Herman Frank: Right in the Guts

German heavy metal legend Herman Frank released his second solo album, titled Right in the Guts, in 2012. The guitarist, who founded Victory and has been in and out of Accept, is joined here by bassist Peter Pichl (ex-Running Wild) and vocalist Rick Altzi (Masterplan, ex-Thunderstone), as well as future Victory bandmates Michael Wolpers and Christos Mamalitsidis.

Frank’s first solo album (2009’s Loyal to None) was an absolutely first-rate traditional heavy metal album, and Right in the Guts is every bit as good. It’s an album that has a lot in common with the recent Accept albums Frank played on. It’s a pounding metal album that is still very melodic, and while Jioti Parcharidis gave a standout vocal performance on Loyal to None, Rick Altzi was born to sing this kind of melodic heavy metal. Anything he sings on is worth getting, but having Altzi and Frank together is pure gold.

Standout tracks on Right in the Guts include “Vengeance,” “King’s Call” and “Raise Your Hand.” The title track is also killer, and would have made a fantastic Accept song.

Fans of Frank’s work in Accept, Moon’Doc and Victory are going to absolutely love this one. Right in the Guts is also an album that fans of hard-hitting melodic metal in general – from Jorn to Masterplan to Pretty Maids – ought to hear. You wouldn’t think albums like this from someone at Frank’s level would be overlooked, but that seems to be the case here. If more people had paid attention, this album would have made a lot of “best of 2012” lists.

Reissue Notes: AFM reissued Right in the Guts in 2016 to coincide with Frank’s latest album The Devil Rides Out. It includes the bonus track “Princess.” It’s a good song, but probably not amazing enough to be worth upgrading if you already own the Metal Heaven original pressing. If you missed that one though (and a lot of people did), this reissue is ideal.

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