ACCEPT Guitarist: 'There Is Better Chemistry Now Than We've Ever Had'

The Rock Pit recently conducted an interview with guitarist Wolf Hoffmann of reformed heavy metal legends ACCEPT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Rock Pit: The new album, "Blood Of The Nations", has been out a little while and you guys are on tour in the U.S. again. How does it feel? How is the tour going?

Wolf Hoffmann: Phenomenal. It's been going really well, I'd have to say. I mean, everywhere we go fans really love what we're doing and we've got a packed house pretty much every night. It's been a phenomenal response to market the new version of ACCEPT and the new album, so we're all happy. Nobody's complaining. You can't complain at all. It's going really, really well.

The Rock Pit: Excellent. Well, a new album from a band that has been around since the early '80s. I love the sound, its fresh but it kept the integrity of ACCEPT. Did you kind of want to keep that legacy with the changes?

Wolf Hoffmann: Yeah, of course. When we decided to do this, we knew one thing from the get-go that we didn't want to have like a new stylistic approach. We didn't really want to try something completely new or whatever, you know?! We really just wanted to keep everything the same, as was as far as the songwriting style is concerned. I mean, initially it would have been fine with Peter [Baltes, bass] and I to just go out and play live and not even make a record, but as soon as you have a new member in the band, like a new vocalist, I think you really have to. It's kinda weird to just tour and play old songs with a new lead singer, I think. So we decided to make a new record and stylistically we wanted to give the fans exactly what they are hoping for and what they expect old-school metal with a new sound.

The Rock Pit: How has the band come together? I mean, do you guys all get along? Is it

Wolf Hoffmann: Yeah, we are growing together. I think we're getting better every night. Right now, sometimes there is a night when I think, "Gosh, tonight it's incredible, feels like the top of the world," and some nights it's really growing together with Mark [Tornillo, vocals] really well. There is better chemistry now than we've ever had.

The Rock Pit: Really?

Wolf Hoffmann: Oh yeah. There was a time in the '80s when, you know, we all were 25 and excited about everything and that's when, that's was when everybody got along and we were really all friends and you know, everything was way cool. But then as time progressed, obviously things changed. Now we have a much closer relationship than ever, I mean, in the band.

The Rock Pit: Well, moving forward with the sound. So many bands, especially when they do the reuniting whether it is with all the original members or not, try and rehash the past. You have taken your legacy and built on it. Where do you go from here? This album is so strong.

Wolf Hoffmann: Well that my friend, I don't know. (Laughter) We'll have to wait and see, I guess. I guess we're just gonna have the same attitude, the approach, we just gonna do more of the same, you know, without it being the same. More similar-style stuff, hopefully fresh new ideas and I mean, we're not gonna The intention is not to change it right now, I mean, why would we?

The Rock Pit: I'm glad to hear that actually. In all the down time you had

Wolf Hoffmann: But I'd have to say, it's always easier said than done. (More laughter) It's incredibly difficult to write songs that are sorta reminiscent of the past but they're not, you know, rip-offs of your own music. That sounds incredibly very simple, but it's really not, especially if you have a sorta history of 15 albums or whatever we have. Then there are always similarities that you have to avoid. It can't be too close, but it can't be too far away from it. So it's a pretty fine line that you have to walk sometimes but, you know, hopefully we'll manage again.

Read the entire interview from The Rock Pit.

(Thanks: NJthrasher)