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Germany’s traditional metal giants Accept continue to enjoy a comeback with Blind Rage, their third album since former TT Quick vocalist Mark Tornillo joined the band. With timeless classics such as Restless And Wild and Balls To The Wall under their collective belts, Accept need no introduction, but I’m always struck by this group’s crossover appeal.

Besides appealing to the casual fan of heavy metal, Accept are accepted by the extreme metal community as an old favorite on par with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

Although a simpler band with plenty of nods to post NWOBHM semi-glam metal, Accept always retained a hard enough edge to keep the extreme metal fan interested.

That crossover appeal underwent a massive resurgence with the one two punch of Blood Of The Nations (2010) and Stalingrad: Brothers In Death (2012), two slickly produced, modern heavy metal albums that featured Accept’s riff driven form of melodic heavy metal.

Tornillo’s soaring vocals immediately alleviated longtime fans’ anxiety over the departure of legendary vocalist and band founder Udo Dirkschneider, and Accept showcased their mastery of a songwriting combination of anthems and songs that hit with a harder edge. Tours followed, including festival appearances and, for example, a trek across North America with Teutonic thrash metal giants Kreator, further cementing Accept’s crossover appeal.

The formula of combing traditional, melodic heavy metal with tried and true anthems largely continues on Blind Rage, another slickly produced album of modern heavy metal with plenty of crunchy riffs and hooks, melody, and Turnillo’s formidable vocal presence.

Songs are as catchy as you would expect from such a veteran band, and the music is, once again, fairly simple with riffs, solos, and a thumping bass.

What’s lacking this time around, however, is a bit of a harder edge, an edginess seen a bit more on the last two albums. Songs such as the opener “Stampede,”  “Trail Of Tears,” and “200 Years” are up tempo, riff driven numbers, but most of Blind Rage down shifts into melodic, crowd pleasing anthems such as “Dying Breed” and “Fall Of The Empire,” an album standout.

The songs are excellent, pure traditional heavy metal, though, and will certainly go over well in a live setting; but, Blind Rage feels a bit long at 59 minutes and songs become somewhat indistinguishable deeper in the album.

Minor detractions aside, Accept are still holding their crossover appeal with Blind Rage, and longtime fans of the band will be more than satisfied.

(released August 19, 2014 on Nuclear Blast Records)