wacken

What to expect at Wacken Open Air 2017

100 days to go for Wacken Open Air 2017, and the lineup looks massive for its 28th edition. Some of the big names include Megadeth, Accept, Amon Amarth, Kreator, as well as old timers like Status Quo, Alice Cooper, and the mighty Europe. The lineup also serves a great chunk of death metal this year including Morbid Angel, Memoriam, Nile, Aborted and more. On the doom and stoner side, there is no disappointment with heavyweights like Grand Magus and Orange Goblin, alongside Crowbar, Paradise Lost, Ahab and more. Black metal legends Mayhem and Emperor both make their presence strongly felt, while grind legends Napalm Death and Brujeria grace the other side of the spectrum. Wacken never disappoints with its thrash bands and this year is the same with Sacred Reich, Tankard, Possessed, Annihilator and more. India’s premier old school heavy metal band Kryptos play the festival for the very first time and we at HBI will be there to support them as should you.

Wacken Open Air is not just about the bands and the music, it’s about a sense of belonging in the metal community, being a part of something bigger than yourself. Camping for three days at the festival site along with thousands of fellow fans, consuming copious amounts of alcohol, and taking in every second of the greatest display of the music we love, this is an experience of a lifetime one should not miss. Wacken also features market, a one stop shop for everything metal under the sun, make sure you pay a visit. Do not forget, the crew of Headbangers India will be around, so do come and say hi, and share a beer, and most importantly have the time of your life for three days and make sure those around you do the same as well. See you all at Wacken Open Air 2017!

April 26, 2017
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Review: Wacken Open Air 2016

Every year metalheads from all over the world travel to the Holy Land of Wacken. This year was the 27th edition of the world’s biggest heavy metal festival and like its slogan said, RAIN OR SHINE. Wacken and rain simply go hand in hand these days but that doesn’t make it any less fun.

Day 0 (Tuesday)
We started our journey from Hoorn (The Netherlands) at around 11.00 and after a five hour drive, we finally arrived at the Holy Land of Wacken. At this time, it was still sunny outside and we quickly pitched our tents. As part of the Wacken experience, we decided to pitch our tents at the “regular” camp grounds (instead of the Press camping but where’s the fun in that)

After some food, we decided to walk around the camp sites and share a drink with a few of the other early birds. So far, it was a good night with music coming from every tent/car/truck you can imagine. Some people even brought drum kits and amps with them and performed on the camping site. We even found a Lemmy memorial! All and all, a good day and we went to bed satisfied, waiting for the first day of live music from the festival.

Day 1 (Wednesday)
Waking up to the sound of rain is a familiar sight at Wacken but it couldn’t get in the way of our fun (at least that is what we thought.) After walking about 2.5 km through the pouring rain to get our Press passes, we were soaked and not happy at all. After we got our passes, we took a taxi back to the festival and started to feel better. It was a foolish mistake on our part as we had ponchos and raincoats but left them at the tent. After we changed, we made our way to the Wackinger Village for a specific piece of food that I had been craving for over a year (Zyklopenspiess) and watch Pampatut while we were there. We tried to watch Indian represents Elemental at the Headbangers Stage but to our surprise, they didn’t get on stage at that time (we later found out that due to unforeseen circumstances, they were not able to attend the festival.) After the food, we made our way to the beer-garden where we watched tuXedoo with their brand of “Alpencore.”

After tuXedoo were done, we made our way to the Press Section to see which bands would do a press conference and maybe find some wandering band members. We found out that Phil Campbell’s All Star Band was doing a press conference so we stuck around to watch the legend and his band take the stage. When Phil Campbell and his band came on, he informed us that the band’s name had been changed to Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons, which was pretty funny because three-fourth of the band members are his sons. We tried to watch the band later on at the Headbangers’ Stage but we were out of luck as the stage was packed and we were not allowed inside. We then made our way back to our tent through the already piling and slippery mud waiting for the second day of music madness!

Day 2 (Thursday)
After being woken up by the rain again, we decided we would go to the festival grounds earlier and see the Ireland’s representatives at the Metal Battle, progressive sludge band zhOra. We were quite interested in this band as we had seen them play in Dublin once and the energy at Wacken was amazing. After zhOra were done, we headed back to the press area to watch legendary NWOBHM act Saxon, who spoke about their new live DVD (which was recorded while they were the support act for Motorhead,) working with Lemmy and about a new album, at which point Biff jokingly said that he was writing a song about Wacken called Mud and Alcohol. The press conference ended with someone asking if they would play 747, to which they replied we will ask the audience what they want.

We went back to the festival ground to see the band Skyline open the Black Stage (as is tradition) and with that, the festival. Skyline, as always, played a few covers of popular metal songs but what was different this year was they didn’t have any guest vocalists (like the years before when they had Udo and Doro sing for them.) After Skyline, it was time for Saxon at the True Metal stage. Saxon were absolutely amazing and the only thing I can say about this gig is that you need to watch it yourself.

Thursday turned out to be a hell of a night for the classic fans as Foreigner, Whitesnake and Iron Maiden took over the main stages. Foreigner kicked off with Double Vision and rocketed to the sky from there on out and of course, they played their classics Cold as Ice, Juke Box Hero and I Want To Know What Love Is. It always makes me laugh when a band like Foreigner or Whitesnake plays a metal festival because you see the big metal guys screaming along with the ballads.

After Foreigner, Whitesnake hit the stage, fronted by the amazing voice of David Coverdale. This would be the 15th time I’ve seen this band live and they never seem to disappoint me. Starting off with Bad Boys, they took everyone to the magic ride that is called Whitesnake. This tour is called the greatest hits tour for a reason, and again the crowd reacted amazingly to Is This Love and Here I Go Again. But Wacken being Wacken, it started to rain like crazy just before Whitesnake playing, so we rushed over to the press area to find some shelter. When the rain finally stopped we went back to the main stage for Iron Maiden.

Frank had never seen Iron Maiden before, so he was in for a treat. Iron Maiden finished their ‘Book of Souls’ world tour at Wacken this year after a massive world tour on Ed Force One. Unfortunately, I wasn’t happy with the sound coming from the stage and PAs. The sound faded and Bruce’s voice was sometimes buried in the mix; luckily for the people at home, they had a livestream of the concert and when I look at this, I realised that the sound was better than in the field. Personally, this wasn’t my favourite Iron Maiden show, so I made the choice to go back to the tent just before the encore. totally forgot about the Lemmy tribute after the Iron Maiden gig (stupid mistake), but I was too tired and upset to stay around.

Day 3 (Friday)
The first thing I did on Friday was finally watching Henry Rollins as I really wanted to see him perform his spoken word act. The thing about Henry is that he always tells exactly what you need to hear, if it’s political or just stories about him travelling to Antarctica and listening to Raw Power by Iggy Pop while sleeping on the ice.

After Henry Rollins, we decided to go to the Betontod listening session where we were served Betontod beer which was all kinds of awesome. The album sounded good and you could see that the guys were really excited about this one.

After Betontod, the Metal Battle winners were announced, with Zombies Ate My Girlfriend from South Africa taking the grand prize in the country’s very first win. I rushed back to the Black Stage for Entombed AD and I’m really glad I didn’t miss them; the energy from the Swedish death metal outfit was coming right at you from the beginning of the show. It’s always a pleasure to see this band live and when I looked at the audience from where I was standing, I could see that I wasn’t alone. Axel Rudi Pell took the True Metal Stage next but he couldn’t keep me there for long. His guitar playing was great as always but for me, the rest of the show was too far out of reach and I made my way to do some record shopping. We caught a bit of the folkish sounds of Eluveitie from the Black Stage, which was still a feast for the eyes and ears with guest frontwoman Liv Kristine. We walked around the festival site, drinking a few beers and counting the minutes to Blind Guardian; one of Wacken’s favourite bands. They remain one of Germany’s biggest names in power metal and they always gives me goose bumps when they play The Bard’s Song.

Al Jourgensen and his band of misfits in Ministry took the Black Stage after Blind Guardian and owned it from the first minute. The band was truly amazing and blew me away at 00.15 in at night. The energy and raw power was intense and seeing Al Jourgensen tearing it up on stage was just a treat for the eyes. These industrial metal legends surprised me with their show and remains one of the best shows from Wacken Open Air 2016.

But the night wasn’t over with Ministry, as American thrash metal legends Testament stampeded all over the diehard fans who were still waiting to see them at 01:45 in the morning – when most fans were already drunk and/or in bed. Testament blew the top off Wacken and having missed the band in Holland a few weeks, earlier, I was glad not to miss it. Absolutely worth staying up so late.

Day 4 (Saturday)
It’s always hard waking up to the last day of the festival because of the partying we did the day before but we pulled ourselves together and walked back to the festival ground. We missed Dragonforce but we could hear them play as we walked over (they played Through The Fire And Flames which always makes me smile and think about Guitar Hero 3 – what a bastard of a song that was). We arrived just in time to see Symphony X take the stage. I personally didn’t like it very much that early in the afternoon but they went on and did their thing, which meant Borknagar was up next. They had a few troubles earlier that day at the airport but finally everyone and everything got on stage just in time. The progressive death metal band from Norway set their mark at Wacken with an awesome performance and I’ll be looking forward to watching them again!

Metal Church followed up the True Stage but since I saw them two weeks earlier, I walked back to the Wendy Dio press conference. She spoke about the new Dio boxset and told us to make sure we caught the Dio Disciples show later that night because there would be something very special about that show. When the press conference was over, I walked over to Wendy and she said what everyone now knows, that there would be a hologram of Dio!

I made sure I found my way to watch the ultra-violent, wrestling themed band Eat The Turnbuckle. The stage setup was a wrestling ring with a referee on stage, and the first thing they did was cut each other up with a pizza cutter! It’s not surprising that this band has been banned in some places because of the violence and the blood, but it made for a good show. After four songs and two band members hurting each other, it was time to go over to the True Metal Stage for Steel Panther. It’s hard to describe – going from people hurting each other to four guys dressed like girls but goddamn, I sure loved it. Steel Panther’s music is a mix of sleaze and hard rock/80s metal. If you have seen them live, you know you’re in for a party and half naked women on stage and in the audience.

It wasn’t the best show I’d seen from the band but they were a nice warm up for the last German show of Twisted Sister later that night. We caught the last half-hour of Tripytikon which was okay but we were excited to see Twisted Sister on the “40 And Fuck It” tour. Earlier this year, they announced their retirement as a band with Mike Portnoy filling in for the late AJ Pero. I’ve seen Twisted Sister on many occasions and like every time, from start to finish, you got what you would expect from a Twisted Sister show. The raw power the band has and the electrifying energy that is Dee Snider made the stage look small. I had some tears in my eyes when they did their final song because this felt like the end – no more Twisted Sister at Wacken and last tour in Europe. Luckily I had tickets to see their final show ever in Belgium at the Alcatraz Festival but it did feel like a final goodbye at Wacken. We missed Arch Enemy to say our goodbyes to our friends and journalists at the Press Section but came back for Dio Disciples with Tim “Ripper” Owens and Oni Logan on vocals. It was an amazing experience to see them perform the classics but the best surprise was when the stage went black with a video on the screen. When the video ended, standing there in the middle of the stage was a hologram of Ronnie James Dio singing “We Rock.” I never thought I would see this but it was an amazing thing to see. With a tear in my eye it was time to go back to the tent for some much needed rest and say my goodbyes to Wacken for this year.

Headbangers India will be back at Wacken Open Air 2017, RAIN OR SHINE!!

September 29, 2016
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Wacken Open Air announce last set of bands for 2016 edition

Wacken Open Air have announced Motorhead, Twisted Sister and Whitesnake as the final set of bands on their annual Advent-Calender reveal, rounding up a well balanced mix of classic and modern metal at the 27th edition of the biggest metal festival in the world.

Other bands include Iron Maiden (who will bring their ‘Book of Souls’ tour to the festival), Lamb of God, Symphony X, Blind Guardian, Dragonforce and many more.

Complete lineup and details about tickets at the official Wacken website.

December 26, 2015
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Review: Wacken Open Air 2014

Wacken Open Air is one of those experiences that can be best described excessive; over-flowing beer, a vast multitude of people, searing heat and an onslaught of all genres of metal, day in day out all through the length of the festival. Not that I’m complaining. Just like the 24 editions before this one, the 2014 edition of the festival continued to draw metalheads from all over the world for a fantastic display of excesses, and the Headbangers India crew was on site to witness the madness first hand.

Day 0 (30th July 2014) began with the Wacken Metal Battle. Having reached late in the morning from Hamburg, I ended up missing Plague Throat from India and Mutank from Canada, the two bands I was interested in, so I spent the reminder of the day at the Beer Garden, tanking up on 1 litre mugs of Heferweizen (wheat beer) while trying to drown out the sounds of German comedian/musician Mambo Kurt whose synth versions of ‘Seasons In The Abyss’ and ‘Killing In The Name Of’ just sounded ridiculous. He is very popular with the local crowd though, so I got to give him credit to doing something right. After wallowing in the 35deg heat, I found my way back to my tent to prepare myself for the official start and the long list of bands on my watch-list.

Just like the previous editions of WOA, Skyline kickstarted proceedings on Day 1 (31st July 2014) at the Black Stage, playing covers of Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne (among others). The band was pretty standard; nothing special to write home about. The band I was really waiting for though was Swedish power metal band Hammerfall. Playing an exclusive anniversary show to celebrate their debut album ‘Glory To The Brave,’ the band belted through the album and invited ex-members of the band (Patrik Räfling who played drums on the ‘Legacy Of Kings’ album, Jesper Strömblad, ex-In Flames guitarist and ex-Hammerfall drummer, and Stefan Elmgren, ex-lead guitarist who played on 5 studio albums from 1997 to 2008) to support them on a few tracks. While I’m a massive Hammerfall fan, ‘Glory To The Brave’ isn’t one of my favourite albums by the band (save for the title track). The highlights of the set though, were the live premiere of ‘Bushido’, the new track from the upcoming Hammerfall album (r)Evolution, which frankly sounded great and gave me a very good feeling about the upcoming album, and Blood Bound. The band ended their set by setting a few ‘Hearts On Fire,’ after which I moved a few feet to the right to catch Steel Panther on the True Metal Stage.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfmhDRPlD_E&w=560&h=315]

Disclaimer: Prior the set, I’d never heard a single song by Steel Panther, nor have I heard anything about the band’s reputation at shows. I knew they played LA glam metal and I thought, “this might be fun.” That could not have been a bigger understatement. Steel Panther revel in the classic adage, “sex, drugs and rock n’roll,” words that are made explicitly on almost all their tracks, namely ‘Gold Digging Whore,’ ‘Just Like Tiger Woods,’ ‘Fuck All Night & Party All Day’ and ‘Asian Hooker.’ The music by itself is a throwback to the 80s glam movement in the USA, and Steel Panther augment the sound by adding comedic value and living up to the part. Case in point, through the entire 75 minute set, the band managed to convince atleast 20 women to go topless on camera, as well as invited a bunch of women from the crowds on stage to take their tops off and make out which each other on stage as the band played on. Ralph ‘Michael Starr’ Saenz and guitarist Russ ‘Satchel’ Parrish possess an abundance of confidence to pull off the act without any hiccups or embarrassments. One of the most fun bands of the festival, and a band I will definitely be looking to catch on their next tour in Europe.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkqSwkBE4_I&w=560&h=315]

British heavy metal legends Saxon followed Steel Panther as the sun started setting on Day 1. Saxon are Wacken veterans, having played last at WOA 2012. Beginning their set with ‘Motorcycle Man,’ the band played 6 tracks, ending with 747 (Strangers In The Night), after which they invited an orchestra section to accompany them on the remainder of the tracks. Midway through Saxon, I retired to the press bar to rest my legs and caught the reminder of the gig on one of the many TVs there. German heavy metal pioneers Accept who went on after Saxon was listened to from a comfortable lawn chair at my campsite with a beer in my hand. As much as I wanted to watch Wolf Hoffman and Mark Tornillo live, the heat from the day had caught up with me, though hearing the band in the background was not a bad end to a long day. I’ll sure I’ll catch Accept on tour at some other point in Germany.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78WJ1wrtuw&w=560&h=315]

Day 2 (1st August 2014) began early with Taiwanese metal band Chthonic taking the stage at 11am on the Black Stage. I’ve never really cared much about the band, though I must say, they were quite impressive live. Their brand of symphonic death/black metal with Asian overtones was quite impressive, though it felt to me that the band’s music is more suited to a club or a small open air venue, not a big stage where the sound tends to lose intensity over a distance. Chthonic as well had a small orchestra troupe on stage, which really added to the ‘oriental’ sound the band exudes. Skid Row played next and a series of smart steps led me right in front of the True Metal Stage. Skid Row is a band that used to be one of my favourite metal bands growing up (‘Slave To The Grind’ is still one of my favourite albums of all time), although they fell of my radar many years back, around the time ‘Thickskin’ came out. I had no idea what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. Apart from a bunch of tracks from the new albums ‘United World Rebellion’ chapter 1 and 2, the band belted classics like ’18 And Life,’ ‘I Remember You,’ ‘Slave To The Grind’ and ‘Youth Gone Wild.’ The set also included a special tribute to Johnny Ramone in the form of a cover of ‘Psycho Therapy’ with bassist Rachel Bolan handling vocals. Dave ‘The Snake’ Sabo and Scotti Hill had great guitar tones and Johnny Solinger has the pipes to do Sebastian Bach justice. Like Chthonic and Steel Panther earlier, their live act has convinced me to go out and check out their newest releases.

An extended break in the shade caused me to miss black metal band Endstille, Five Finger Death Punch and Bring Me The Horizon, though I don’t really care much for either of them. I came back to check out Heaven Shall Burn, seeing that they’ve got a great reputation for exciting live shows. The stage set up to resemble a warzone with soldiers and snipers in the background, vocalist Marcus Bischoff stepped up to the microphone and the band exploded into ‘Counterweight’. Heaven Shall Burn arrived. Heaven Shall Burn delivered. Despite a few issues with the PA in the soaring Wacken temperatures, the German metalcore band displayed a strong powerful performance, brought to an end by a very speedy heavy rendition of Blind Guardian’s Valhalla.

Directly after HSB was Children Of Bodom; another band I grew up worshipping (Alexi Laiho was my childhood guitar god) which fell off the radar a few years ago. Although for my first COB experience, I had no complaints. Alexi, Roope Latvala and Janne Wirmen ripped through the set with ease and supreme style. Despite standing way back in the shade, a good distance away from the stage, I hear and watch the band rip through the classics ‘Needled 24/7,’ ‘Kissing The Shadows,’ ‘Angels Don’t Kill’ and ‘Downfall.’ I took a long break after COB, drank a few energy drinks and rested my feet, because my highlight of the festival had arrived.

I’ve been a fan of Carcass for many years now, and their 2014 release “Surgical Steel” is an absolute belter of a release, a fitting comeback album for the masters of death metal. Beginning with ‘Buried Dreams,’ the band played a fine mix of classics, and threw in a few tracks from the 2014 release as well. It was a very disheartening scheduling error by the organizers; Carcass, Motörhead and British heavy metal band Hell all playing simultaneously at multiple stages. Jeff Walker said it right, “when we were kids, we never thought we’d be playing the same show as Motörhead, and as adults, we never wanted to play at the same time as Motörhead.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDNdu0L99EE&w=560&h=315]

Wacken headliners Slayer were up next, with fire and smoke surrounding the stage, and for a first time watcher of the thrash titans, I was severely underwhelmed. Despite playing a classic setlist that included ‘Hell Awaits,’ ‘The Antichrist,’ ‘Captor of Sin,’ as well as the standards ‘Raining Blood,’ ‘South of Heaven,’ etc, the PAs were extremely weak and lacked any punch. I felt like I was listening to the music played on a distant radio. The sound improved marginally through the concert but my experience was already ruined. The highlight of the concert though was ‘Angel of Death;’ when Araya began the intro scream, the backdrop fell to reveal the Heineken logo, the name replaced with Hanneman and the words “Angel of Death – Still Reigning – 1964-2013.” That was very cool.

King Diamond, A Pale Horse Named Death and W.A.S.P followed Slayer on that Friday night but I was way too battered from the long day in the blazing heat to hang around for any of them (is age catching up to me?) After a few more beers at the camping ground, I retreated to my tent to get some rest before the longest and hardest day of the festival.

Day 3 (2nd August 2014) began early with Arch Enemy, fronted by the new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz. They’re another band I grew up on and Alissa did complete justice to ex vocalist Angela Gossow’s work. Despite never having the chance to have watched Michael Amott with Carcass, I’m glad to have seen him play live with Arch Enemy. Beginning with ‘Yesterday Is Dead And Gone,’ Arch Enemy served as the “morning headliners,” playing to a massive (albeit slightly hungover crowd) at 12pm in the blazing sun. I did miss the last two tracks of Arch Enemy to head to the W.E.T. stage to watch Indian metal represents Demonic Resurrection at their Wacken debut. Squeezed between Arch Enemy and Sodom on a Sunday afternoon at the Bullhead Circus is never the most optimal time for a band to play at Wacken, although Demonic Resurrection made the most of their chances. Coming off a UK tour with Onslaught and Artillery, the band played a 30 minute set that included material from the 2014 release ‘The Demon King’ as well as from the older ‘Darkness’ trilogy. I’ve always believed that Demonic Resurrection’s music was a little unidirectional and at times, cheesy, although ‘The Demon King’ changes that. It is a breath of fresh air in the right direction and breaks the mould that Demonic Resurrection that built themselves around with a lot more mature songwriting and an infusion of new ideas in the form of new members Ashwin Shriyan (bass guitar) and Nishith Hegde (lead guitar). Their live set did get a few people talking, and I hope to see them play the bigger Wacken stages in the future.

Watching DR caused me to miss Sodom at the True Metal Stage, though I did catch Polish blackened death metal Behemoth up next at the Black Stage. The only 2 words I can use to perfectly describe Behemoth’s set are “satanic ritual.” The 4 hooded men, dressed in black with corpse paint against a white backdrop, emblazoned with occult symbology complete with incense pots, fire pits and torches played an absolutely devastating set in the afternoon sun. Beginning with the ‘Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel,’ Behemoth went on to play classics such as ‘Antichristian Phenomenon,’ ‘Conquer All,’ ‘Slaves Shall Serve,’ ‘As Above So Below’ and ‘Christians To The Lions.’ I spent most of the set in awe of the sheer force and aura with which their music emanated to the crowds.

Devin Townsend has always been an entertainer more than a rockstar. He is always likeable, no matter where he plays and to whom he plays to. The DTP performance at Wacken was nothing short of phenomenal to say the least, and the band making good use of the campaign started by lots of fans to get them to the main stage instead of the smaller indoor stage. Circle pits were started for fun by the fans, prompting Devin Townsend to call for a group hug right in the middle of the set, with almost everyone obliging. Having branded themselves as nerd metal, Devin Townsend Project never stopped short of making an inappropriate joke or simply smashing earth to smithereens with songs from ‘Ziltoid the Omniscient’ and ‘Deconstruction.’ Overall, a very lively and fun show, quite different from the other “serious” bands on the billing that evening.

As Norwegian black metal grandmasters Emperor took to the Black Metal stage for their 20th year anniversary ‘In The Nightside Eclipse’ concert, I made my way to watch American hardcore band Hatebreed at the Party Stage. A thoroughly entertaining set, the band belted songs from ‘The Rise of Brutality’ and ‘The Divinity Of Purpose,’ including a cover of Slayer’s ‘Ghosts of War.’ Meanwhile, The Ocean were on at the W.E.T stage. The Ocean and “tight set” are synonymous. However, this time around, the vocals could have probably been a tick louder than they were, as the rest of the setup happened to drown (no pun intended) the vocals. There was a rumour going around that Loïc Rossetti may actually not sing, as he was apparently missing in a previous show. That rumour was put to rest however, when he came out enthusiastically and belted track after track of Ocean awesomeness. Robin Stap was spot on as was the new drummer Paul Siedel, which just made watching The Ocean a pleasure, minus the Slayerneck after the show. The set was very well chosen, with tracks highlighting their latest record ‘Pelagial,’ certainly one of last year’s best albums. Apart from the small letdown of the vocal volume, the show was certainly without glitch and impressive.

After Emperor ended their set with a cover of Bathory’s ‘A Fine Day To Die’, Swedish Vikings Amon Amarth took to the True Metal stage. The stage was set up with two fire breathing sea serpents spitting fire and smoke from their mouths as Olavi Mikkonen, Johan Söderberg and Ted Lundström began with ‘Father of the Wolf.’ Amon Amarth have always had great live shows and this was no different. The 75 minute set ended with ‘Twilight of the Thunder Gods’ and ‘The Pursuit of Vikings,’ and included ‘Guardians of Asgaard,’ ‘Cry of the Blackbirds’ and ‘Victorious March,’ as massive pyrotechnics, smoke and thunder played host to the Swedes. Definitely among the highlights of the festival.

As the day (and the festival) drew to a close, a series of well placed steps brought me within reaching distance of the front barrier of the True Metal stage as American thrash legends and Wacken debutants Megadeth hit the stage. Megadeth is among my favourite metal bands of all time and Mustaine’s lyrics have got me through many a hard time in my life. Watching the band right up front was a dream come through, though the absolutely abysmal sound reminded me that it was too good to be true. It took me until the end of the intro riff of ‘Hanger 18’ for me to even realise that that was the song being played. Still, unlike for Slayer, the sound didn’t mess the experience up and I watched Dave Mustaine, Chris Broderick, Dave Ellefson and Shawn Drover pound classic after classic, including ‘In My Darkest Hour,’ ‘Sweating Bullets,’ ‘Tornado of Souls,’ ‘Trust’ and ‘Peace Sells,’ with just one track from the 2013 release Super Collider. Being right in front meant that almost every minute, I needed to ferry a crowdsurfer to the bouncers in front of me. Still, definitely an experience I won’t forget soon. Unfortunately, I had to leave to return to Hamburg and head home to Frankfurt immediately after Megadeth, which meant that I missed Avantasia and German thrashmeisters Kreator, although I can live with that.

Wacken Open Air 2014 was largely a success, not including the scheduling snafu with Motörhead, Carcass and Hell, and the ridiculous camping facilities for the press – a distant spot away from the festival grounds with a highly erratic shuttle bus service to ferry journalists to and from the camping grounds. A huge drop in convenience from WOA 2013, and something I hope will be rectified by WOA 2015. In any case, thank you for the memories Wacken. I’ll be back to watch Savatage, In Flames, Judas Priest, Black Label Society, Cannibal Corpse and many other heavy metal bands in 2015, come rain or shine!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDA6RHAkA1Y&w=560&h=315]

All pictures copyright David Hartl and Rock-pix Media

Written with inputs from Manaswi Gundi

October 3, 2014
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Review: Wacken Open Air 2013

It’s been more than 2 weeks since the Headbangers India crew got back from the 24^th Wacken Open Air. The 2013 edition of the heavy metal ran for 4 days with over 120 bands from more than 25 countries (maybe more?) and today, when I think back, the first word that comes to me to describe the event is ‘overwhelming.’

Due to the nature of the event; the size of the festival and multiple stages, it’s really impossible to watch every single act. This ‘review’ (if I may call it so) focuses only on my impressions from the festival and focus on the bands that the Headbangers India crew watched.

IMPRESSION

Before I get into the actual review of the festival, I want to give you, the reader, an insight as to what this festival is made of. The town of Wacken has a population of less than 2000 inhabitants and on any normal day, would be a quiet German town. However, during Wacken Open Air, the village transforms into a living, breathing metal machine. With approximately 90,000 metalheads making their way to the festival this year, the town opens up and the streets are filled with black t-shirts and beer stalls. The feeling of walking through so many metalheads is definitely overwhelming. It’s like a part of the world where regular rules don’t apply; where metalheads can just be themselves without the judgemental eye of society upon them.

The festival itself covers an enormous area; enough for 7 stages (Black stage, True Metal stage, Party stage, Headbangers stage, W.E.T stage, Beer Garden stage and Wackinger stage), camping spots for all the festival-goers, beer gardens, food stalls etc. And if you are really unlikely, you could find yourself trudging long distances to get from your camp site to the Black stage and the True Metal stage (where all the action is). Wacken also traditionally has a legacy of terrible weather, and this year was no different. The sun blazed and beat down upon the festival-goers on the first two days and a short but intense bout of rain on the third day ensured that everyone left the festival with muddy boots and wet clothes.

90,000 fans at a festival equates to a tremendous amount of beer/alcohol/food consumption and the festival grounds were peppered with beer and alcohol stalls. The Wackinger Village consisted of several food stalls offering almost all kinds of food available, albeit at a slightly premium price.

WEDNESDAY

It was late evening when I actually arrived at the festival, sharing a car for the long journey from Leipzig, Saxony to the town of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein. I met up with the guys from Devoid and Kryptos, and beers were popped as we waited for Devoid’s set at the W.E.T stage for the Wacken Metal Battle. Devoid’s set was preceded by Trallery, winners of the Wacken Metal Battle Spain. Straight up thrash metal with a ferocious bass player. Devoid’s set which was 20 minutes long was quite destructive as well. Beginning their set with ‘The Invasion,’ they went on to play ‘A God’s Lie,’ ‘Brahma Weapon’ and ‘Battle Cry.’ However, I’d have liked the band to end with a heavier, more in-your-face track that would have left a lasting impact on the audiences who had collected to watch ‘the metal band from India’ (being from an ‘exotic’ country has its advantages). I’m quite upset that I didn’t get to watch Crimson Shadows from Canada, the epic power/death metal band that ended up being crowned winners of the Metal Battle. The day ended with a lot more beer being consumed at the VIP bar. Nothing more to report.

THURSDAY

The official first day of Wacken Open Air 2013. I was up early in the morning to ensure I’d be able to use the bathroom facilities and take a clean shower. After a bit of a bite and waiting for the rest of the guys to wake up and get ready, we proceeded to get a few more beers and wait until 4pm for Skyline. A purely cover band, Skyline hit up the Black stage and got the crowds ready with their versions of ‘Still Of The Night’ (Whitesnake), ‘Turbo Lover’ (Judas Priest), ‘Paranoid’ (Black Sabbath), ‘T.N.T’ (AC DC) and ‘Paradise City’ (Guns N’ Roses) among others. Skyline were followed by Annihilator and that’s when the thunder began. I maintain that I’m not the biggest fan of Annihilator (save for Jeff Waters) but they did put on a great show. Tracks included ‘The Fun Palace,’ ‘Set The World On Fire,’ ‘Allison Hell’ and ‘No Way Out’ from their upcoming album ‘Feast.’ It was quite nice to meet Dave Padden at the VIP bar after the concert as well.

The next band I caught was Deep Purple, and all I can say is, this is a band for which age does not seem to have any effect on. Ian Gillian hit the highs and the lows with aplomb and it goes without saying, Steve Morse is a guitar legend. It was great to see a band that has been playing music for more than 40 years still draw massive audiences and entertain the crowd like it’s their first show. The band began their set with ‘Highway Star’ and ran through their classics (‘Perfect Strangers,’ ‘Space Truckin,’ ‘Strange Kind of Woman’ etc) and even invited Uli Jon Roth on stage for a guitar duel that went into ‘Smoke On The Water.’

However, the band of the day, perhaps the entire festival, was German powerhouse Rammstein. I’d caught their set in Berlin earlier in the year and was blown away, but Rammstein at Wacken Open Air was something else. 90,000 fans screaming along to every word, and that’s not the half of it! The pyro, the lights, the stage act. In my opinion, Rammstein have transformed themselves from a band that plays industrial music to a complete theatrical event. Beginning their set with ‘Ich Tu Dir Weh,’ complete with synchronised fireworks shooting into the sky, the band played a classic setlist which included ‘Du Hast,’ ‘Links 2 3 4,’ ‘Benzin’ and ‘Du Reichst So Gut.’ ‘Benzin’ had some of the coolest stage setups I’d ever seen; the guitar players shoot flames from their mouths and the vocalist Till Lindemann walks around with a flame thrower, burning down an innocent ‘fan’ that runs across the stage. The concert ended with ‘Pussy’ where Till mounted a giant penis shaped cannon and shot confetti into the crowds. What is surprisingly to see is that the band has absolutely no communication with the audiences. It’s all straight out song after song, bang-bang-bang-bang, no unnecessary banter to kill time etc. Rammstein were definitely my pick of the day (perhaps the entire festival) and after close to 100 minutes of screaming to every song and feeling the heat from the fireworks, I decided to call it a day and retire to the VIP bar for a few more beers.

FRIDAY

The 2^nd day of Wacken was upon us! With a host of great bands on the lineup, including Gojira, Ihsahn, Ugly Kid Joe, Powerwolf, Sabaton, Doro, Soilwork and of course, headliners Motörhead, this was a day to look forward to. I was out at the Black stage at 1.30pm to catch Gojira and while they did put on a strong set, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the sound mix. However, Ugly Kid Joe (who unfortunately were playing at the same time as Ihsahn) were a treat to watch. Despite hardly being relevant in today’s world, the band garnered quite an audience and put on a great show. The cherry on the top? Phil Campbell of Motörhead joined the band for a rendition of ‘Ace Of Spades.’ This was particularly special, considering the events at the end of the day (more on that soon).

I watched the final bit of Sabaton’s set as I set up based in front of the Black stage, waiting for Lemmy and his crew of bastards to hit the stage, and they were quite impressive, to say the least. Power metal done well. It was their first time at Wacken Open Air and based on the response they received, it definitely won’t be the last.

Motörhead. Oh, where do I begin? When Lemmy walked into stage to the intro of ‘I Know How To Die,’ he looked like a man on the fringes of death. His voice, despite sounding strong seemed strained and he looked physically weak. The band played on (at a pace slower than usual) and make no mistake, it was great, but it was no Motörhead concert. It was no surprise that after 6 tracks and an early guitar solo, the band left the stage citing Lemmy’s poor health. I wish the best of health to Lemmy and can’t wait to see Motörhead again under better circumstances.

This short Motörhead set gave us time to walk out and explore the village of Wacken a little. By the time we got back, Amorphis were on at the Party stage and despite not knowing much about the band and the music, I was quite overwhelmed by their acoustic/psychedelic set with folk overtones, (although I was too tired to last through the heavier parts). Headed back to the bar for a few beers before hitting the sack.

Bands that I wanted to watch but didn’t/couldn’t: Mustasch, Doro, Powerwolf, Tristania, Agnostic Front, Soilwork

Reasons for missing afore-mentioned bands: Incredible heat beating down on us, as well as scheduling conflicts with other bands (although I did hear good things about all these bands). Doro celebrated her 30^th anniversary of playing metal at Wacken and invited Uli Jon Roth, Biff Byford (Saxon) and Chris Boltendahl (Grave Digger) among others to join her on stage.

SATURDAY

The clouds showed ominous signs as dawn broke upon the final day of Wacken Open Air 2013. The weather report predicted rain later on during the day, which came exactly during Lamb Of God’s debut performance at Wacken Open Air. The result was unbelievable; a wicked moshpit of flying limbs and mud everywhere. Having seen Lamb of God before, I ran for cover before the worst of the storm hit but the band played on to an ecstatic crowd that braved the rain for them.

I did catch bits of Anthrax and as anyone at Wacken would tell you, they totally destroyed. Nolan (guitars/vocals of Kryptos) had this to say about Anthrax’s set.

“The band of the festival for me was by far Anthrax. They absolutely destroyed the place. Joey Belladonna was on fire and it was one of the best vocal performances I’ve seen in a long time. Watching them play all the old shit, especially Deathrider is like a…..fistful of metal.”

I faced a ‘metal’ dilemma in the evening; watch Swedish doom metal band Candlemass or watch American shock rock artist Alice Cooper. The latter won over and I don’t regret my decision one bit. My teenage years flashed before my eyes as the 65 year old Cooper belted classics, one after another, including a bunch of covers by The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and The Who. I was bouncing all over the place, singing along to ‘Poison’ and ‘I’m 18,’ trying to make sure Manaswi didn’t leave me in embarrassment!

I also caught bits of Nightwish’s performance and to be honest, I was blown away. I knew Nightwish was big in Europe but they had a massive audience, and everyone seemed to be having a blast. They had a great sound and stand-in vocalist Floor Jansen was on fire! I’m aware of Floor’s older work with After Forever but this was the first time I heard her with Nightwish. The concert was recorded for a live DVD and this is something I would definitely like to get my hands on.

Midway through Nightwish’s performance, I left to watch Indian thrashers Kryptos hit the stage. Playing the WET stage a few minutes after midnight, Kryptos were one of the last acts of Wacken Open Air 2013. They attracted a sizable audience, although playing at the same time as Meshuggah and Lingua Mortis/Rage is bound to have consequences. I’ll be very clear; I thoroughly enjoyed their performance but I’ve seen Kryptos play better. Playing music mostly of their 3^rd album ‘The Coils of Apollyon,’ the band did receive a good response from the crowd, and I think, that is the bottom line, isn’t it? Hardcore Superstar and Suidakra were on after Kryptos but I just wanted to rest my weary legs and have a beer. Walking back from the WET stage, I caught the last few minutes of Lingua Mortis Orchestra featuring Rage and enjoyed what I heard.

I missed Fear Factory (but heard them from the bar area), Danzig, Trivium, Sonata Arctica and Devil Driver but I’m not a big fan of any of these bands. No biggie.

So ended my experiences at the 24^th edition of the heavy metal pilgrimage, Wacken Open Air. 4 days filled with excessive beer drinking, heavy metal and meeting great people from all over the world. That, perhaps was my greatest observation about the festival; the camaraderie between everyone there. No one cared about your age, gender, ancestry and colour of your skin. If you were at Wacken, it meant that you were there for the metal and that was the bottom line. No arguments about the difference genres of metal; everyone was accepted and acknowledged.

I will definitely be back at Wacken Open Air 2014, seeing that King Diamond, Emperor, Behemoth and Amon Amarth (among others) have been confirmed as performing acts. 75,000 tickets for next year’s edition have already been sold out, just 45 hours from the start of sales! I expect next year to be just as good (if not better) than this year and if YOU plan to be there, YOU need to start planning right now.

Until next year, Wacken!

September 3, 2013
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Headbangers India at Wacken Open Air 2013

Yes, that’s right! Headbangers India are official press partners for the legendary Wacken Open Air 2013 in Germany, where we will not only cover the event for our fans in India but also support our country mates Devoid and Kryptos as they rain hell over Germany.

The 24th edition of WOA features Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Rammstein, Soilwork, Lamb of God, Devildriver and a host of other legendary bands at a 5 day long metal pilgrimage.