German metal mainstays Accept are taking their 50th anniversary celebrations to a new plateau. Following recently delivered collabs with Rob Halford and Philip Anselmo, they’ve now tapped Ghost vocalist/mastermind Tobias Forge to soar through a re-recorded version of mystical Eighties anthem “Save Us.”
As previously reported, veteran Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and current vocalist Mark Tornillo reached out to a number of notable metal musicians to help re-record a bunch of old cuts for an album called Teutonic Titans 1976-2026. “Save Us” had initially appeared on the band’s I’m a Rebel album from 1980, but has been reworked with Forge, Anthrax bassist Frank Bello and Korn drummer Ray Luzier.
The fit’s pretty good for Forge (who currently performs as Papa V Perpetua in Ghost). “Save Us” is a vintage Eighties fist-raiser, packed with triumphantly leather-clad rock riffage that offset the weary lyrics about the doom “beyond the hill of deadly soil.” Considering the “Satanized” approach of Ghost, Forge seems quite at home singing of sinister faces, trembling hearts and an all-encompassing “mystical force” (“He tears you from the ground and takes you higher and higher / Feel his magic’s all around, his eyes are burning like fire”).
Turns out Forge is also a huge Accept fan — and of “Save Us,” in particular. He’d previously pondered the idea of doing a full-blown cover with Ghost, but re-routed the plan after making friends with Accept last year.
“Tobias was not really on my radar,” Hoffmann explained in a statement. “Obviously, I know Ghost, and they’re huge, but last year he turned up at one of our shows when we played in Stockholm, and we were chatting a little bit, and he said that his favorite song was ‘Save Us.’ At one point he was considering using it as a cover song on one of their albums, but it never panned out.”
Hoffmann adds that he didn’t’ quite remember the Accept original, and had to relisten to the recordings. And then Forge’s fandom clicked into place.
“After I saw a Ghost show, it all made sense to me. [“Save Us”] really fits his style and I could really imagine him doing that song really well. He’s right, it’s a fun song!”
Forge, Bello, Luzier and Accept’s re-envisioned “Save Us” can be found via the player above.
Teutonic Titans 1976-2026 is out September 4th via Napalm Records. The album also features guest spots from Overkill vocalist Bobby Blitz, professional wrestler and Fozzy singer Chris Jericho, Haunted guitarist Ola Englund, Nevermore’s Jeff Loomis and many more.
You’ll find more album and pre-order info here.
In related news, Ghost are gearing up for the release of their upcoming concert film, 2 Big 2 Rig. That his theatres worldwide on August 26th.