After leaving the German Accept team, vocalist Udo Dirkschneider's voice was Mark Tornillo. The music press still has extremely scarce information about him. This article will help fill the knowledge gap about this musician.
Biography of Mark Tornillo
The hero of this article was born on June 8, 1954 in the US state of New Jersey. Data on the growth of Mark Tornillo and his weight is unknown.
His creative career began long before joining Accept. Marc Tornillo in his youth was known to rock lovers for his participation in the Tt Quick team.
This American heavy metal band was founded in New Jersey in 1979. In 1983, aspiring producer John Zazula founded his own label, Megaforce Records.
The first teams to record on it were Tt Quick, Metallica, Anthrax and Overkill, as well as some others. A group with the participation of Mark Tornillo (photo of the musician can be seen in the article) released their debut mini-album in 1984. The first long-playing record was recorded and released two years later. She was warmly received by fans of the band and music critics. Despite this, the team soon broke up.
Leaving the group
Three years later, the Halikon Label record company invited the band to reunite and record the album. The musicians agreed, and soon they released a disc called Sloppy Seconds.
And after 3 years, the recording of the live album Thrown Together followed. Then the group fell silent again. This time, the break lasted a long eight years. And only in 2000 the team gathered again to record the next album. Formally, the team exists today. But with the departure of Mark Tornillo, the further fate of this group is still unknown. The band's last performance was in May 2013.
Team reunion
When Accept reunited in the 2000s after a long hiatus, Udo Dirkschneider, a gold member, was still their lead singer. His voice was one of the elements by which people recognized the music of this group. The famous vocalist is equally famous for his work with Accept, and as a solo artist.
When it became clear that he did not intend to continue cooperation with the team, many rumors appeared about the possible breakup of the group. But there was an unexpected turn in Accept history. Inviting a new frontman, Mark Tornillo, the musicians recorded the album in a new composition.
It was released in 2010 under the title Blood of Nations.
"Stalingrad"
This was the 13th studio album of the German band Accept and the second with Mark Tornillo as a vocalist. It was released on the independent label Nuclear Blast Records.
The criticism reaction to this disc was mostly positive. Allmusic put the album three and a half stars out of a possible five.
One music journalist said Mark Tornillo is the perfect replacement for Udo Dirkschneider. The disc took sixth place in the German national charts and 81st on the Billboard magazine chart. This album was the biggest success in American charts among the entire discography of the group. Before him, only the 1985 Metal Heart record, recorded with Udo Dirkschneider, made it into the top 100 albums of the United States. Therefore, Mark can rightfully be called a worthy replacement for his predecessor.
Blind Rage
An album with the same name was released on August 15, 2014 on the same label as its predecessor. The disc instantly rose to first place in the German album parade. One of the music critics said about this disc: “The record looks like a guard dog on a short leash, which is restrained in its manifestations, but still dangerous. When listening to the disc, it seems that at any moment an explosion can occur and everything will come out from under Another well-known journalist, Ray Van Horn, commented on this album: "Accept members are still masters of their craft, no matter who holds the microphone."
Here is another tip. Its author George Nisbeth says so about the 2014 album: "No matter what they say, it is a powerful, dynamic and incredibly lively record ... Accept's metal heart beats more and more with every new disc."
Video concert
In 2017, Mark and Accept delighted their fans with the release of a live album called Restless and Live. The performance was recorded in 2015 at the annual rock festival Bang your head !!! in the German city of Balingen.
The album came in several formats, including audio editions on two CDs, four vinyl records, and video versions on DVD and Blu-ray. This concert album was the first in the career of singer Mark Tornillo.
Heyday of chaos
This title was chosen for the 15th studio album by Except. It was released on August 4, 2017.
To work on this disc, the team invited a new guitarist and drummer. Thus, we can say that Mark Tornillo has become one of the key figures in the new history of the Accept group, having entered its permanent composition.
The new guitarist, Hoffman, said the title for the new work implies the chaos that people on planet Earth created.
Other projects
After joining Accept, Mark Tornillo took part in the recording of the studio album for the American thrash metal band Overkill in 2014. Despite the fact that Udo Dirkschneider is to some extent his rival, the former Accept frontman appreciated the vocal data of the musician who replaced him. He said in one of his interviews that this vocalist has a wonderful voice and he sings great new material. The most successful, in his opinion, was the album of 2010 "Blood of the Nations. The next disc" Stalingrad "was already much worse. However, Udo said that Mark poorly performed the old songs of the group. Many people hold the same opinion fans of the team.
Mark Tornillo was loved by both Accept fans with experience and admirers who began to listen to the band's music when its vocalist was already the hero of this article.