DAVID REECE rules out second IRON ALLIES album with HERMAN FRANK: “I don't wanna work with the guy”
22-09-2025
In a new interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, former ACCEPT singer David Reece was asked if there are any plans for a second album with IRON ALLIES, his collaborative project with fellow ex-ACCEPT member Herman Frank (guitar). He said: “Nah. Herman and I kicked off on the right foot, but partnerships are partnerships, and then I soon realized it was no longer a partnership.
“There’s a weird thing with that whole ACCEPT family — excluding (original ACCEPT singer) Udo (Dirkschneider), I must say — and I know why,” he explained. “It was created by the old management, which was really good at dividing everyone and pitting everybody against each other. Really evil. And the only one that wasn’t part of that dark side was Udo. We’re good friends now, since ’88. I could call him today, if he’s home, talk to him and his boy. But some of that, it created a distrust of everybody around. And that’s how managers keep control. They cause this dissension of getting everybody freaked out so they can basically make you do what they want. And I’ve noticed in a lot of those guys, in those outsiders that are doing their own thing, that’s still there. You still hear about it. And I started feeling that.”
Circling back to his current relationship with Frank, Reece added: “He writes great riffs (with his long-running band) VICTORY. It’s funny ’cause when he came here and said, ‘If we do this (IRON ALLIES project), it’s gonna be heavy metal,’ and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But if you look at VICTORY, it’s kinda like (Reece‘s) BANGALORE CHOIR; it’s more of a pop-rock band. And he’s happy. He’s got a great singer. Gianni‘s (Pontillo) great, and I wish him well. But no, I don’t wanna work with the guy. I mean, I don’t hate him. I just don’t want that unease. I wanna be happy. I wanna focus on what I’m doing and not worrying about, ‘Oh, God, things are cool today,’ and then you walk into rehearsal and it’s not cool. I mean, screw that, dude.”
Back in October 2024, Herman was asked by Dionne about the possibility of a second album from IRON ALLIES. He said: “We will see. I’m always working. I do have my own project, Herman Frank, and I’m writing for other people, so I’m quite sure that IRON ALLIES will have a second album, for sure. We’ve played on a couple of festivals — (Belgium’s) Graspop (Metal Meeting) is one of the biggest festivals all in Europe — and we have been in Czech and stuff like that, in Switzerland and Germany. So I guess it was a good start. And I do love David‘s voice. That kind of gives a different shape, different style into rock/metal or metal/rock. It’s not the typical classic metal or rock singer screaming. He’s singing. He knows how to sing. And I do love his lyrics. So, yeah, for sure.”
IRON ALLIES‘ debut album, “Blood In Blood Out”, arrived in October 2022 via AFM Records.
When “Blood In Blood Out” was first announced, Frank said in a statement: “This record cannot be compared to anything David or I have produced in our past. It’s at the same time standing on its own, while sounding like it came from the one and the same mold. You could say: the two of us have sought and found each other.”
Although these two exceptional musicians had known each other for a very long time, sparks really started to fly during Frank‘s visit to Piacenza, Italy, where the American-born Reece has been living after marrying an Italian woman.
“We hit it off right away because David — like me — is not only an old warhorse, but a total music lover,” Herman said. “It’s only with this unswerving passion for music that you can last as long as we have in this shark tank.
“I love David‘s voice, that unique blend of metal, rock and blues. Also, he’s an awesome lyricist and as a U.S.-American he obviously has a much greater range of vocabulary than non-English-speaking singers.”
“In a way, ‘Blood In Blood Out’ is the motto of IRON ALLIES,” Herman explained. “This band was formed as a blood brotherhood, and no one gets out of here without shedding blood.
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