In a new interview with Metal Empire, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann spoke about the origin of the band’s unusual name.
“It actually existed before I joined the band, believe it or not,” Wolf said (hear audio below). “The guys had already performed under that name locally a couple of times. It was basically a neighborhood band, and they had that name. I was never completely happy with it, but, of course, it stuck and we kept it over the years.
“I think if came off an album, or I know it did — there was an album by a [blues] band called CHICKEN SHACK, believe it or not. And they had an album [in 1970] called Accept. And I always thought, ‘How bizarre? How odd? Why would you name a metal band after an album by CHICKEN [SHACK]?’ But they did it, and it was already a done deal, and we kept it all these years. But it’s still a bit of an odd mystery, the whole thing.”
When asked what the ACCEPT name means to him personally, Wolf responded: “Nothing, really. It’s just a name. I never thought it was a metal name. I mean, fans tell me they love the name; they think it’s great. But I always thought, ACCEPT, the meaning of it is really not very metal, is it? …
“The name was already there when I joined the band, and we kept it for all these years,” he continued. “And after a while, you keep forgetting about it, what it actually means, because you’re so used to it. But I never thought it was a brilliant band name or anything.
“I thought other bands had much cooler names, like BLACK SABBATH, for instance, or JUDAS PRIEST — that’s totally metal. On the other hand, there’s some dumb band names, like DEF LEPPARD; I never thought that was very cool… That’s an odd one. I’m sure there’s examples in both ways, and we fall somewhere in the middle, I think.”
ACCEPT will released their 16th studio album, Too Mean To Die, on January 15th 2021 via Nuclear Blast.
Wolf Hoffmann commented on the album: “We decided to not let ourselves be overly influenced by current events. Fans will get a hard, direct and uncompromising metal album, but of course accompanied with a wink: we are too mean to die! Weeds do not go away! ACCEPT do not let themselves get down!”
