Accept's Blind Rage took the number one spot in WJCU's Metal On Metal Top 25 year-end album countdown show, which aired on January 2nd. Cleveland metal fans have had a longtime love affair with the legendary German/American band. This is the second time Accept won top honors in the past four years. Their Blood Of The Nations album, the band's first with Mark Tornillo on vocals, finished first in 2010. The follow-up Stalingrad finished second in 2012.

"Dear listeners of the fabulous Bill Peters radio show Metal On Metal, says Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. "Cleveland has been special to us since the 80's and that would not have happened without Bill! We feel very honored you voted Blind Rage the #1 album of the year. In fact, we are floored! We miss you and we hope to see you in autumn. Thank you and let's rock 2015 together!"

Hoffmann will be calling in to WJCU from his home in Nashville, Tennessee next Friday, January 9th at 6:30 PM, EST to personally thank the fans of Cleveland for their support.

"My listeners have done it again!", says Metal On Metal host Bill Peters. "They have assembled yet another amazing year-end chart. It was a banner year for heavy metal releases. We had 77 albums nominated. That's a lot of titles! All six of my favorites placed in the Top 25, including five in the Top 10. I personally owned 19 out of the 25 albums on the chart. My listeners obviously have good taste (laughs). I can’t remember a time when I had so many #1 favorites. It would be impossible for me to pick just one. 2014 was a great year to be a heavy metal fan!”

"Another cool thing about this year's chart was to see Midnight and Sunless Sky finish in our Top 10”, adds Peters. “This was the first time in the 31-year history of our listener poll we had two Cleveland bands rank so high. MIDNIGHT received the most votes for a Cleveland band ever! They have a huge following in the underground. We always keep our doors open for local bands to stop by the station to premiere new music and promote their shows. They do not have this kind of opportunity on the commercial radio stations. We are very proud of our Cleveland metal scene.  We have a lot of diverse talent here and our bands are highly respected around the world. This is a great place to live if you love heavy metal!”

Peters' radio show has garnished the attention of not only fans but musicians as well. Wolf Hoffmann (Accept), Bobby Blitz (Overkill), Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Chuck Billy (Testament), Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Ronnie James Dio (Heaven & Hell), Steve "Lips" Kudow (Anvil) and Robb Reiner (Anvil) have all have acknowledged past album victories by publicly thanking their fans from Cleveland. Now entering its 33rd year, WJCU's Metal On Metal can be heard every Friday night from 6:30 - 9:30 PM, EST on 88.7 FM in the Cleveland, Ohio area or streamed worldwide at WJCU.org.

 

Metal On Metal's top albums of 2014:

1. Accept - Blind Rage

2. Grand Magus - Triumph And Power

3. The Dagger - The Dagger

4. Midnight - No Mercy For Mayhem

5. Overkill - White Devil Armory

6. Riot V - Unleash The Fire

7. Judas Priest - Redeemer Of Souls

8. Sunless Sky - Firebreather

9. Behemoth - The Satanist

10. The Skull - For Those Which Are Asleep

11. Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died

12. Exodus - Blood In, Blood Out

13. Arch Enemy - War Eternal

14. Bullet - Storm Of Blades

15. Astral Doors - Notes From The Shadows

16. Primal Fear - Delivering The Black

17. Obituary - Inked In Blood

18. John Garcia - John Garcia

19. Gamma Ray - Empire Of The Undead

20. Sabaton - Heroes

21. Axel Rudi Pell - Into The Storm

22. Iced Earth - Plagues Of Babylon

23. Unisonic - Light Of Dawn

24. Body Count - Manslaughter

25. Uriah Heep - Outsider

 

 

 

Blind Rage lands at #2 on BraveWords' BravePicks 2014. The complete list can be found at this location.

(Wolf Hoffmann photo - Deaf Music)