Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Accept are one of the most important German heavy metal bands. When the NWOBHM spring up, Accept was representing the same generation of metal heads in Germany. At the heart of the band has always been guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and except for the most recent of years bassist Peter Baltes. The classic lineup also consisted of vocalist Udo Dirkschneider and drummer Stefan Kaufmann who replaced Frank Friedrich who played on the first album. Rhythm guitarists during that time were Jörg Fischer who appeared on most albums and Herman Frank who played on a couple albums. Eat The Heart featured vocalist David Reece. The modern line up of Accept is fronted by vocalist, Mark Tornillo. It also features a new guitarist and drummer but there are no writing credits that indicate they have contributed.

Buddy Rich

The Rolling Stones are among the most influential and well known rock bands to come out of the 60’s. Udo named them as an influence.

Jimi Hendrix is legend, inspiring a generation of music and beyond. Udo named him as an influence.

Deep Purple are a very influential hard rock / early heavy metal band. Wolf named Ritchie Blackmore as probably his biggest influence. Udo, Stefan, and Peter also named Deep Purple as an influence.

Led Zeppelin may easily be the most influential hard rock band. Stefan named them as an influence.

Uriah Heep were an influential progressive rock band who dabbled in early heavy metal. Udo named them as an influence.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of heavy metal. Udo named them as an influence.

Sweet were a hard rock / glam rock band. Udo named them as an influence. Stefan named Sweet and Mick Tucker as an influence.

Scorpions are the original German metal / hard rock band. Wolf named Uli Jon Roth as a big influence.

Judas Priest are probably the most quintessential heavy metal band. Wolf said both Glenn and KK have been a huge influence on him. Peter also named them as an influence on the band. Stefan said he was a fan.

Rainbow brought Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio together for something amazing. Ritchie is one of Wolf’s biggest influences. Stefan also named Rainbow and Cozy Powell as an influence.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Wolf named Angus Young as a big influence. Peter also said they were an influence.

Wolf said he is a big fan of blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa and classical.

Wolf’s wife contributed to lyrics at times, she is credited as Deaffy.

I was un able to find the influences of Jörg Fischer who was on second guitar and wrote on most of the 80’s albums.

Frank Friedrich only drummed on the first album. I’m unsure of his influences.

Herman Frank is given credit for writing on Balls to the Wall and one co-writing credit on Blood of the Nations. He said he was not allowed to write in Accept. I’m not clear on his influence but he has mentioned Ritchie Blackmore and Gary Moore. He mentions Deep Purple and Iron Maiden being favorites of his.

David Reece was the vocalist for Eat the Heart. Although the entire band is given credit for writing, He said he didn’t write any vocal melodies. I’m unsure of his influences.

Mark was a fan of Accept as far back as the early days. In his former band TT Quick, they covered Accept songs. He played classical piano and tuba as a kid. He plays guitar, bass, drums, but always says he ends up singing in every band he’s in. I’m not sure of his influences.

Bands influenced by Accept!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Sources:

https://www.loudersound.com/features/accepts-wolf-hoffman-my-5-favourite-guitarists
https://metalshockfinland.com/2014/06/03/wolf-hoffmann-ive-always-been-a-huge-fan-of-ritchie-blackmore/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymtUpsLpoq8&feature=emb_logo
https://bravewords.com/news/u-d-o-s-udo-dirkschneider-talks-new-album-influences-and-more-audio-interview-streaming
https://myglobalmind.com/2015/06/26/interview-with-accept-bassist-and-back-vocalist-peter-baltes/
http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2011/08/interview-with-stefan-kaufmann.html
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/guitarist-herman-frank-says-its-a-shame-he-wasnt-allowed-to-write-any-music-for-accept/
https://myglobalmind.com/2017/09/20/love-guitarist-iron-maiden-herman-franks-career-aspirations/
https://www.metal-rules.com/2019/04/14/david-reece/
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mark-tornillo-says-he-was-extremely-nervous-replacing-udo-dirkschneider-in-accept/
https://rotrradio.rocks/%23rotrarmy-blog%2Freviews/f/the-rise-of-accepts-mark-tornillo