 Jimmy K here, Metal Voice. Look at this. The Metal Voice shirts are now on sale. Just go to the video description to find out on how you can purchase one. Metal! Welcome to the Metal Voice, Alan. Who do we have? One of our all-time favorite guests, Mr. Wolf Hoffman of Accept Himself. All right. Look at that. I'm not wearing... Hold on. I'm just putting off my jacket here. A lot of nations. Get comfortable, Wolf. Don't worry. I am. I indeed, indeed. Do you like my background? Yeah, I like it. It's a life shot. Yes, yes, yes. Too mean to die. Gonna be released January the 15th on Nuclear Blast. I can't even believe this, Alan. The 16th studio album. How about that? Where has the time gone? Already the fifth one with Mark Donillo. Crazy, isn't it? I mean, where's the time gone? Here was the first one, Blood of Nations. The last thing I remember is you. Nice. I like it. You're swagging everything. All right, Wolf. Tell us about the album. Tell us about the album. Well, brand new songs in the traditional form of Accept. And better than ever, what can I tell you? It's got a whole bunch of stuff on it, which surprised a lot of people. I've heard the comments that it reminds them a little bit of Blood of the Nations, as far as the vibe is concerned. And the other comment I got that there's a lot of surprising variety on this album. Yeah, I wouldn't do that. Go ahead, Alan. I see there's a lot of that more classical, neoclassical guitar work in it as well, injected into it. More than usual, I would say. Yeah, and some of that is just coincidence, because we really just go with the ideas that we have and they kind of take a life on their own. And all of a sudden you have these songs and there's your album, but it was never planned that way in a way. When we start recording and writing songs, we never have a goal or a plan. This is what we try to achieve and we must do this. We must do that. We just basically follow where the songs take us. And that kind of shapes the album in the end. So I was trying to place together some of the changes that were happening. I've been listening to the album. I said, wow, Wolf is really hot. There's great guitar leads. And I thought it was just one guitar. I thought it was just you on the album. And I find that there's three guitarists in the band. That's right. And we have a lot of the solos and not a lot, but quite a few of the solos are played by Phil Schaus on this album. We just, because now we have a third guitar player. And that happened also coincidentally, because we were doing an orchestra tour last year where we played all over Europe with an orchestra. We played material for my solo albums and a bunch of rearranged, except classics. And that was a wonderful experience. And on that tour, we had the guitar player by the name of Phil Schaus with us. And after the tour was over, we thought, well, it would be a shame if we never see him again, if we send him back home. And that was it. Because we really got along great. And he's an amazing player and a nice person. So we thought, hey, there's no law that you can't have three guitar players in a band, right? Yeah. It works for a maiden. It works for a maiden. So, you know, we were not really thinking about that when we decided that, but hey, there it is. So, you know, he got the zombie apocalypse that starts off with and you got two mean to die, which is, I think it's one of your heaviest songs in years, it seems like, but it just sounds like it's fresh. Yeah. And I don't know why that is. It just came out that way. And I'm glad that it did. But like I said, these things are hard to, hard to predict or to plan or else everybody would always plan everything to be wonderful and it would turn out wonderful, but it, you know, it just sort of happens automatically or it doesn't. So what were the pros and cons of releasing during a pandemic? You know, a lot of people, a lot of people would say, I'm going to wait until this is all over, you know, because I'm scared the sales might not be there or we can't support it on tour. I mean, what's the thought process? Ask me again in three months and I'll tell you how good of an idea that was. I mean, in one way, in one way, you kind of like alone, right? Cause it's not that as many albums, but in another way, right? Well, one of the other thought was, you know, heck, first of all, we don't know when everything is going to go back to normal, if ever. So how long do you postpone everything? And is it really such a good idea to let the album just sit there in the archives until day X, which may or may not be anytime soon? Or is it maybe better to give the fancy album out now so they can at least enjoy the music. And then when the day comes, we'll see each other on tour again, you know, so this doesn't have to coincide with the tour. And I mean, it just makes sense when it can, but when it can't, then, you know, I don't know, we'll try different ways. Don't, there's going to be a lot of people who were interviewing and say, save your money because when, when we're allowed to start touring again, there'll be shows scheduled for every city probably back to back. There's so much been delayed. So this might actually help. I mean, in a weird way, there's also the thought that it might help album sales because people don't have their, you know, don't have to buy a gazillion tickets right now because they can't. So maybe more people buy the album. But any, at any rate, it is what it is. We decided to go ahead with it. And here we are a few weeks away from it. Are you also like writing? Like you're saying, okay, I wrote one album, might as well just write a second album or in a third album. I mean, maybe, I mean, if we get really bored, we'll start on a new album. But honestly, I don't see that happen. I'm a little bit, you know, depleted right now. So maybe I'll work on something else for, for a little while and then go back to it. You could tell how many albums Jim has done, right? Just like a valve for him. It's a valve you turn on and the albums just bump out. Yeah, it's just, yeah, it's an album. Just, you know, just make it. You finished one, started another one. What about live stream? Do you think that's sort of like the way to go to promote the album? Hardly. I don't really see that being exciting for anybody. I mean, for the band, it's going to be weird to play in front of a bunch of cameras instead of excited fans. And then for the fans, you know, you're not, you're not there in the, in the middle of the venue. You're not getting that live vibe from the band. And you're at home and isn't it like watching a video at that point? I mean, a live video. Isn't it? I don't know. I don't really see the point in it, to be honest. All right. There's drive-ins too, right? Where people driving with their cars in Germany. I know that was kind of popular. Yeah, but I mean, it's so limited. So few, few people can come and then I don't know. I mean, people honking their horns instead of raising their hands. And it's just too weird. I mean, I don't, I'll think we'll skip that, you know. We'll wait for the Tory. I think so. I mean, a metal show is such a unique experience because it drives on the interaction between the audience and the band, you know, the better the audience, the better the band, which fires up the audience. So it says back and forth thing, which I would miss terribly, I think, you know. I mean, like you look at songs like Princes of the Dawn, where you got the chanting and a ball's the wall. And this album, you got The Undertaker. There's that classic except chanting that happens in there that we have to forward to. That's right, baby. Yeah, we need the audience too. We need the audience for that, you know. If it's just a few of us on stage, you know, it's kind of lonely. What about the songwriting process? Okay. Like Peter was always there. He's not there anymore. I mean. Yeah. And it's, it was sad not only for you guys, but as the fans, you know, it's kind of like. Of course. Yeah. I mean, how did you fill in that gap? I mean, was it weird not seeing him there by your side? Like he always has been. It is a little strange for me. And I was kind of heartbroken and sad when it happened. But, you know, at the end of the day, what are you going to do? You have to move, keep on moving. And the show must go on. We've got a great new guy on play, on bass, his name is Martin Motnik. And he actually contributed quite a bit to this album songwriting wise, which really surprised me in a good way. It was great because I asked all the guys, man, please let me hear any, any ideas you might have that might work for us. Let's have them. And he really came forward and delivered a bunch of good stuff. So yeah, I miss Peter. But at the same time, you know, it's almost been two years and the ship rolls on. What can you do? Yeah. And I guess the fans can decide whether it really influenced the album in a bad way or not. But so far, I don't think it has, you know, you sound as fresh and as good as ever. I would agree with that. I would agree with that. I heard the album, Alan's or the album. And I would say definitely somewhere between the first one with Mark and Stalingrad probably right there, right in the middle. Good. Yeah, I've heard that comment quite a bit where they say it's got a little bit of that vibe of blood in the nations for some weird reason. Yeah, you're a little Stalingrad there too. Maybe, you know, yeah, I don't know. Maybe just me. A sprinkle of Stalingrad and maybe a dose of... A sniff of blind rage. Exactly. Every except the album, you know, you've got the great production, right? You guys, like you said in the past, we're Germany. What do you expect from us? Right? It's got to be top notch production. You've got the great guitars. Dude, we're the metal machines. We're too mean to die. You can't kill us. The Teutonic Terror. Made in Germany. What are you going to do? Exactly, you know. And now it's a snake made in Germany, a mechanical snake, you know, so there. All right, how about lyrical themes, all right? If I throw out the names of some tracks, just like 10 seconds on the theme. Yeah. Too mean to die. It's really just a tongue-in-cheek statement about the times that we live in, you know, we're the metal warriors, immortal. It sucks to be you. It sucks to be you. It sucks to be you. Use your imagination. I know there's somebody in your entourage, in your environment, in your imagination that would fit the bill for that song. I'll throw it out there. Oh, the best is yet to come. I love that storytelling aspect that Mark sings about. It's great, isn't it? It's actually been sort of a motto of mine for many years. That's actually how I roll. The best is yet to come. That's my honest belief. I think the best except show hasn't been played yet professionally. And I also think life is full of surprises. And the best is yet to come. I'm the optimist. And then how do we sleep, which is the opposite of the best is yet to come, right? That's right. That's maybe a pandemic song. Is that? Well, it's kind of about the world that we live in, how crazy it is, and how do we sort of ignore all the fact how everything is going to shits out there in the big world. But, you know, sometimes it makes you wonder how we can be so calm with everything that's going on nowadays. Symphony of Pain. Do I hear a little bit of Beethoven in that lead break there? You are correct, my friend. Oh, that's the finger. Yes, sir. And we decided to actually write that song about Mr. Beethoven himself in the lyrics. So it's about his struggle with deafness and, you know, tragedies and life. And overnight sensation, I guess that's the sort of Facebook, YouTube world of clicks and likes. That's right. It's about you guys, actually. Click, click, click, click. It's about the YouTube kid generation. You know, the young kids. Like you. Like us, like us, like us. I think you're only... He's really got that 80s feel guitar I found that song. Doesn't it? Yeah, he does. It's one of my favorites. I think it's going to be a good live song, that one. So let's just quickly talk about Eddie Van Halen. He just passed away very, very sad. Did he influence you growing up or when you were playing or... Just tell me about that. Well, thank you. I mean, at the end of the day, he influenced everybody. I think anybody who heard him first was like blown away and thought like, whoa, what is all this? And he opened up a whole new chapter for every guitar player, I think. But I was never personally very influenced by him. I was more drawn to, I don't know, Richie Blackmore and Uli Roth and other players that really influenced my playing. A little bit more of the classical European style of playing and Eddie was, I think, in a league of his own. But I don't think he influenced my... I mean, a little bit maybe, but he's not one of my major influences. Michael Schenker, have any influence on your playing, Wolf? No, also Uli Roth is the guy that I adored and still adored to this day. Schenker is amazing too, he's different from... I don't think he influenced me terribly much. Yeah. What about when you look back at the Accept Albums? That album, I really like it today, but I didn't like it back then, or vice versa, or the other way around, or I really liked it back then, but I don't like it today. When you look back at all the music you've created... To tell you the truth, I wasn't really sure that all the stuff on Restless and Wild would turn out to be such a classic album, and there would have been so many classic songs we still play years later. It felt interesting and it felt good, but by no means did I have the idea, and I don't think anybody of us did, that we created something special or something that would last as long as it did, because it wasn't an overnight sensation, by the way. It was just another album, it sold okay, but we all knew it wasn't the big hit that we needed or the big album that would get us, you know, on the big stages of the world. That really happened with Balls to the Wall. So Restless and Wild was kind of an underground album or however you would call it, but it wasn't a commercial success at the time when we all felt it was not the best we've ever done or the best we could do, we wanted to move forward, and that's why we never pursued this whole speed metal thing ourselves, because we thought it was fun and it was great and we had a ball doing it, but it wasn't something that really influenced us that much. I mean, it was really surprising that years later people told us, oh, that song, you know, Fast as a Shark really changed my life and it made me go into speed metal and all these kind of things that it did for other people, but for us, it didn't really have that impact at all because there was no immediate feedback from anybody, you know? No, and I'm going back to all these magazines from the 80s Circus and Hit Parade and all these and I see a little blurb from you because in North America Restless and Wild was released and then like three months later it was Balls to the Wall, you're like, I hope our fans don't expect us to release our albums every three or four months. Yeah, because it was released later than in Europe, you know, they kind of piggybacked it on to each other somehow. Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah, it almost got lost in the shuffle here in North America because Balls to the Wall came out so much, you know, quickly after, like you said. Yeah, because we signed a big deal with, you know, Sony Epic at the time and that song Balls to the Wall and that album really changed everything for us because it just got us out of it. Did you think Balls to the Wall would be that big one? That big one for the band? After you finish recording it, you go, you know this is going to be it or did you feel it? Oh, definitely. Yeah, we all felt. I have a memory of when that song was written and it really was very fast. We thought, wow, this is really good. This is super catchy and so round and there's really, it's perfect the way it is. I hope it doesn't exist yet. You know, we were afraid we might have just copied somebody else without knowing it because it felt so like, god damn, that's really good. Are we all fooling ourselves here? I remember hearing it Alan and well for the first time on the radio and I go, what was that? Really? I just that feeling, what on earth was that? So whatever you're saying right now, you're describing, it came through over the radio for the first time. I couldn't understand it. I go, is this Judas Priest? What is this? Why is everybody chanting in the middle? It's just, it was just, just... Well, I had gotten Restless and Wild first and then it was automatic when I was, I was just gonna pick up the next accept album no matter what it was and then you put that on. I mean, you got London Leather Boys and it's just every song on there's a classic. I know what Gabby was saying. I had no idea what Gabby was saying. I'm reading the lyrics and going, what the hell is she talking about? That's all right. It sounded cool, but it sounded cool, right? It sounded cool. That's pretty much it. Alan, you have any... Yeah, but just I want to get back to the album though. There's a nice surprise at the end with Samson and Delilah. You got that Arabic feel. It's an instrumental too, right? At over four minutes. So that's surprising. Yeah, it's a song that initially wasn't really supposed to be on the album because it was just another instrumental song that I sort of played around with. I really liked doing these sort of things and it could have very well ended upon one of my instrumental solo albums. But Andy was really pushing for it and said, no, we should put it on the album because it's nice and heavy and it's not overly classical in that sense. It sounds like a metal song, but it really is based on two classical themes. One is called Samson and Delilah appropriately by St. Sons and the other one is by Dvorak. So I just sort of messed around with these two ideas and built that instrumental song out of it. Andy felt it would round off the album quite well. So that's why we included it. So how was the production going in a pandemic compared to all your other albums with Andy? I mean, it was different. He was not present. He was over in Britain. You guys had to get back home. Yeah, for some of it, but we had already together worked on about more than half of the songs when this pandemic happened. So we were about 60% done, I'd say. We just had a few songs to finish up and that we had to do online with Andy. So we were recording in Nashville, engineering ourselves and recording it properly and whatnot. And then Andy was listening in from back home in England and giving us comments and basically producing it from far away, which was a little strange, but it's like this almost, you know, it's doable. You can sort of, you can communicate what you need to communicate. It worked okay. The roles of producers in jeopardy now because everybody's learning to do stuff on their own? I mean, we've been recording for years. I wouldn't want to tackle the drum recording and certain things, but other stuff I've done for years. I'm by no means an engineer, but I can record stuff. It's not a rocket science. Mixing on the other hand is, that's where the art comes in. Andy has always done that by himself anyhow. So we usually let him do the mix and he sends us test files to listen to and we make our comments and we'll take it from there. It's no need to be together for a mix really ever because it's quite honestly, it's boring as hell if you sit next to the guy. Yeah, because it takes days and listening to the same song over and over again. It's much better if I sit here and listen to it with fresh ears and give him my honest opinion rather than being involved in every little nuance myself. How would you, okay, for all the fans out there, except fans who want to know one sentence, describe this new album to them? It's not my job, it's your job. Jesus. Why do I? Because you want to entice them. You want to entice them. No, man. These are all my little babies. All right. All right. So here's one of your mind. I think I already told you mine. I think I already told you mine, right? Let's see. I think, here's mine. Blood of the Nations with Stalingrad with your... Sprinkled in. Sprinkled in with a dab, just a dab of your solo album, your classical solo album. All right. I'm fine with that. If you like Stalingrad and you like Blood of Nations and you like your solo, just mix it all in together and this is what you get. Alan. A classic except, right? This is what we've grown to expect from them. So you've got the great production, great guitars, great leads, the chanting vocals, maybe not as heavy or as apparent on some of the previous album, but they're there. It's everything you expect from them and great quality. So. Awesome. All right. Well, like I said earlier, it's hard to predict how an album will turn out. I mean, at the end of the day, it is what it is and other people have to characterize it. But there was never a grand scheme and we'll sit there and plan it all out in detail and make us an album and just tailor make it like that. It just doesn't work that way. You just write the best songs you can and there's your group of songs and that's it. Throw them out to the world. See what happens. Let them devour it and, you know, to mean to die release, to be released January 15, 2021, a nuclear blast, the 16th studio album, except, oh my God, Alan, I feel so old. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Well, you are pretty old, dude. Not as old as me, but you're still pretty old. I didn't mean that. You're a kid. Oh, it's a fact. It's a fact. Yes, 52 years old. When I used to think of a 52-year-old, I used to think, man, that guy's old. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, try 60, baby. Wolf, it's always a pleasure to have you on the show and it's great. Congratulations on the album. It's fantastic and all the success with the launch of this fifth, 16th studio album from except. Yes, sir. Well, thank you very much, guys. It's been my pleasure, as always.