WOLF HOFFMANN Says Next ACCEPT Album Will Be 'Stronger' And 'Heavier Than Ever'

Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann of German/American metallers ACCEPT spoke to Metaleater's Tony Antunovich about the band's upcoming follow-up to 2014's "Blind Rage" album, which will be released this summer via Nuclear Blast. Regarding the progress of the recording sessions for the new disc, Wolf said (hear audio below): "We are about half finished with a lot of the tracks. [Producer] Andy Sneap was over here a few weeks ago and we went through all the material and recorded some drum tracks, recorded some guitar stuff, some vocal stuff. So it's a little early, but I can guarantee it's gonna sound like ACCEPT."

Wolf also confirmed that ACCEPT's upcoming effort will be musically very similar to the band's last three releases with singer Mark Tornillo: 2010's "Blood Of The Nations", 2012's "Stalingrad" and 2014's "Blind Rage". "Oh, yeah," he said. "It's not supposed to sound any different; it's just supposed to be stronger than ever, heavier than ever and better songs than ever. That's what we're aiming for. And I think it's gonna be killer. [Drummer] Christopher Williams has done some amazing drum tracks already, so I think it's gonna be pretty awesome."

Hoffmann recently told Metal Wani that it is very important for ACCEPT to continue making albums that are stylistically not far removed from the band's classic offerings, Wolf said: "We've sort of had a period in the '90s where we experimented a little bit, and for a lot of fans that was already too much, but my excuse is the '90s were a difficult time for everybody. But, having done all that, when we got back together eight years ago with Mark Tornillo, we made a few, sort of, vows to ourselves. First of all, we wanted to write songs, or albums, that are meaningful and not just live off the past. We wanted to really make current albums that are as good as anything we've ever done in the past; that is one. And the other thing is, stylistically, we said we're not gonna try stuff that we know is not gonna work. We're not gonna try a bunch of ballads, we're not gonna try any radio hits, we're not gonna do any of that sort of thing what we've already done in the past. We know what we should sound like, we know the style that ACCEPT is known for, and we thought we knew what the fans want to hear from us, and that's what we try to do. You try to do what you do best and not try to be somebody else."

ACCEPT will release a new live set titled "Restless And Live" on January 13 via Nuclear Blast. This package will include the entire show ACCEPT played at 2015's Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany on Blu-ray/DVD plus two CDs.