Exclusive: ACCEPT In The Studio; Behind-The-Scenes Footage Posted Online

BLABBERMOUTH.NET has uploaded exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions for the new ACCEPT album, which are taking place at Backstage studio in Derbyshire, England with acclaimed British producer and SABBAT guitarist Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE). The six-and-a-half-minute clip, which includes interview footage with Sneap and members of the band, as well as audio samples of the group's new material, can be viewed below.

ACCEPT's as-yet-untitled effort — which will mark the recording debut of the band's new singer, Mark Tornillo (ex-TT QUICK) — will include around 12 songs and will be mixed at Backstage in January. A mid-2010 release via an as-yet-undetermined record label is expected.

Longtime metal journalist and fan John Strednansky was the first outsider invited to listen to the new songs. "I had to promise to keep this to myself as the band wanted to keep the sessions top secret, but I cannot control myself!" he said. "This new stuff is mind-blowing!"

He continued, "I got to hear 15 new tracks and one was better than the next!

"Holy smoke!!! ACCEPT is reborn and better than ever!

"We all know that they have been writing songs with Mark but that they’d be able to recapture the metal spirit of the Eighties this perfectly... well, that blew me away! No way has it been 13 years since the last record.... The songs are heavy, melodic and have a killer groove, Wolf's [Hoffmann] guitar playing smokes all over the place. There are fast songs, and then there are those epic numbers! The music is stunning and will surprise everyone! Mark is singing from his heart and soul and sounds brilliant; he truly amazed me.... And you get the ingenious Andy Sneap producing this thing! Very cool indeed… I can't wait for 2010 and for this masterpiece to come out! BRILLIANT."

Tornillo added: "I am not going to try to fill Udo Dirkschneider's shoes. I am different. What I will do is be true to myself. However, when we play the old stuff, I will try to also be true to the originals. The fans deserve that. They want to hear ACCEPT so I will do the best to make it sound like ACCEPT, be it on this new album or on stage."

ACCEPT 2009 is:

Wolf Hoffmann: Guitar
Peter Baltes: Bass
Herman Frank: Guitar
Mark Tornillo: Vocals
Stefan Schwarzmann: Drums

Regarding Tornillo's addition to ACCEPT, Hoffmann previously said, "It all happened in minutes. Peter and I were working on some tunes in a studio in New Jersey. Somebody suggested we give this guy Mark a call to see if he would join us on vocals. So when he arrived we started jamming on some old ACCEPT tunes — just for fun. As soon as Mark started singing we looked at each other and realized the impossible just happened: we found a new voice for ACCEPT! The timing could not have been better! Now or never... We are re-energized and excited..."

TT QUICK was a popular club band during the 1980s in the New York and New Jersey area and was known for the guitar work of David Dipietro and the powerful vocals of Mark Tornillo. Dipietro's skills were especially singled out as he had given lessons to both Zakk Wylde of the OZZY OSBOURNE band and SKID ROW's Dave Sabo.

TT QUICK disbanded and later reunited sporadically and released a few more albums, including a live CD from one of their reunion gigs ("Thrown Together Live") and a studio effort, "Ink", which came out in 2000.