Wacken – the Book
I don’t know how everyone slept in their tents and caravans, but I had a very comfortable and warm night at home with a proper shower and breakfast before making my way back to the infield. Unfortunately, I’m missing the fantastic author reading of the book “Wacken – das perfekte Paralleluniversum” (Wacken – the perfect parallel universe) by Lydia Polwin-Plass of Metalogy and Michael Gläser, but I’ll be meeting them both later at the signing stall.
Noon, hungry for Thrash: Warfield
I arrive just in time for Warfield, who are playing at lunchtime. They describe themselves as Teutonic Thrash Metal from Kaiserslautern in the Palatinate region of Germany. Their sound is fresh, aggressive and loud — the perfect accompaniment to beer, sausages and French fries.
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Croatian holiday Groove: Cold Snap
Cold Snap had a slightly longer journey. They are from Croatia, a popular destination for German summer holidays. This doesn’t mean they are a traditional folkloric band, but they got us grooving through the early afternoon. However, to classify them as Groove Metal only would be wrong. Their songs are characterised by erratic changes in rhythm and style within a few seconds. Whether you like it or not, it is certainly very impressive, and their technical skills are undeniable.
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Brazil and Berlin united: Nungara
We catch up with an old acquaintance while Nungara prepare for their show. Their vocalist and guitarist, Noelle dos Anjos, was previously one of the two guitarists in Cobra Spell. Nungara are a Brazilian/German power trio who perform an excellent set of dark groove metal with slight progressive and doom metal influences. Noelle’s performance as a vocalist is excellent, ranging from bittersweet clean vocals to harsh growls. It seems that she was underchallenged in her former band. Well done, Nungara!
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Atmospheric Austrians: Ellende
The Austrian project Ellende takes atmospheric black metal to the next level. The German lyrics are difficult to understand as most of them are heavily distorted and growled. However, this appears to be intentional and not a mistake by the sound engineer. We are thus treated to a good portion of demanding, intellectual heavy metal for the ears and eyes; the band’s corpse paint speaks for itself.
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Trash for Diner: Suicidal Angels
In contrast, the music of the next band, Suicidal Angels from Greece, hits you right between the eyes. The finest thrash metal rules. They purify the audience with fast riffs, thunderous drums and harsh vocals. The only thing missing is an endless circle pit, but that only lasts for the first few minutes; from that point on, it doesn’t stop until the show is finished and it’s finally time for dinner during the changeover.
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Ring, Ring: Long Distance Calling
The queue is very long, so it’s no surprise that not everyone is ready for Long Distance Calling from Germany. Their instrumental post- and prog-rock convinces latecomers to join the audience as quickly as possible. It’s impressive how powerful a show without a vocalist can be, how much the audience adores the music, and how high the mood can go – if there were one at an open-air festival.
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Tough Guys from Halle: Annisokay
Annisokay perform some excellent post-modern metalcore. The band from Halle is the co-headliner on Saturday for good reason. Their sound is sharp and their performance is powerful, driving the audience’s mood to new heights. However, these heights are a bit too high for vocalist Rudi Schwarzer, who nearly collapses due to circulatory problems. The show therefore has to be interrupted for a few minutes to resolve the issue. Nobody leaves the arena, nobody complains, but everyone in the audience applauds when Annisokay return to the stage to finish their set. From now on, they are Rudisokay, with a slightly slower performance. Incidents like this can always happen for whatever reason. It is therefore always important to have your emergency crew nearby and ready to step in and save the day.
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Progressive Metal Gospels: Zeal & Ardor
Then it’s time for the headline closer tonight. Zeal & Ardor bring us back to the progressive side of metal, fusing it with Gospel. You think it doesn’t work? It does! It works very well with fog and costumes. You can barely see the band behind all the dust; it all becomes very atmospheric. This is the perfect band for this time of night, just before midnight. Then, as before, there’s still time for a final speech or a midnight snack before people feel free to party on the campground or find some blissful slumber after a great festival.
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Perfect Diversity
I really liked the diversity of the bands and the audience. The atmosphere was very friendly and peaceful. I can highly recommend visiting next year — pre-sale has already started and Early Bird tickets have already sold out, so be quick!
The prices for food, beverages and merchandise were very reasonable. Where else can you get a large beer for €4 or a large Coke for €3? Where else do you pay €3.50 for a good-quality sausage and €6 when you add a portion of fries? Nowhere but at small, local festivals like this one! Support small festivals organised by locals. Some even have a positive social impact. Your money should go to them when you want to spend it on festivals, not the overpriced, investor-driven big players.
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Online:
Please buy merch and physical music or downloads from the bands official sources and don’t stream it for free because it steals your artists’ income.
Photos Friend.X aka Mr. Deep if not remarked otherwise