Dimitris Kontogeorgakos from MetalTemple.com recently conducted an interview with U.D.O. leader and former ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider. The following is an excerpt:

Q: You have a brand new single on the way entitled 'Infected'; first of all I have to ask you why will you release it only in 2,222 copies? Is there any special meaning behind this number?

A: (laughs) "No there is none! Actually this was an idea of our record label and I have to admit that we are not really happy about this..."

Q: Why?

A: "We don’t see the point in releasing two non-album (and actually very good) tracks on a single. They will be on 2222 copies for a limited number of fans and then they will be lost. So, I do not know if there is any meaning behind this number. I guess they wanted to do something special for the band. We want to have these two songs as download-ables in the internet because we do not want to lose them!"

Q: In the band’s official site says that the new album is closer to Accept; can give us more details on this?

A: "Yeah, in this album you can find songs from the Balls To Wall-era or Russian Roulette and stuff like that."

Q: But have you ever left the Accept sound?

A: "No! (laughs) This was a comment by the guys from the record label. I have never left this sound. OK, it is a little bit different and if you think the main difference is that Wolf is not playing the solos. But if you take a closer ’look’ at the solos in the new album you will discover more melody and that bring us closer to Accept."

Q: And that brings us to the next question; what about the reunion?

A: "Reunion?" (laughs)

Q: It’s good to see you laugh about that! Of course I am talking about the proposition to re-join Accept.

A: "Yeah I know. Reunion for me would be if Stefan [Kaufmann] and myself would be back on Accept. It is good to see that Peter [Baltes] and Wolf [Hoffman] are making music together again but under the name of Accept? I do not know. It will be very difficult. I listened to the new recordings ('Balls To The Wall' and 'Flash Rocking Man') and I can say that the new singer sounds like a copy of my vocals; and this is wrong.

But it is actually up to them. I believe that if they wanted to do a reunion without me they should search a different singer. This might work. So, when they asked me and Stefan to do a reunion I simply said ‘no’. The risk for me would be too high. I have been with U.D.O. for more time than I had been with Accept and actually I have made more albums. U.D.O. is a band with strong chemistry and is working as a team. I do not have any problem with the guys in Accept but I know that music-wise we would not be the same. It would be two different parts together; myself and Stefan on one side and Wolf and Peter on the other. But this would not be Accdpt that back in those days was a whole. Listen to the Predator album it had nothing to do with the old sound."

Read the full interview at this location.