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Wacken 2012

1.-4.8.2012 Wacken, GER

Wacken was…well, Wacken: Sold out on mere months and lots and lots of fun and games accompanied with the usual positive atmosphere. Ever since it became the biggest Metal festival in Europe, it seems to be getting less and less Metal and more and more commercial. The list of the bands from this year is an easy starting point -there weren´t too many great bands and some very questionable ones. A festival as big as Wacken should be able to forget the German equivalent of Bon Jovi -namely The Scorpions- and concentrate on the big names, Like AC/DC, Rammstein and Metallica, who actually in the 23 years of Wacken have never played there. Sure, they might be expensive and hard to get, but hey, if they got in bands like Slayer, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper and so on in the previous years…

(In case text illustrations and links no longer work, go to interactive Flickr gallery at the end of the text)

Thursday – 02 August 2012

Skyline – Black Stage
The band of WOA founder, Thomas Jensen had the honour to open the festival – just as in the past years. Again they played a cover set (e.g. ´Long live Rock ´n Roll´ from Dio, UFO´s ´Doctor Doctor´ and ´Warriors of the World´ from Manowar). There was, of course the German Metal Queen Doro performing the official WOA hymn ´We are the Metalheads´ with the band. As always, a nice start into the festival. (tp)

Jim Breuer – True Metal Stage

For more Jim Breuer-photos check here!
For a comedian, his music wasn´t half bad. His songs “Heavy Metal Guy” and “It´s 3 AM and I´m all Banged Up” were crude and simple, but did their job. The point was to bring a smile on the people´s faces, not to amaze with their musical genius and this is just about how it went. As far as stand-up comedians go, Jim Breuer isn´t the best or the worst, but there is definite room to improve -even if his Lars Ulrich imitation was spot on. A bunch of half drunken Metalheads, who love to take the piss out of people, should not be that hard to amuse and the audience didn´t really laugh out loud that often, but everyone seemed to enjoy the performance. (oa)

Sepultura – Black Stage

Last year Sepultura played their first show on WOA ever and it was a great kill, so they were invited to play this year again. To do something special, they brought the French drummers Tambours du Bronx who enriched the classic Sepultura songs with a lot of percussion. Songs like „Refuse/Resist“, „Sepulnation“, „Territory“ and of course the final „Roots“ became even heavier, making them a real thunderstorm. Thus, Sepultura were already a real highlight of this festival. (tp)

Four ears – two opinions:

There´s only so many ways one can say that a show was brilliant, but here goes: The Brazilian-American quartet was accompanied by the French percussion group Les Tambours Du Bronx and they fit just perfectly to one another. The primitive roar-beat from Sepultura was brilliantly enhanced by the raw beats, produced with as simple tools as thick sticks and empty oil barrels. One of the highlights was their cover of Prodigy´s “Firestarter”, which unsurprisingly works wonders in a heavy format. The Parisians´ own song “Requiem” was okay too and it was hilarious to see their band leader standing next to Derrick Green, effectively being dwarfed by the American´s powerful physique. As usual, they finished with “Roots” and thanks to the amount of percussionists; there were loads of drum sticks for the audience to catch. Full points there! (oa)

U.D.O.
It is unbelievable, but Udo Dirkschneider is really already 60 years old. Most people are retired at this age, but not the voice of German Metal. Instead he has great birthday party today, which is actually a bit early and also a bit short. However, so there were no fillers on today´s set list, only killers. Beside a few new songs („Rev Raptor“ and „Leatherhead“), those hits are basically old and very old songs like „Vendetta“, „Princess of the Dawn“ and „Metal Heart“. In addition Udo has some reinforcements joining him. Those are (again) Doro performing „Dancing with an Angel“ and Lordi performing „Break the Rules“. A completely changed backing band also plays some more Songs, consisting of some former band members of Udo and also his son, Sven, on the drums. (tp)

Saxon – Black Stage
When Saxon played on WOA in the last years they actually played on headliner slots. Today this is Volbeat´s part and therefore Saxon has to play quite early the evening. As always, they are playing a set of some new songs and a lot of similar older classics. Well, it is always nice to listen to stuff like „Rock the Nation“, „Crusader“ or „The Eagle has landed“, but it seems as a majority of the visitors had seen enough Saxon in the past years (including me). Maybe it would be better if they would have a WOA break for some years or at least change their set radically to bring some more tension to it. (tp)

MB Chthonic – W.E.T.-Stage

For more Chthonic-photos check here!
Black Metal made in Taiwan? I have to admit that pure curiousness dragged me into the W.E.T tent. And how surprised I was to find out: Chthonic are really good in what they do. Named after Hades, the Greek God of the underworld, translated into Mandarin, they are known for their politic ambitions filled into their lyrics which are mostly about Taiwan´s history, culture, and legends. I´m really ashamed not to have known them before, as they played at Ozzfest, Wacken 2007 and toured through Europe as support of Ensiferum. Keeping this in mind, it´s a bit unfair to the other Metal Battle participants, but anyhow – their show was great. As special guest was Turisas´ violinist, Olli Vänskä with them on stage to perform “Takao” from their latest album Takasago Army. Their Black Metal sounds highly influenced by Scandinavian bands of this genre, but with the accessory of their national folklore in form of a traditional Chinese stringed instrument “er-hu,” which can be compared to an eastern violin. All in all, the show was, thanks to bassist Doris Yeh, something for the eyes and ears. As for their singer, Freddy Lim´s voice isn´t half as boring as the one from Grutle Kjellson (Enslaved) or as annoying as Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth). I can highly recommend to check this band live next time you get the chance. (sa)

Unearth & Circle II Circle – W.E.T. – Stage & Headbanger Stage
After Saxon I am going to the new Bullhead tent. It is actually not totally new, but the concept of it has been changed in this year. Now it combines 3 things: the Bullhead stage, the WET Stage, which was formerly on the infield and the new Headbanger Stage. The idea was to take some of the people from the infield to reduce the masses there a bit. And this actually works and makes the infield less crowded than in the last years. But the bad thing is the access to it: To reach the Bullhead tent you have to pass the Wackinger Village and also the Wackinger Stage. In case that an act performs on it, it is really hard to get through here.

When I finally arrive at the tent Unearth are playing. The sound is really heavy and even better than on the infield. The crowds are also really partying hard and when Unearth ended their show it became quite empty. That is really pity because right now Circle II Circle will play. If front man, Zak Stevens would perform with his former band, Savatage they would actually have a co-headliner slot on the main stage. But right here, CIIC have to perform their songs in front of a really small crowd. But everybody who is not here today misses something. Instead of the typical CIIC songs, they are only performing old Savatage stuff. Really sad that Zak and his sidekicks are not allowed to perform these on the main stage. (tp)

Volbeat – True Metal Stage
The great Danes were a definitive highlight for the festival as a whole. There was nothing to complain as far as the set list went -everything from old to new was played and the audience loved it. It was plainly obvious that the performers were having a great time and half way through their set the singer announced that their last album had just sold platinum in Germany; this along with an audience, who howled their appreciation and sang along with just about every song cannot but produce total ecstasy on and off the stage. Mille Petrozza (Kreator) and Barney Greenway (Napalm Death) joined them separately in the later half of the show. It was quite interesting to have a truly talented singer, like Michael Poulsen singing along with Barney, who´s singing…can´t really be described as singing. Nonetheless, everyone went along with the show and had a really good time. Fair enough, Volbeat is incredibly repetitive and therefore they don´t really work on album quite that well, but their live performances are so full of energy that you can´t not like it. Unless you´re a miserable emo, but fuck emos, emos suck. (oa)

Friday – 03 August 2012
What a stinking bog! Okay, we know that from some Wacken Open Airs some years ago, but this remained sludgy and got worse every hour. Well then, happy slushy!

Henry Rollins (Spoken Word) – Headbanger Stage
Not too many people were sure of what to expect when Mr. Rollins was coming on stage; would it be stand-up, or unplugged? Those who knew better had quickly educated the others that it was a performance of rhetoric revolving around anecdotes and general experiences the sir himself had gathered along the years of touring. It was truly amazing to hear such rich text coming from an American punk singer; the richness of his vocabulary and the allegories and similes were staggering and he painted picture after picture into the audience´s mind´s eye.
At the end there was a moral to the story: As he himself said, every event was a lesson; it may have not been a pleasant one, but the point was that you learned from it. He wrapped the whole package up with uniting us in the sense that we were all free thinking individuals, who shouldn´t be afraid of saying what we think. Ergo we are in the cross hairs of many people in politics and corporations, who don´t like what we think, say or do, no matter how justified and righteous our actions and thoughts are. It was a truly stunning experience with one fault: The richness of his text. The richer his text got, the more blank the faces of the non-native English speakers got. However, as soon as he toned it down, the cheers multiplied. In the end, all of the positive energy that he had pumped into the audience incarnadined in to a fat smile on the peoples´ faces. (oa)

Oomph! – Party Stage

For more Oomph!-photos check here!
If one would say, that Oomph! is pop – that would be correct. Well, they played before at Wacken and also this year they were taking over the Party Stage. Their crowd was quiet huge, but in context of the line-up of this years Wacken, it is not really a surprise that there are fans of this band here. They were dressed as sailors and singer Dero Goi wore a joker´s make-up. Their set was a medley of their career, including their biggest hit „Augen auf!” and the controversial “Gott ist ein Popstar”. They did a good show with a lot of interaction and animation of the audience, who blended out the massively over-spilling sound from the Black Stage. Not bad. (sa)

Overkill – Black Stage

For more Overkill-photos check here!
Amongst the usual suspects, Overkill played again this year. Bobby „Blitz“ Ellsworth and his crew delivered the audience their accustomed show with a lot of openly displayed fun. Even though Blitz cussed the weather -effectively talking from the souls of everyone present-, the irritating wetness was quickly forgotten with the classics “Hello From the Gutter” and “Ironbound”. They also delivered three tracks from their latest album “The Electric Age”. The obligatory “Fuck You” as well as the gestures linked to it was not let out from the program. Something old, something new and something well established left little room for improvement. A solid show. (sa)

The Boss Hoss – True Metal Stage

The main problem with the band is that it is based on humour and if the joke doesn´t evolve, eventually it will get old. Nonetheless, The Boss Hoss gathered a very sizable audience -which isn´t too difficult since the people were filled to the brim with beer and good spirit. Those, who did not know the band left early, because the Berliner wannabe cowboys kicked off with their own songs instead of their beloved covers. Truth be told, their own songs do not really belong in Wacken -after all, this is a Metal festival, not a country get together. Simply said, taking the piss of pop songs is acceptable, playing pop songs in country format, is not. (oa)

Opeth – Black Stage

Just to make it clear -I like Opeth. However, this time Mikael Åkerfeldt and his men could not really mesmerize me. The fault lied partially in me being drenched in mud as well as Mikael´s announcements, which were too routined and force fed with humor, which accumulated into a state of boredom. I can not even put my finger on what irritated me the most in the show. By the way, we did an interview -which followed the similar lines as the show with their drummer, Axelrot. If you perchance want to read into it, check out what he had t say. Musically, their performance was superb, so one must objectively say that the show -apart from the dry announcements- held everything, which it should have. Three new songs and four classics, under which „Demon of the Fall“ and „Deliverance“ really delivered the elation. (sa)

Hammerfall – True Metal Stage
This year it takes until Hammerfall that I dare to go to the festival area. The huge amount o mud really deters me. And it seems, as I would not be the only one because the infield is comparably empty. So they are only witnesses for the change of Hammerfall. No more body armour, swords, and knights, but therefore leather and a darker image. But this does not really work with the high voice of Joacim Cans who really scares me off after some time. The brutal, but really bad sound does the rest, so I take this a reason to check the shops nearby and watch Hammerfall only from quite a distance. (tp)

Dimmu Borgir & Orchestra – Black Stage

For more Dimmu Borgir & Orchestra-photos check here!
The semi-legendary Norwegians produced their usual bombastic show with the help of the Czech national Orchestra. This queer combination was enhanced by some of the orchestra members, who had put on corpse paint. Perhaps the only minus for the show was the lack of surprise; if they had held the orchestra as a surprise, the dramatic effect would have been doubled, but as this was not the case, there were some expectations of grandeur. Thus the show wasn´t quite as powerful as one had hoped. Nonetheless, the show was good and songs like “Mourning Palace” in this version with an orchestra are an event to behold. It was also a bit funny to see singer Shagrath struggle to free his microphone from the cover, which was to dramatically fall off from the front of the stage just as the show kicked off. (oa)

In Flames – True Metal Stage

For more In Flames-photos check here!
Years ago, In Flames used to destroy the whole WOA with their show, but it seems to become different today. The infield is well-crowded when the 5 guys from Sweden begin with their show. „Cloud Connected“ and „Trigger“, the opening songs, are well chosen, but they seem not to work yet. In addition it appears as Anders has drunken a little bit too much in front of the show because he moves a bit strange and talks a lot of gibberish. The rest of the band acts without passion, but just moves through the routine. The set list focuses on the newer stuff (from the `98 killer album „Clayman“` just „Only for the weak” is being featured, even older songs are not being played at all). In my opinion, this is a big mistake because old stuff like „Colony“ or „Pinball Map“ are much better than the latest records. Also the show itself is comparably weak this year: Only a few pyros, but nothing that is worth for a band called In Flames. So all in all, this is only average; making it the poorest In Flames show I have ever seen. (tp)

Athonite – Party Stage
Collaborations between Metal bands and orchestras are nothing new. But quite new is the idea behind Athonite. They are taking classical compositions and turn them into Metal songs. I don´t know much about classic composers, but it sounds interesting enough to check it out. So short time after midnight I crawl through the mud to reach the Party Stage. My first impression there was that there are only a few people. Actually, I have never seen less people waiting here, maybe due to the weather, maybe due to the band. Athonite, a classic Metal band without a singer, but supported by a string section and a piano, are not shocked by that. They are just playing and posing like the place would be fully crowded. In addition they bring a huge light and pyro show. Most people are not very enthusiastic at all. This is actually interesting stuff, but not really made for a huge stage. Nevertheless it is something different on this festival. (tp)

Saturday – 04 August 2012

The hope, that the organizers and their crew would do a little miracle like they did in the years before, remained a hope only. No straw, some chipped wood and more slush than I could imagine so far were welcoming the last Wacken day. Therefore, more expeditions into the wild art installations were cancelled. This photo was taken on Friday.

Gamma Ray – True Metal Stage
Gamma Ray are actually an institution in German Metal and it is not necessary to say a lot about them. This year they have to play quite early (again), but they draw a lot of people to the True Metal Stage. Their quite short set consists of a few new songs (“Empathy” and “To the Metal”) and lots of older stuff, especially Helloween tracks. This sounds like the set they played last time as well. It would be nice to hear a quite different set in the near future – maybe also with better sound than today. (tp)

Napalm Death – Black Stage

For more Napalm Death-photos check here!
Grindcore pioneers from the stone age, Napalm Death, of Birmingham for lunch -that´s quite something. Singer Mark, „Barney“ Greenway along with his seemingly borderline sick gestures did not dissapoint any of his fans this year. Whomever saw him perfoming with Vollbeat on Thursday (or at any other time) knew that he can´t and never could sing, but he puts in so much zeal and frevour that it sweeps you away. They worked their way trough their set with brilliant sound and the grime Shane Embury on guitar; they played tracks like „Instinct od Survival“, „Deceiver“ and the one-liner „You Suffer“ and it was more than enough for every ND fan. (sa)

Paradise Lost – Party Stage
Until today I was never interested that much into the English grandfathers of Gothic Metal. So I take the opportunity today to see if I missed something or not. And – just to say it right away – I did not miss a thing, especially not the live show. There were only a few bands in history of WOA who played with less passion than Paradise Lost did. As a result result: The audience is almost asleep. In addition, it is really worrying that the more silent moments of Paradise Lost are filled with the noise of Napalm Death on the main stage. Something to forget! (tp)

Axel Rudi Pell – True Metal Stage
Similar to Gamma Ray, Axel has to play the same on afternoons for years now. It is the same this year because ARP has to play again the late afternoon. The field in front of the stage is well crowded when the band opens the show with „Ghost in the Black“ from the current record. The mood (and also the weather) is great from the first moment and become even better as the show continues. This is actually a matter of the following „Strong as a Rock“ and „Before I die“. Johnny Gioeli has real great voice today (did somebody ever hear him on a bad day?) and also the rest of the band plays really great. He only thing that does not work well are the really exaggerated solo parts. That is really too much for such a short slot of time. Nevertheless one of the best shows today. (tp)

Six Feet Under – Black Stage

For more Six Feet Under-photos check here!
Chris Barnes, Guitarrist Steve Swanson and their partners in crime as well as the rest of the poets of the bones were given Saturday afternoon to fire up. „Hammer Smashed Face“ and the cover, „Stripped, Raped and Strangled“ from Barnes´ time with Cannibal Corpse proves the newly rearranged band to be no band trown on the wall to see what sticks, but even better than the old Six Feet Under. No rain, but lots of mud and good spirits were to accompany the old hits and new pearls, which were frenetically performed. The only minus point which can be given is the acoustic battle between Six Feet Under and Sick of it All, which flowed over from the Party Stage. Their encore came in the form of their version of AC/DC´s TNT, which was sung like a goat that swallowed a vibrator. Hats off! (sa)

Testament – True Metal Stage

For more Testament-photos check here!
The Bay Area Thrash Dinosaurs, Testament, are back and have beside Amon Amarth and In Flames the best stage set-up this year. The four songs from the new album „Dark Roots of Earth“ took up a third of their show time and were well accepted by the audience. Especiallythe opener „Rise Up“ has potential to become a classic if you look at the audience´s mood. They opened the gates of hell with songs like „The Preacher“, „Practice What You Preach“ and „D.N.R“. It was openly evident that Chuck Billy enjoyed the show from start to end and his good mood spilled over to the audience, which was covered in mud and could enjoy a time out with a bit of rain. A wholly well done show. (sa)

Dark Funeral – Party Stage

For more Dark Funeral-photos check here!
I felt really sorry for the dismal performers of Dark Funeral. Playing in blazing sun on the Party Stage with Cradle of Filth´s bombastic sound spilling over from the Black Stage -it´s pretty damn mean. When the pyros were bathing the stage in a hellish gloom, the outfits and make up came all into one diabolical entity, the sun came and ruined the atmosphere. I almost hoped for rain for this band. Nonetheless, the band delivered a lot with their show. Okay, apart from the shiny blue miniature drums from Dominator, who seemed a bit chlidlike behind them. I was not the only one having troubles concentrating on Dark Funeral because of the wall of sound coming from the Black Stage. Nachtgarm, who replaced Emperor Magus Caligula in 2011 took his place well and the audience loved the set list, which was peppered with songs, like „The Secrets Of The Black Arts“, „An Apprentice Of Satan“ and „Open The Gates“. The obligatory end song “My Funeral” was utterly and totally destroyed by Cradle´s closing track “From the Cradle to Enslave”. Man cradle was loud! The Black stage on a darker hour would have been a better slot for Dark Funeral. (sa)

The Scorpions – True Metal Stage
This one shall be the last Scorpions open-air show ever. We will see if this will really be the case… To celebrate this, The Scorpions enter the stage with an unexplained delay of 16 minutes. While waiting, the crowd was really not amused about it, but when the show begins, everything is forgotten. So the band from Hanover starts with „Sting in the Tail“ and the sound is great from the first moment. What happens now is a journey through the carrier of the Scorpions: „Make it Real“, „The Zoo“ and „Loving you Sunday Morning“ – no surprises at all-, but everything really nice to listen to. A little bit more surprising are „Speedy`s Coming“ (really old) and the great „Raised on Rock“ (really new). So far everything is fine. But I really have to say that it looks quite stupid when Klaus Meine takes during the longer instrumental passages a cowbell in his one hand and a bunch of drum sticks in the other hand. He hits the bell a few times, just to throw the bunch of sticks in the crowd right away. When the band plays „Tease me, please me“ the heaviest rain of the whole festival begins. A big respect to all who stay in front of the stage while major party of the audience – including me – try to reach a dry place. So I enjoy the final „Big City Nights“ and „Blackout“ from far away, as well as the encores „Coming Home“ and „Still loving you“. I am right back at „Rock you like a Hurricane“ and so I become a witness of the biggest firework of the festival this year. When the final curtain falls, I just hope that the guys think once again about their decision never to play such a show again. (tp)

Amon Amarth – Black Stage

For more Amon Amarth-photos check here!
The Viking metallers (a title by which they hate to be called) produced their usual show; lots of pyro and party. Essentially they are easily comparable with Iron Maiden: a great live band, but too repetitive. They aren´t as bad as the Brits as they actually change their set list every once in a while, but still, if you´ve seen them a few times and aren´t a real fan, it gets a bit boring. The fans, however partied hard along “The Fate of Norns”, “Twilight of the Thunder God” and “Guardians of Asgaard”. Apart from the previously mentioned repetitiveness, there wasn´t any real room for criticism. (oa)

Four ears – two opinions:
When the Amon Amarth show was announced last year, real enthusiasm arose in the crowd. Nevertheless, the Swedish guys have to play quite early because of a change with the Scorpions. So we got still sunlight and the sun is burning red when Amon Amarth are entering the stage. Along with a lot pyros they are beginning their 75 minutes set with „War of the Gods“. What happens now is a real triumph. No matter of „Runes to my memory“, „Cry of the Black Bird“ or „Fate of Norns“, every song is a killer today. So it is no wonder that the first crowd surfers of the festival occur. When watching this high performance show, I don´t care that the drum sound is really nasty in the beginning. But it becomes better with some time played. When Amon Amarth plays „Pursuit of the Vikings“ every single arm on the whole area is being raised, making it a real sea of arms. Really astonishing! When Johann Hegg and his sidekicks perform the final „Twilight of the Thundergod“ and „Guardians of Asgard“, fire and flames are rising every moment. This defiantly one of the three best shows this year on the festival. (tp)

Machine Head – True Metal Stage
After a slow intro, Machine Head starting right away with blast speed („I am Hell“). Drummer Dave McClain is doing the hell of a job on his kit; so all hell breaks loose over Wacken. The following „Imperium“ and „Old“ are a bit more old school but not less heavy. It seems as Machine Head would like to set a new world record in brutality and heaviness right here right now. The crowd likes it and bangs their heads as much as they can. Behind me stands a mobile cigarette salesman. While not saling his cigarettes he also bangs his head and raises the devil horns into the air. But something different seems to happen in the front row: There seems to be a young guy, watching Rob Flynn paralyzed. Mr Flynn does not like that and tells him to „fucking bang his god damn head“. In case doesn´t do so; the two ladies next to him would have to rip off his balls to punish him. „Locust“ and „Aesthetics of Hate“ are further hits before the show ends with „Halo“ and „Davidian“. What a hammer hard show! (tp)

Ministry – Black Stage
After the raging show of Machine Head it seems as the majority of the people would be totally exhausted. Beside the 3 days of festival shows, it is especially the mud that draws the power out of everyone´s legs. Therefore it is almost empty when Ministry are starting their show. So it is no problem at all to walk right into the 3rd line and watch the show from there. Ministry have not only brought great music, but also a great and shocking video show. Because of the small crowd it is no problem that the screens are only used for these videos and not to broadcast the show. Al Jourgensen, who looks really fucked up meanwhile, does not care about the small crowd and presents his old („NWO“, „Thieves“) and newer songs („No W“, „99 Percenters“ and „Relapse“). During the show the crowd becomes a bit bigger. Even if this show is not perfect at all, it was nice to see this band in Germany again. Who knows how many more possibilities will come. (tp)

Conclusion: One definite minus was something, which the organizers had no control of, namely, the weather. It rained the whole weekend, but the general consensus was that you could either whine about it or grow a pair and deal with it. Another option was a mud bath, or a mud ball fight. This was not the first time that it rained there, but this was the first time, they were doing some ineffective actions against it. With a huge amount of chipped wood, they tried to make it walkable again, but this wasn´t quite working. The chipped wood didn´t suck the water away as it should, but floated on the surface of the pools of water. The outcome came in form of lots of shoes and soles left stuck in the mud -a very unusual view. Maybe using massive amounts of straw would have done the job much better -as it did in previous years. It could be that the organizers were scared that it would dry up again and cause fire, like back in 2007. At times the mud lakes prevented us from reaching the W.E.T. tent/Headbanger Stage for some bands like Leningrad Cowboys and Moonspell.

The organizers had set up the W.E.T tent further away from the main stages and outside the actual festival area, which made it more difficult to navigate from one stage to the next – and simply impossible to reach without Wellingtons from Friday evening on. Also the Party stage seemed to have been moved a bit closer towards the main stages, which gave the unfortunate bands playing on the Party stage a blast of sound from whoever played simultaneously on the Black stage. Apart from that, they excluded the unnecessary Oil Catching Girls and Wet T-shirt Competition -thumbs up there! They also added a lot more visual art in form of statues and constructs to the entertainment area at the Trash of the Titans field.

We are very sorry for not having photos of all reviewed bands. Furthermore, we apologise for the lower standard –to which you are used to- in some of the photos. Like last year, we had some trouble getting a photo-pit-pass and couldn´t work as used to. We hope that we can solve this problem next year.

The difficult situation with Wacken is the cult status, which it has obtained over the years. This brings along a lot of people, who come just to say that they were there, claiming that they have been going for ages. The sad thing is that Wacken could keep on singing up shitty bands and people would keep coming.

Text: Ozzy Aikas (oa), Samira Alinto (sa), Timo Pässler (tp)
photos: Samira Alinto
AA (14)

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Samira Alinto

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