ACCEPT's WOLF HOFFMANN: 'I Feel We're Actually Stronger Than We've Ever Been'

Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann of German/American metallers ACCEPT was interviewed on the latest episode of "Rich Davenport's Rock Show". You can now listen to the chat using the Mixcloud widget below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how things are working out with new ACCEPT members, guitarist Uwe Lulis (GRAVE DIGGER, REBELLION) and drummer Christopher Williams:

"I feel we're actually stronger than we've ever been. They don't really feel like new guys at all anymore. We've put in a good amount of rehearsals with them, and now that we've been on the road for about… I don't know… several months, it feels like it's never been any different. So it feels great. And [ACCEPT's latest album] 'Blind Rage' has certainly been really strong, the tour was really successful. So I'd say we couldn't be asking for anything more."

On Hoffmann's recent comment that ACCEPT will return to the studio in the not-too-distant future to begin work on the follow-up to last year's "Blind Rage" album:

"Yeah, maybe I was over-promising a little bit. I mean, it depends on [what you mean by] not-too-distant future. To tell you the truth, we haven't actually started a whole lot of work yet. We're just collecting ideas, but we certainly haven't started recording or serious writing yet. So it'll be a few months before things start to develop. But it's definitely gonna happen here before too long… We've basically been on the road and back into the studio for five years straight and hadn't had any chance to do anything besides this music business, so it's nice to actually have a couple of months off. But, you know, right after this December [European] tour, we'll jump full force into it, and hopefully a new album will develop in the, you know, part of next year."

On how involved the new members of ACCEPT will be in the making of the band's next album:

"Peter [Baltes, bass] and I do the majority of the writing, so that part is probably not change much, but when it comes to recording, we'll see how that all works out with the new guys. And I'm sure it's gonna be a lot of fun.'

ACCEPT parted ways with guitarist Herman Frank and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann last December. The band explained in a statement at the time: "We and the fans all knew that [Herman and Stefan] had their own careers and that eventually we would run into scheduling and other conflicts beyond our control."

Herman joined ACCEPT in 1982 shortly before the release of the band's "Restless And Wild" album and exited the group for the first time after the arrival of 1983's "Balls To The Wall" LP.

When ACCEPT reunited for festival appearances in 2005, Herman handled second-guitar duties alongside founding axeman Wolf Hoffmann, with Schwarzmann sitting behind the kit.

Frank and Schwarzmann were involved in ACCEPT's comeback with new singer Mark Tornillo and have appeared on their last three studio albums: 2010's "Blood of the Nations", 2012's "Stalingrad" and 2014's "Blind Rage".

Frank and Schwarzmann are playing in PANZER, a new project also featuring vocalist and bassist Schmier, best known as frontman of DESTRUCTION.