German/American metallers ACCEPT have inked a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.

ACCEPT guitarist and founding member Wolf Hoffmann comments on the signing: “I am really looking forward to working with a renowned, independent and strong label like Napalm Records. There are hard-working metallers at work here; that suits us. We are convinced that together we will reach the next level.”

Napalm Records CEO Thomas Caser states: “We are extremely proud and excited to welcome ACCEPT — an absolute heavy metal heavyweight to the Napalm Records family! Together we will drive this steel machine with full power and are very much looking forward to further musical milestones.”

ACCEPT‘s latest album, “Too Mean To Die”, came out in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group’s first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT‘s lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019’s “Symphonic Terror” tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

“Too Mean To Die” was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH), who has been responsible for the studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

Hoffmann told France’s Loud TV about the “Too Mean To Die” album title: “It’s more or less our answer to the whole corona vibe in the land, in the world. Of course, it’s not meant serious — we said, ‘We’re too mean to die. We can’t be bothered by any little virus that’s out there.’ Of course, it’s not meant to be totally serious. But it sounded like a metal album, it sounded like a metal title, and we liked it. So we decided to go that route and give the metal fans a fresh and in-your-face sort of statement and a metal album that doesn’t really deal with anything corona-related. ‘Cause I think people had enough of all the corona stuff by now. It’s time to move on.”

Regarding ACCEPT‘s decision to release “Too Mean To Die” during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolf said: “It’s gonna be a while until we can do a proper headlining tour. But we decided to go ahead and release it, because maybe fans will enjoy it now that they’re in lockdown, and maybe it’s gonna take their mind off everything. And it’s better than waiting until who knows when — until we can tour again. So let’s have the album out now. Fans can enjoy it and listen to it, and then one day we’ll be on tour and we’ll meet each other again.”

Mark 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 “Too Mean To Die”.

Asked about ACCEPT‘s overall approach since he came into the group, Tornillo told “That Jamieson Show”: “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 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, 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.”

“The Rise Of Chaos” marked ACCEPT‘s first release with Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively.