U.D.O. / ex-ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider recently spoke with Mark Dean at Myglobalmind.com. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Q: There are many bands of the eighties which was when your former band Accept achieved their success that have reformed and reunited in recent years. Is that something that you have ever been approached about doing, is it something that would interest you?

Udo: "That’s a very long story. Of course I have certainly been asked. Unfortunately, Wolf is telling everybody that he has never been in touch with me, though I can show you tons of emails. I have been asked about rejoining for a reunion and didn’t directly say no. I did it already once and there was a lot of shit happened. I then said 'OK guys if I do this then I want to have this and this...' Wolf then said that he didn’t want to do it, so I said 'Goodbye, thank you very much and good luck (laughs).'

Q: Do you then prefer to focus on U.D.O., and the future for that band rather than looking back to your legacy with Accept?

Udo: "Yes. The problem is if I did Accept again and it doesn’t work, then there was an issue regarding the name with Wolf. He was stealing the name in the eighties. He was also doing interviews to promote Blood Of The Nationsand talking so many bad things about me with so many lies. I don’t know why he did that. However that is history now. I will be 61 in a couple of days on 6th of April when I am in New York."

Q: How do you maintain your energy particularly on stage?

Udo: "Many people ask me that, I try to live healthily as possible. I do nothing special exercise-wise or whatever. I walk a lot, and in the summer time I do a lot of swimming and running. The shows are fun for me to do and I like to be on tour and that also keeps you fresh."

Q: You have been in the music business a long time, do you still have dreams and goals?

Udo: "Of course you always have to have those, one day maybe I would like to do an album with an orchestra perhaps…"

Go to this location for the complete interview.

U.D.O.'s new album Steelhammer - produced by Udo Dirkschneider and Fitty Wienhold - will be released on May 21st in North America and May 24th in Europe via AFM Records.

The band are now streaming the album track, 'Basta Ya', which is not only U.D.O.'s first song in Spanish ever, but also one with a very important message: the youth is the future, they need perspectives! Victor Garcia from WARCRY guests on this track.

U.D.O. previously released a video for the Steelhammer album track, 'Metal Machine':

"Our new album is a real battering ram," Udo says. "That's why we have chosen this cover. It really shows best that U.D.O. is pure heavy metal! U.D.O. is back!"

The editions and tracklistings of the album are as follows:

Standard CD:

'Steelhammer'

'A Cry Of A Nation'

'Metal Machine'

'Basta Ya'

'Heavy Rain'

'Devil's Bite'

'Death Ride'

'King Of Mean'

'Time Keeper'

'Never Cross My Way'

'Take My Medicine'

'Stay True'

'When Love Becomes A Lie'

'Book Of Faith'

Digi-Pack:

'Steelhammer'

'A Cry Of A Nation'

'Metal Machine'

'Basta Ya'

'Heavy Rain'

'Devil's Bite'

'Death Ride'

'King Of Mean'

'Time Keeper'

'Never Cross My Way'

'Take My Medicine'

'Shadows Come Alive' (bonus track)

'Stay True Stay You'

'When Love Becomes A Lie'

'Book Of Faith'

Japanese Version:

'Steelhammer'

'A Cry Of A Nation'

'Metal Machine'

'Basta Ya'

'Heavy Rain'

'Devil's Bite'

'Death Ride'

'King Of Mean'

'Time Keeper'

'Never Cross My Way'

'Take My Medicine'

'Stay True Stay You'

'When Love Becomes A Lie'

'Book Of Faith'

'Dust And Rust' (bonus track)

A new audio preview can be heard below:

The band have uploaded footage from the studio featuring Francesco Jovino pounding out the drones for the new album. Check out the footage below: