Guitarist WOLF HOFFMANN Feels Good About The New ACCEPT

Pat Prince of Powerline A.D. recently conducted an interview with guitarist Wolf Hoffmann of reunited heavy metal legends ACCEPT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Powerline A.D.: Word has it the new album is almost finished. Is that true? If so, any word on a release date? Title? etc?

Wolf: Right now we are recording at Andy Sneap's studio in the U.K. It's going great. Andy is an incredible talented producer and we all are enjoying the recording process very much. Actually, we just finished recording drums. Release is planned for early 2010.

Powerline A.D.: New singer, Mark Tornillo, is exciting to fans. He has a good Bon Scott raspiness to his voice. A much more appropriate replacement for Udo than, say, another David Reece. His arrival into the history of ACCEPT happened pretty fast, no?

Wolf: Yeah, very fast indeed. Peter [Baltes, bass] and I were jamming one weekend near his home in Pennsylvania — this is all after Udo [Dirkschneider, former ACCEPT vocalist] had just announced there was no chance of a reunion with him. So, needless to say, we wanted to let off some steam and just shred. We were tossing some ideas around like we always have. Peter and I have always been a good team when it comes to writing songs. Of course, jamming is a lot more fun with a singer and somebody suggested to give Mark Tornillo a call to see if he would join us. He lived around the corner and when we called him he said he had tough cold that had been dragging on for some time but he was gonna come anyhow. One thing led to another and before we knew it we were jamming ACCEPT tunes. Turns out Mark knew a bunch of the ACCEPT classics from having covered them back in the day with his band TT QUICK. Mark started singing and within a few moment Peter and I looked at each other: Are you thinking what I am thinking?... A couple of songs from this impromptu jam session were later posted online.

Powerline A.D.: Did you ever have a chance to speak to Udo about joining the new reunion?

Wolf: There were negotiations and talks going on for quite some time — mostly through his management. Udo finally stated publicly — on his website — that he was not interested in leaving his own band U.D.O. for ACCEPT. After a 20-year career with U.D.O. we had to respect his decision. No bad feelings from our side.

Powerline A.D.: People may not know this but you're a very talented professional photographer as well. I guess both photography and music will always be a part of your life. When did you first get into photography?

Wolf: I started taking pictures on the road with ACCEPT in the '80s. Just fun stuff, documenting travel and so on. It all developed from there. When ACCEPT called it quits in 1996 I was confronted with the infamous "now what?" I guess I could have started another band. But to me, it's all or nothing. ACCEPT or no music at all. At least nothing that competes with the past. You have to know when it time to bow out and leave with your head held high. So I started my own photography business and I have been a professional photographer for over 10 years. I like photography a lot but honestly, my first love is and always will be music. Nothing compares to it.

Read the entire interview from Powerline A.D..

Faces only a mother could love: (left to right) Wolf Hoffmann and Andy Sneap (photo taken in Nashville in August 2009)

"Balls To The Wall" - 2009 version (featuring Mark Tornillo):

"Flash Rocking Man" - 2009 version (featuring Mark Tornillo):