Accept’s Wolf Hoffmann Says Metal Fans are Less Divided Than They Used to Be

Longtime Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann was our guest on a recent episode of The MetalSucks Podcast to talk about the band’s new album, Too Mean to Die, his complete lack of interest in doing any kind of livestream concerts during the pandemic, and why he feels the music he’s written in the past decade is the best of his career, among other topics.

At one point during the chat, Wolf shared his opinion that metal fans nowadays are way more open-minded than in the past, when they tended to be more territorial over their favorite bands and sub-genres. He explained:

“The audience in general has gotten more relaxed over time. I remember in the ’80s it seemed to be that there were more fans of just one band. Either you were a Maiden fan or a Saxon fan, or Judas Priest. You couldn’t possibly be both for some weird reason. It was very [much] in separate corners almost — like football fans or soccer fans — where now it seems like people are much more open-minded. They like everything for what it is, everything is relaxed a bit more in that sense, it seems to me.

“I think a lot of it [the openness] has to do with the festivals now. People are so used to seeing 20 to 30 bands a day and they see all the different… they might not like it all, but at least they can check it out. And there’s a coexistence which is quite peaceful, and it never used to be in the ’80s.”

You can listen to our full chat with Hoffmann below along with Accept’s latest single, “Zombie Apocalypse.” Too Mean to Die comes out on January 29.