In a new interview with Metal Master Kingdom, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann was asked to name the biggest lesson that he has learned in all his decades in the music business. He responded (see video below): “I’d say one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that you shouldn’t settle for mediocrity. Sometimes there’s a tendency — any artist, but surely in music — to think, like, ‘Yeah, this might not be as exciting as I had hoped, but I’m sure the fans will love it anyhow.’ That’s something that’s super dangerous. Everybody has made that mistake along the way where they thought — they had that nagging feeling in the back of their mind, thinking, like, ‘Eh. Something isn’t right about it, but I hope nobody will find out. I’m sure they will love it anyhow,’ or something. It never works. Don’t do it. I speak from experience.”
He continued: “You have to make these songs, or whatever you do, to the point where you are completely happy with them, because then you almost don’t care what the rest of the world thinks about them, because you personally think that’s the best you could do and you’re happy with them, and if they don’t like it, tough shit. But guess what? That’s usually a pretty much indicator that it’s gonna be a good song or a success or whatever in the long run and stand the test of time. But if you think, like, ‘It’s good enough for the public, but I personally think it’s kind of so-so,’ then no — that’s not gonna work.”
ACCEPT‘s new studio album, “Too Mean To Die”, will be released on January 15, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP will be the group’s first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT‘s lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during last year’s “Symphonic Terror” tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.
“Too Mean To Die” was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH), who has been responsible for the magnificent studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.
ACCEPT‘s last album, 2017’s “The Rise Of Chaos”, marked the band’s first release with guitarist Uwe Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively.
ACCEPT‘s latest release was “Symphonic Terror – Live At Wacken 2017”, featuring the band’s performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.
