For The Metal Voice, former Anthrax singer Neil Turbin interviewed Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann in Pasadena, California at The Rose on September 29th. Hoffmann spoke about the band's upcoming plans to tour with an orchestra all over the world, new album update, and their new live album Symphonic Terror Live at Wacken 2017 that will be released  on November 23rd via Nuclear Blast. Check out the interview below.

When asked about Symphonic Terror Live at Wacken 2017
  
Hoffmann: "It's going to be a live DVD/CD of the show we did live at Wacken with 50 piece orchestra; it was incredible. I always wanted to do that and it finally all came together when we played at Wacken, a 2 hour set. I also played some stuff from my solo album, Headbangers Symphony, and we played a  bunch of Accept songs that were never done with orchestra. I have always been a fan of classical music, however, I was never a classically trained musician. My solo album was more like a tribute from an outsider. I just grew up wanting to make noise with Marshall stacks. A lot of these classical pieces are beautiful and I always thought it would be so cool  to have a bunch of violins on stage and combine the two worlds." 

When asked if they plan to tour with an orchestra

Hoffmann: "The orchestra at Wacken was meant to be a one off, but then everybody loved it so much and we loved it so much we decided to bring this out on the road with us somehow. So, we will be performing with an orchestra next year all over the world. It will start in Europe then Russia then the rest of the world."

When asked about details of an upcoming studio album

Hoffmann: "We have been so busy touring and with the classical album coming out, so no time yet to work on. Yes, we will make a new album but when we will get started, I don't know yet. I can't write on the road. Then will be a time when I set the time aside and focus and dig into it. The musical direction is not going to change dramatically; we don't want to, we haven't changed our style on the last four albums." 

Accept are experiencing more success than ever, and have hit their stride creatively! In the 10th year since the band's reunion, the quintet can look back on four top 10 albums in Germany, including an unbelievable #1 with Blind Rage (2014) and a brilliant #3 with their latest album The Rise Of Chaos (2017).

Over the past few months, Accept has been anything but passive, instead they‘ve been finalizing their latest project, their upcoming live release Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017, which will come out on November 23rd via Nuclear Blast!

Today, the pre-sale has started for this amazing live document, which will be available as:

- BluRay+2CD-Digi
- DVD+2CD-Digi
- 2CD-Digi
- 3LP Box (black) incl. booklet, poster
- 3LP Box (gold) incl. booklet, poster // NB Mailorder exclusive
- BluRay+DVD+2CD-Earbook
- BluRay+DVD+2CD-Earbook + photo card (signed) // NB Mailorder exclusive

Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

DVD/Blu-Ray

Part 1: Accept
"Die By The Sword"
"Restless And Wild"
"Koolaid"
"Pandemic"
"Final Journey"

Part 2: Headbanger’s Symphony
"Night On Bald Mountain"
"Scherzo"
"Romeo And Juliet"
"Pathétique"
"Double Cello Concerto in G Minor"
"Symphony No. 40 in G Minor"

Part 3: Accept with Orchestra
"Princess Of The Dawn"
"Stalingrad"
"Dark Side Of My Heart"
"Breaker"
"Shadow Soldiers"
"Dying Breed"
"Fast As A Shark"
"Metal Heart"
"Teutonic Terror"
"Balls To The Wall"

Bonus:
Making Of: Wacken
Making Of: Headbanger’s Symphony

Fans can expect a unique, 2 hour Accept show, shot on August 3rd, 2017 at the legendary W:O:A, where the band played the biggest and most extraordinary show of their career in front of 80.000 live fans at the festival, on top of thousands more fans watching via the live stream! The show was divided into three parts, showing the full creative power of Accept: The first part hosted the premiere of new tracks "Die By The Sword" and "Koolaid", as well as some of their most popular songs, such as "Restless And Wild" and"Pandemic'. The middle part hosted guitarist Wolf Hoffmann accompanied by a symphony orchestra, presenting the best-of from his recent solo album Headbangers Symphony, which includes metal versions of some of the world’s biggest classical compositions (e.g. from Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi,...). And in the last but not least part, fans were able to bang their heads to Accept anthems (also accompanied by the orchestra), such as "Princess Of The Dawn," 'Breaker," "Fast As A Shark" and "Metal Heart," as well as to new songs like "Stalingrad," "Shadow Soldiers" or "Teutonic Terror". The finale could be nothing less than an 8 minute version of their eminent hit "Balls To The Walls"!

"This was a mash-up of intensity and precision," Wolf Hoffmann says about the fusion of Heavy Metal and classical music. "The fans are extremely open-minded," continues Wolf happy, "but I was nervous 'till the last minute before the show anyway. After all it's still a metal festival! But I think that, after many years of Accept combining both worlds, fans have started to really accept this concept."

By the way: What started as a world premiere in Wacken and caused quite a stir worldwide (thanks to the live streams) will be continued in early 2019. This means: Accept are planning to tour across Europe with an orchestra in spring 2019! "I really hope we will be able to fulfill our dream - we are working hard on it!" tells Wolf Hoffmann with eager anticipation. "What I can already say now is that there will be lots of optical and musical surprises, that fans of Accept have never experienced before. We want to multiply what we have achieved in Wacken and are happy about every bit of support we get. One thing is for sure: 2019 will be exciting!"