Wolf Hoffmann – Headbangers Symphony (July 1, 2016)

ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann will release his second solo album, titled Headbangers Symphony, on July 1 via Nuclear Blast. Wolf Hoffmann has a passion. His life-long love and dedication to heavy metal music is documented in dozens of albums spanning four decades with his longtime heavy metal band ACCEPT. But beyond heavy metal, Wolf has an incessant craving for the classics, yes, the ones written decades and centuries ago. Classical music has always been an influence, albeit limited, on ACCEPT‘s Teutonic approach to rock and heavy metal. However, it wasn’t until 1997 during an extended hiatus from ACCEPT, that Wolf Hoffmann finally had the chance to fully explore and fulfill this interest by recording his first astounding solo album, Classical, a record filled with his rock-guitar-driven interpretations of some of classical music’s most loved compositions. Headbangers Symphony showcases an overabundance of highly skilled improvisations. Wolf took the main pieces, and then wrote riffs that fit them. Lastly, in the grand hard rock tradition, he layered a guitar solo over it. He shaped the sound into a quite adventurous elegance, but the key themes of the originals remained. (adapted from Blabbermouth)