Another crunching release from the man who has one of the most distinctive voices in 'Metal' and here he pretty much sticks with the winning formula that has altered little from his days in 'Accept'. Plenty of solid 'balls to the wall' (no pun intended) rockers fill this album and fans of '.U.D.O.' will love this release. Occasional the repetitive, and unimaginative lyrics let a couple of reliable tracks down, but generally its business as usual for these old school German metallers.

The opening title track has the potential to be a great track, but I feel that the chorus is just too basic and falls a bit flat, the aggressive plod is superb as are the gutsy vocals but in the end, just doesn't quite make it. 'Private Eye' is better, although a basic rocker, the perpetual grooving rhythm draws you in and keeps you there, 'Stefan Kaufmann' and 'Igor Gianola' again shine through. The plodding building intro to 'Animal Instinct' is unfortunately the best part, as the chorus gets far too repetitive and spoils a track which features some sweet guitaring. 'The Dawn of the Gods' is a top notch head-banger, reminiscent of current 'Saxon', with strong chorus and cutting axe work- nice stuff. 'Udo' shares the vocals with 'Doro Pesch' on 'Dancing with an Angel', and it makes for an amusing comparison with their contrasting styles, silky smooth against grating vocals, overall though its pretty much a run-of-the-mill ballad. A sweet grooving intro leads into the 80's sounding 'Silent Cry', more subtle than most tracks here, but features a catchy flowing rhythm that compliments 'Udo's' harsh vocal surprisingly well- my pick of the disc. 'Network Nightmare' is the customary cyberspace Inspired song, that seems to pop up on every other album released ('Halford'- 'Cyberworld', 'Priest'- 'Cyberface', to name just two). Other than that, its a solid rapid blazer, chorus is too repetitive, but the sharp fret work makes up for it. 'Hard to be Honest' is another chorus heavy number, again slightly overused, but still a strong sing-a-long. 'Like a Lion' is lyrically similar to 'Judas Priest's' / 'Halford's' 'Heart of a Lion', but musically different, this is quite a mature offering for '.U.D.O.', with clever grooving rhythm and refined slower sections. They've saved some of the best for last though, 'Black Heart' is a delightful shred fest that's well penned, and superbly executed. 'Unknown Traveller' is an intelligently written track, that varies between harmonious choruses and lighter spoken lyrics, this is all backed-up with great all round performances.

Anyone who likes solid 80's metal will find something from this release, fans of 'Accept' and recent 'Saxon' should also check this out as musically there's elements of both. Also, respect to 'Udo', as he knows what he's good at, and he keeps churning it out, without bowing to commercialism or current trends.