snarl and the bombastic punch of his son Sven’s drum work, plus the steady foundation of former Accept bassist Peter Baltes that is as much a creature of 80s AOR as it is the metal sound of the present day. Combined with tasteful yet virtuosic displays out of Dieth and Kaufmann in the soloing department and a songwriting formula that is about as versatile as they come, the formula that emerges can’t help but be a winning one.

Striking like a collective colossus from the very start, this gang of old with a couple of younger cohorts establishes their bona fides in short order with a barrage of mostly compact metal anthems with an eye for brevity and the all-important melodic hook. Quick-paced and riff-happy cruisers like the opening foray “It Takes Two To Tango”, the haunting rocker “Time To Listen”, and the crunchy metallic goodness of “Metal Sons” rival the flash and flair of Judas Priest’s recent output, with Udo’s signature snarl showing zero signs of fatigue after more than 50 years of punishment on the road.

Mid-paced crushers like the towering sledge of heaviness “Hellbreaker” and its more shuffle-happy cousin “Batter The Power” reach back a bit further to the primal formula of the Balls To The Wall era and inject a level of atmospheric nuance and layering normally seen out of power metal bands of late. Even the piano-driven balladry of “Strangers In Paradise” and the acoustic-driven melancholic longing of “Blindfold” carry an implied heaviness through a highly earnest delivery, spearheaded by Manuela’s more serene vocal contrast to Udo’s beastly growls.

But what truly makes this album stand out among the massive back catalog of opuses bearing Udo and company’s handiwork is when innovation comes into full view. Case and point, the seemingly typical mid-paced, Accept-inspired rocker “Dead Man’s Hand”, which comes with several bluesy rocking elements at the periphery that all but blur the lines between standard 80s fanfare and the funkier side of 70s hard rock. The lightning fast speed metal anthem “Propaganda” could all but be a more technical and power metal-like sequel to Accept’s “T.V. War”, not totally new ground but a definite exception among Udo’s post-Timebomb output.

Moreover, the mystical eastern edge and slow march of the title song “Babylon” further blur the lines with modern power metal, sounding halfway between something Hammerfall might dream up and a more guitar-oriented take on mid-2000s Nightwish. But the coup de grâce that sets this LP apart comes at its very end courtesy of the mid-paced rock anthem epic “Beyond The End Of Time”, which carries a poignant message of hope in the face of mortality to a grooving structure that could almost stand as Udo’s long-awaited answer to Def Leppard’s “White Lightning”.

It’s more the exception that an album comes out with Dirkschneider and associates’ names in the credits that falls short, but this newly minted union of old and new stands as the most musically significant thing to come since Udo permanently cut ties with Accept. Much of this owes to DATOG’s sound breaking with the character of U.D.O.’s studio output since the late 90s in favor of something far more nostalgic yet not totally removed from the presence.

One might even go so far as to say that this is the album that should have followed Russian Roulette in the late 80s and that it strikes closer to the heart of what Accept was at its peak than even the band currently carrying the name has put forth since Wolf Hoffmann resurrected it in the late 2000s. We can only hope that these elder statesmen have enough years left in them to give this masterpiece a follow-up, for there were many grand empires to follow the one that was its namesake.

Release Date: October 3rd, 2025
Record Label: Rigning Phoenix Music
Genre: Melodic Heavy Metal / Hard Rock

Musicians:

• Peter Baltes / Bass, backing vocals
• Udo Dirkschneider / Vocals
• Manuela Bibert / Vocals, backing vocals
• Stefan Kaufmann / Guitars, backing vocals
• Mathias Dieth / Guitars, backing vocals
• Sven Dirkschneider / Drums, backing vocals

Babylon Track-list:

1. It Takes Two to Tango
2. Babylon
3. Hellbreaker
4. Time to Listen
5. Strangers in Paradise
6. Dead Man’s Hand
7. The Law of a Madman
8. Metal Sons
9. Propaganda
10. Blindfold
11. Batter the Power
12. Beyond the End of Time

Order the album here