UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER Says Last Two ACCEPT Albums Sound Like They Were Recorded Together

U.D.O. members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals) and Fitty Wienhold (bass) were interviewed for the latest installment of the "Talking Metal" podcast. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. (Note: Go to the 14:50 mark to hear the full interview.)

Asked about his former band ACCEPT and whether he has heard the two albums the group has recorded with singer Mark Tornillo — 2010's "Blood Of The Nations" and 2012's "Stalingrad" — Udo said: "I was listening to 'Blood Of The Nations', of course. I mean, good album, good singer. The second album, I only heard one song, 'Stalingrad'. I think the second album, for me, is not [as] good as the first one. I had the feeling they were recording already the second album together with the first one; [at least that's what] it sounds like."

He continued: "Wolf [Hoffmann, ACCEPT guitarist] said he was not in contact with me about the reunion, but then what can I say?! This is not true. He was asking me. But then we had a long talk and then at the end I said, 'No, guys, I don't wanna do it again. I'm really happy with U.D.O. And I wish you all the best. Good luck for the future.' That's it."

"Talking Metal" podcast (audio):

In a 2011 interview with Sleaze Roxx, Dirkschneider was asked about his decision to not take part in ACCEPT's current reunion. "Wolf has been saying in interviews that he was not interested in a reunion, but this is not true," he replied. "They asked me [in 2009 if I wanted to return to the band]. I said to them, 'We have already done a reunion in the '90s and it did not work out.'

"My thought was this: if I do this reunion, then I have to cut down U.D.O. [Udo's long-running project], and U.D.O. has become quite successful. I said to Wolf, 'Okay, when this reunion doesn't work out, I'll have to continue under the name ACCEPT.' I wanted the rights to the name, but Wolf didn't agree to those terms and I said to them, 'I wish you good luck.'"

When asked why it would not have been possible to do both U.D.O. and ACCEPT, Udo said, "For me, I would rather not have two bands at the same time. I want to be able to concentrate on just one band. I have restarted U.D.O. twice at this point; the band has been in existence this time for 14 to 15 years now. I've been together with some of these guys in this band longer than I have been with the guys in ACCEPT. [laughs]!"

Regarding whether his decision had to do with a struggle for control of the name, money or both, Dirkschneider replied, "Well, money, of course, but money isn't the most important thing in the world to me. I wanted assurance that I could continue under the name ACCEPT if things didn't work out because I had the most to lose by putting U.D.O. aside. So when they wouldn't agree to this, I said, 'Thank you very much, Wolf!'" [laughs]"

Speaking to Kaaos TV in 2011, Hoffmann stated about ACCEPT's current relationship with Dirkschneider: "There's really no connection at all; we don't really have any relationship with him. We just read stuff that he says and we don't wanna comment on any of it. We decided for ourselves we're not gonna go there and, like, make a statement [in response] to his statement, blah blah blah. We're not gonna go there. I know that certain people want that, but we don't wanna go there, so we decided we wanna wish him all the best with his own project and 'adiós, amigo.'"

Pictured below: Udo Dirkschneider

Pictured below: Current ACCEPT lineup (featuring singer Mark Tornillo)