Steelfactory

Steelfactory is the sixteenth studio album by U.D.O., which was 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.[2] A music video was made for "One Heart One Soul".[3] A lyric video was made for "Make the Move".[4] Steelfactory is the final album to feature bassist Fitty Wienhold when he announced his departure in September 2018.[5]

Steelfactory
Studio album by U.D.O.
Released	31 August 2018 (2018-08-31)
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	58:05
Label	AFM
Producer	Jacob Hansen
U.D.O. chronology
Decadent (2015) Steelfactory (2018)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Metal Forces	[1]

Album Information

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]"[6]

Recording and writing

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.[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by Udo Dirkschndeider; all music composed by U.D.O. except where noted

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Tongue Reaper"		4:25
2.	"Make the Move"		4:04
3.	"Keeper of My Soul"		4:02
4.	"In the Heat of the Night"		4:52
5.	"Raise the Game"		4:11
6.	"Blood on Fire"		4:42
7.	"Rising High"	Stefan Kaufmann	4:09
8.	"Hungry and Angry"		4:36
9.	"One Heart One Soul"		4:56
10.	"A Bite of Evil"	Kaufmann	5:10
11.	"Eraser"		4:00
12.	"Rose in the Desert"	Dirkschneider, Andrey Smirnov	4:11
13.	"The Way"	Dirkschneider, Smirnov	4:47
Total length:			58:05

Limited edition CD and vinyl bonus tracks

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"The Devil Is an Angel"	Kaufmann	4:34
2.	"Pictures in My Dreams"		6:08
Total length:			1:08:47

Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Length
1.	"What a Hell of a Night"	4:07
Total length:		1:02:12

Personnel

• Udo Dirkschneider – vocals
• Andrey Smirnov – guitar
• Fitty Wienhold – bass guitar
• Sven Dirkschneider – drums

Production

• Jacob Hansen – producer, recording (guitars), mixing
• Diego Verhagen – cover art, design (booklet)
• Holger Thielbörger – recording (bass, drums)
• Stefan Kaufmann – recording (vocals)

Charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8]	23
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[9]	27
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10]	7
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[11]	39
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12]	33
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13]	19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14]	24

References

1. Moore, Theron. "U.D.O. - Steelfactory (2018)". Metal Forces.
2. "U.D.O.: 'Rising High'-Single vom "Steelfactory"-Album veröffentlicht". Rock Hard. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
3. "U.D.O.: 'One Heart One Soul'-Musikvideo veröffentlicht". Rock Hard. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
4. "U.D.O.: 'Make The Move'-Lyric-Video ist online". Rock Hard. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
5. "Bassist FITTY WIENHOLD Exits U.D.O. After 22 Years". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
6. "UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER Talks New U.D.O. Album 'Steelfactory', Temporary Return Of STEFAN KAUFMANN". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
7. "UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER Comments On Recent U.D.O. Lineup Changes: 'I Want To Have Fresh Blood In The Band'". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
8. "Austriancharts.at – U.D.O. – Steelfactory" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
9. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201838 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
10. "Offiziellecharts.de – U.D.O. – Steelfactory" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
11. "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2018. 36. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
12. "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 36, 2018". VG-lista. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
13. "Swedishcharts.com – U.D.O. – Steelfactory". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
14. "Swisscharts.com – U.D.O. – Steelfactory". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2018.