Udo Dirkschneider, frontman for U.D.O. and former ACCEPT vocalist, is featured in a new interview with Songfacts.com. An excerpt is available below:

Songfacts: Let's talk about some of your best-known songs. What do you remember about writing (Accept's) 'Fast As A Shark'?

Udo: "Stefan Kaufmann came up with just a fast song. (Laughs) The really funny thing was in the beginning, we said, 'Bah! No, we can't play songs like this.' But we didn't know that we were exasperating speed metal. So that was completely new. And then we put this funny thing in: 'Hi De Hi Do Hi Da.' It's from a folk song in Germany (titled 'Ein Heller Und Ein Batzen', which translated in English means 'A Farthing And A Penny'). We put the song in front of the album. So sometimes you have crazy ideas, and in the end it works out very good."

Songfacts: What about the song 'Balls To The Wall', what do you remember about the writing of that?

Udo: "'Balls To The Wall', that was just a riff in the beginning. The hook line 'balls to the wall,' the melody 'balls to the wall,' that was it. And nobody has a clue about the verse, how we sing the verse.

One night I was sitting there with Stefan Kauffmann at his studio, and we said, 'Okay, what can we do?' We had a lot of drinks, and I was in a way really drunk, and then I start singing the verse in some way, and here we go. Then the words came out: 'Balls To The Wall.' Sometimes things happen."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

U.D.O. have released their new video, for the Steelhammer album track 'Metal Machine'. Watch below:

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.

"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:

Normal 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: