HERMAN FRANK On ACCEPT: 'Nowadays They Need Three Or Four Guitar Players To Do What I've Done With WOLF'

Former ACCEPT guitarist Herman Frank says that it was " a good move" for him to leave the band nearly a decade ago.

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 Stefan Schwarzmann sitting behind the kit. Frank and Schwarzmann were involved in ACCEPT's comeback with singer Mark Tornillo and appeared on the reunited group's first three studio albums: 2010's "Blood of the Nations", 2012's "Stalingrad" and 2014's "Blind Rage".

Looking back on his December 2014 decision to leave ACCEPT, Frank told Into The Pit in a new interview: "If you enter the last third of your life, I guess it's time to do whatever you wanna do. And it started with composing own songs, creating own songs, playing leads and stuff like that. And I missed this a lot in the years of ACCEPT. I had fun. I was touring around the world — thank you for that — but in the end, if you're infected by music, then you wanna do it by yourself. And nowadays, I still say to myself it was a good move. It was just time to leave this, to leave ACCEPT."

Referencing the fact that ACCEPT's lineup has been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently, Herman said: "I wish them all the best, but nowadays they need three or four guitar players to do what I've done with Wolf [Hoffmann, ACCEPT guitarist and leader] as twin lead players, and it's a shame, man. I still don't get it."

Two and a half years ago, Herman was asked in an interview with "The Rock Is George" podcast if he could ever see himself going back to ACCEPT. He said: "Never say never. It's a small world, and it's a crazy world. You never know what's gonna happen. I mean, HELLOWEEN did this nice reunion with three singers and, I guess, hundreds of guitar players or whatever [laughs] — three bass players and five drummers. [Laughs]

"I mean, it would be a great thing," he continued. "Once in a while, a couple of people start thinking about this — doing a reunion with [original ACCEPT singer] Udo [Dirkschneider] and Mark Tornillo and a couple of guitar players and maybe two bass players or whatever.

"You never say never. Actually, right now I'm concentrating on my own thing, and I guess Wolf Hoffmann is concentrating on his ACCEPT."

Back in 2016, Herman told All That Shreds that his most recent departure from ACCEPT came about because "it was just time to leave the band. Let's put it this way: I wanted to do music the way I started to. I wanted to have my own band. I wanted my own music and just wanted to just play my own leads. Not to follow somebody's guitar. I was getting too old for it. It's fine to be a backup, but after a couple of years, it's time for a different thing."

Asked how it was different playing with Tornillo after performing with Dirkschneider during the band's early years, Herman told All That Shreds: "Mark is a really nice guy and really promising. It's kind of a different voice and Mark really doubles Udo in his personal way. I prefer the style of Udo's singing. He is original ACCEPT. There is this voice sticking in your head. On the new songs, which Mark sings for the first time in ACCEPT, it's a different character, but it's very good. You can't compare them, really. They are a match for certain things, but they are quite different people. I do like them both. I couldn't have the decision which one I would prefer. It would have been great if they would put a couple of albums with Udo and Mark together. That would be awesome."

Frank and former ACCEPT singer David Reece recently joined forces in a new band called IRON ALLIES.

Frank's fifth solo album, "Two For A Lie", was released in May 2021 via AFM Records.

Photo credit: Kai Swillus