Greece’s  Rockpages.gr caught up with Accept vocalist Mark Tornillo about a variety of topics like retiring, the failure of his first band T.T. Quick, if any of his Accept albums are classics, and more.

On his Accept albums: “I feel great about them. Obviously, I was one of the songwriters. As far as being classics? I am guessing Blood Of The Nations is a classic. It’s gonna be 10 years old soon. I think we tried to remain true to the sound of what the band was. Obviously, the two original writers who wrote most of the songs, most of the music, are there anyway. I hold my head up high. I feel good about them, no shame on my end.”

On retiring: “I hope somebody grabs the torch, because a lot of us are getting old. We will have to retire soon. I have said this all along: when I can’t do it, on the level that we are doing it, I am not going to do it anymore. I am not gonna get out there and sing half-assed. I am not gonna squat tune down a D, do all the shit that everyone else does. I am not doing it. If we can’t do it, we won’t do it. Until that time we go out there and kill it. And that’s it. But, hopefully there are kids out there that are going to pick up the ball and run with it. Because, someone has to. This just can’t die when we do.”   

German heavy metal legends Accept are releasing a very special, limited 10" vinyl single "Balls To The Wall" / "Symphony No.40 In G Minor", out on October 5th via Nuclear Blast. Both songs are from their upcoming live album Symphonic Terror - Live at Wacken 2017, which will be out on November 23rd.

Tracklisting:

Side A
"Balls To The Wall" (Live At Wacken Open Air 2017, with CNSO Symphony Orchestra)
 
Side B
"Symphony No.40 In G Minor" (Live At Wacken Open Air 2017, with CNSO Symphony Orchestra)
 
Pre-order here. Pre-order digitally here.

Accept are experiencing more success than ever before 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, the German band 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 be released on this fall via Nuclear Blast.

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 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 Wall'.

"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!"

Tour dates:

September
28 - Agoura Hills, CA - The Canyon
29 - Pasadena, CA - The Rose
30 - Santa Clarita, CA - The Canyon

October
6 - Monterrey, Mexico - Tecate México Metal Fest
10 - Belém, Brazil - Botequim
12 - Fortaleza, Brazil - Complexo Armazém
14 - São Paulo, Brazil - Carioca Club
16 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil - MG

November
2 - Weissenhäuser Strand / Ostsee, Germany - Metal Hammer Paradise