German/American metallers ACCEPT launched the "Symphonic Terror Tour" on April 20 in Wuppertal, Germany. The trek sees the band accompanied by a symphony orchestra, presenting such ACCEPT anthems as "Princess Of The Dawn", "Breaker", "Fast As A Shark" and "Metal Heart", as well as to newer songs like "Stalingrad", "Shadow Soldiers" and "Teutonic Terror". Fan-filmed video footage of ACCEPT's April 27 concert in Saint Petersburg, Russia can be seen below. ACCEPT performed with an orchestra for the first time at the 2017 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. The concert was professionally recorded and filmed and released last November as a live set, "Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017", via Nuclear Blast. "This was a mash-up of intensity and precision," guitarist Wolf Hoffmann said about the fusion of heavy metal and classical music. "The fans are extremely open-minded, but I was nervous 'till the last minute before the show anyway. After all, it's still a metal festival! But I think that, after many years of ACCEPT combining both worlds, fans have started to really accept this concept." After the Wacken performance, Hoffmann told TotalRock's Whitney Alyson Ribbins: "It was phenomenal. We didn't really know what to expect. We did some rehearsals and stuff, but that was the first time we were ever on stage with an orchestra. It was totally different to what we normally do, but it sounded fantastic and it felt great. Everybody was smiling, the orchestra people had a lot of fun, the conductor was in a great mood and everybody was, like, 'This is fun.' It all went really, really smooth and it couldn't have gone better." He continued: "A lot of preparation went into it — months of talking about it and organizing everything and writing the scores and writing all the sheet music for everybody, because playing with an orchestra, you can't just jam." Earlier in the month, ACCEPT announced the addition of Martin Motnik on bass and Ava-Rebekah Rahman on violin. Born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Motnik has been playing music since he was seven years old and has been a member of several bands, both in Germany and the United States. He was asked by Uli Jon Roth to join him for his 2008 U.S. tour and again in 2009 and 2012. In addition to his musical talent, Motnik also has a Master's Degree in business from the University of Mannheim. "We were overwhelmed and honored by the musicians who auditioned for the open position," said Hoffmann. "The level of talent we saw was unprecedented, and we believe Martin Motnik is a perfect fit as he'll be joining us for the 'Symphonic Terror' tour and upcoming ACCEPT shows." ACCEPT performed with a stand-in bass player, Danny Silvestri, aboard this year's 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, which ran from January 31 to February 4. Silvestri stepped into ACCEPT following last year's departure of ACCEPT's founding bassist Peter Baltes.
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