U.D.O. "Steelfactory (Japan, Avalon Marquee Inc., MICP-11437)"

Steelfactory is the sixteenth studio album by U.D.O., released on 31 August 2018 by AFM Records. It is the first album to feature Udo Dirkschneider's son Sven as the new drummer. The first single "Rising High" was made available for streaming on 15 June 2018. A music video was made for "One Heart One Soul". A lyric video was made for "Make the Move". Steelfactory is the final album to feature bassist Fitty Wienhold when he announced his departure in September 2018.

Udo Dirkschneider says that the musical direction of Steelfactory is influenced by the touring of when the band performed under the name Dirkschneider from 2015 to 2018, during which at the time they only played Accept songs, "it's definitely an influence and also a feeling if you start songwriting. But I don't have a problem with this. [Laughs]"

U.D.O. started work on the album in March 2017 after performing in North America. The music was composed by all members of the band, as opposed to the albums Steelhammer and Decadent, which was mainly composed by Dirkschneider and bassist Fitty Weinhold. Dirkschneider says that there was not a set goal on what type of sound he wanted to have, "We just start working on a new album and see what's coming up. Sometimes it's a little bit more aggressive; sometimes it's a little bit more melodic; sometimes you put keyboards into that, whatever. This time, I think on the whole album, it's a good mix of songs. We have really fast songs, uptempo songs, mid-tempo songs, ballads, everything." He says that Steelfactory has an influence of Accept.

Track listing

1. Tongue Reaper 04:25   
2. Make the Move 04:04   
3. Keeper of My Soul 04:02
4. In the Heat of the Night 04:52
5. Raise the Game 04:11   
6. Blood on Fire 04:42
7. Rising High 04:09
8. Hungry and Angry 04:36  
9. One Heart One Soul 04:56   
10. A Bite of Evil 05:10
11. What a Hell of a Night  04:07   
12. Eraser 04:00  
13. Rose in the Desert 04:11
14. The Way 04:47

Time:  01:08:47  

Recording information:

Bass and drums recorded at R.O.C Studios, Pulheim, Germany.

Vocals recorded at The Roxx Studio, Solingen, Germany.

Guitars recorded at Hansen Studio, Ribe, Denmark.

Mixed at Hansen Studio, Ribe, Denmark.

Jacob Hansen – producer, recording (guitars), mixing

Diego Verhagen – cover art, design (booklet)

Holger Thielbörger – recording (bass, drums)

Stefan Kaufmann – recording (vocals)