ACCEPT’s MARK TORNILLO On WOLF HOFFMANN: ‘We’ve Got A Great Mutual Respect For Each Other’

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On December 8, ACCEPT singer Mark Tornillo was interviewed on "That Jamieson Show". You can now watch the chat below. Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010), "Stalingrad" (2012), "Blind Rage" (2014), "The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and the upcoming "Too Mean To Die" (2021). Asked about ACCEPT's overall approach since he came into the group, Tornillo said: "Basically, [we went] back to what we did in the '80s — what everybody did back in the day. The whole thing was, when I joined the band, Wolf [Hoffmann, guitar] did not want the band to rest on its laurels and only go out and play the classics. He wanted a real band. So we've been album-tour, album-tour — like it always was." Mark also talked about his musical personal chemistry with Hoffmann, who is the sole remaining member from ACCEPT's classic lineup. "It's grown quite a bit, actually," he said. "We've got a great mutual respect for each other and for our talents. This album ['Too Mean To Die'] was a total collaboration. This is the first ACCEPT album without Peter [Baltes, bass], so that was a big gap to fill. But everybody stepped up. Our [new] bass player Martin Motnik contributed quite a bit to this album." Earlier in the month, Hoffmann told Sweden's RockSverige about his relationship with Tornillo: "Well, we've found a way to accept each other and work together, but, to be totally honest, we're not the biggest buddies in the world and probably never will be. I don't know. There's something… He grew up in New Jersey and I grew up in Germany, and maybe that has something to do with it. At least we work together really well and we respect each other, and he's a fucking brilliant singer, so it seems to work whatever recipe we've found. I'm not trying to really analyze it too much, but I can definitely say that we have different views on a lot of things, and that's okay. It seems to be working and the common ground is our music and the metal we make." "Too Mean To Die" will be released on January 15, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH), who has been responsible for the magnificent studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010. ACCEPT's lineup has been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during last year's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently. ACCEPT's last album, 2017's "The Rise Of Chaos", marked the band's first release with Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively. ACCEPT's latest release was "Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017", featuring the band's performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.