WACKEN OPEN AIR 2008
GERMANY, 31/07/08 - 02/08/08
Despite arriving early at this, the 19th Wacken Festival, our contingent found the campsite already jam-packed in the prime positions, with half of the 'street signs' already poached. I have scored each of the bands I saw with a rating out of 10, based on the quality of the performance, whilst objectivity has been important, I can help simply not liking some band's music, but I guess they'll just have to live with that.
The combination of glorious weather and a truly excited atmosphere made the pre-Maiden tension palpable. The preceding bands were largely met with boredom on the part of the crowd, eagerly anticipating the main night's entertainment. Lauren Harris and her band received more wolf whistles and chuckles than rounds of applause, as her overstrained voice cut through the numerous earplugs sported among the audience. Though not lacking in energy, the decidedly short set and lack of variation of material meant this set was a little more than mediocre [5].
Aussie rockers Airbourne brought a set of old school AC/DC style tunes (including a cover) to a warm Northern German evening. Their brand of slightly 'glam' cock rock was amusing for a few songs, though the hour long, unrelenting barrage was enough to kill the mood for many a listener. A boring [4].
Avenged Sevenfold took one of the most difficult slots of the festival, preceding Iron Maiden. Their awful opening sound gradually improved, and the inter-song cries of 'Maiden! Maiden!' petered out towards the end of the set. Though not a fan myself, the effort A7X made in trying to reach out to people who may have previously slated their music was noted, and it was only the drummers nonchalant attitude towards the crowd that overshadowed the guitarists' poor soloing in the early songs. For this reason, their set was worth an encouraging [5].
Finally, at 9:30pm, the most popular English metal band of all time took to the stage. On my third occasion of seeing them perform live, they did not dent my image of them. Bruce's amusing altercation with the cameramen, and his general witticisms added a flair of humour to their tight and distinctive show. The lack of a certain songs (such as the tour title song) were bitterly disappointing for many a fan, though what was delivered was top notch. The overselling of day tickets resulted in sections of the crowd collapsing, though the Wacken staff's greedy exploits should not be allowed to tarnish Iron Maiden's sterling live reputation. This great gig was in my eyes, worth a well-deserved [9].
With a difficult slot on the first real morning of the festival, Primordial put out an extraordinary set for the few gathered to witness it. The raw emotion and anger conveyed in the powerful vocals and lyrics really defined the set, and made me feel somewhat guilty to be English, the band seemed grateful to their fans for getting up so early the night after Maiden, and rewarded them with a truly outstanding performance, which in my mind, was also worth a [9].
A short wait (browsing the CD mart) and Cynic followed. This band blew the audience away. The blend of bizarre sampling, vocal effects, headache-inducing time changes and a smiling guitarist, delivered with the best musicianship I have ever seen, is why I, like many others, rushed over to the merch stall post-set to go and grab a Cynic shirt. These guys seemed to truly be enjoying playing together again, and the snippets they provided of the forthcoming album sounded absolutely immense, with a sound seemingly directly influenced by Masvidal and Reinert's Death days. The effortless flow of their songs, which showcased the individual musicians in the band brilliantly, is why these guys were without a doubt, the band of the festival, and why I gave them a [10].
Following Cynic was possibly the toughest act of the festival, and Unearth, who I saw from a distance, were noticeably useless. The repetitive drone of the Unearth rhythm section was described as 'useful for bowel movement,' and based on their performance, not much else. The energy of the band seemed wasted on most of the audience, if the set was a selection of the best Unearth have to offer, they should probably give up as a band, because what I heard was dreary and boring, and indescribable as anything else. An abysmal [2].
Ensiferum brought a relief following the travesty that was the Unearth set. The set was largely unchanged from the previous occasion I saw them, last year at Metal Camp. The song choice was, somewhat poor, missing out many fan favourites, in favour of more 'accessible' songs, which is unfortunately, the name of the festival game. Ensiferum put out a solid, entertaining set, and should be proud of their day's work, though the lack of anything notable to really say about the performance, is why I gave them a generous [7].
Kamelot are a band I had been waiting a long time to see. Unfortunately, the person in charge of their sound committed an aural rape on every person watching the band. The lowest two bass strings and bass drum drowned out almost every other sound, even my earplugs weren't enough to stop the inevitable headache. Khan's vocal mic kept cutting out at a lot of the high frequencies, something which visibly frustrated the frontman. Even surprise appearances from Simone Simons of Epica, and Alexander Krull of Leaves' Eyes raised the crowd's mood only slightly, largely struck with horror at the sound that was reaching their ears. If the soundman hasn't lost his job already, I genuinely advise Kamelot to consider removing him immediately. Though the band's performance, from what I could see, would have been worth an [8] or a [9], the fact I couldn't hear it, meant I could only give Kamelot's set a dismal [4].
Sonata Arctica put out a classic set, backed up by the comical antics of their vocalist. The band treated the gathered crowd to a selection of their old epics including The Cage, and some of the newer numbers, such as Don't Say A Word. Unfortunately, there's not much more to say about Sonata Arctica, they played a good set, and that's about it, a solid [7].
I began watching Opeth shortly after SA, but I left mid-set, because Åkerfeldt's unbelievable arrogance was making me sick. Their show included some great songs, such as Wreath, the new and awesomely chunky Heir Apparent, and also a personal favourite, The Drapery Falls. With Axe now permanently behind the kit, and new boy Fredrik Åkesson as second guitarist, the band were sounding tighter and better than ever, what let their songs was Åkerfeldt talking to the crowd between songs. His slating of other bands, along with an over inflated opinion of the songs they were playing was enough to make me leave and listen on my walk back to the campsite. A hacked off [5].
A surprise to me and many others, but following Opeth were the worst band out of the festival, Children Of Bodom. Though it didn't materialise, Opeth were given more time mid-set, which to me meant only one thing, Bodom were drunk. Though they took the stage at the right time, my initial guess was soon confirmed. Janne struggled to stand up, and occasionally was caught halfway across the stage from his keyboard, when he was meant to come in. Alexi managed to pull numerous solos out of his arse, with bum notes and fluffs a-plenty, the only testament to how good a player he is, is that many of the licks were still sounding cool. Though the bass and rhythm guitar lines for CoB have never been seen as too tricky, Henkka screwed up any of his fills, including the slow lines in Downfall, and Roope seemed to struggle all night with his rhythm section. As a band I've seen perform brilliantly a few times before, I felt let down by the band with their set; considering many people will have bought tickets to Wacken mainly to see them, it shows how much they care about the fans if they play in such a state. Whilst the Rihanna and Van Halen covers were amusing, there was no way it made up for such a dire show, and their rating is for Jaska behind the drums, as the one member of the band who appeared to be putting any effort in - a pathetic [1].
Corvus Corax followed next, with one of the most epic entrances I have ever seen. Sadly, this was the greatest part of their set. For all the theatrical wizardry, smoke and lights, the drone of bagpipes combined with a very slow and montonous choir and orchestra meant that this set soon grew boring, with the hour long set being far more than was needed to put across their music. Whilst I enjoyed what they presented, as it was a spectacle the like of which I'd never seen before, the set was dragged out, and was therefore only worth, a tedious [5].
Avantasia then followed in one of the sharper contrasts of the festival. I just wish I had gone and done something more constructive than watching their set. It was essentially a collection of the least catchy (and therefore worst) Edguy material, combined with a twisted fashion show, which saw Tobias Sammet living out his wildest fantasies, firstly dressed in what can only be described as an outfit stolen from the Brokeback Mountain set. He showed off a weird selection of coats, hats and glasses, as well as putting little into his own vocal lines. The guests appearing were interesting enough, but the main one that was worth seeing, Andre Matos (ex-Angra, need I say more?), was given barely 4 useless lines despite being stood on stage for 2 or 3 songs. On the whole, it seemed the only person that enjoyed Avantasia's set was Tobias Sammet, who would rival Mikael Åkerfeldt for an egocentric performance. And on the topic of rivalries, the Avantasia drummer seemed to have a good go at stealing the worst drummer of the festival award from the As I Lay Dying battery section, but didn't quite make it. This was a truly awful set, why a set of the least operatic numbers I have ever heard from Sammet's work was dubbed 'A Metal Opera' still escapes me, this was worth a generous [3].
Had I left the festival area before Avantasia, I would also have been spared the debacle that was Gorgoroth live. Not speaking to the crowd once, save for one song title, Gaahl moved about the stage like an animatronic figure, with stiff arm movements in vague and unstirring ways. The sheep’s heads on spikes surrounding the 4 naked models on crucifixes for a backdrop were laughable, especially given the big screen images just frequently showed Gaahl trying to look 'kvlt' with male genitalia next to his head. The band for all their 'necr0' aspirations, were still playing a show. Having spent hours putting on makeup, ridiculous gauntlets and adorning bullet belts and shoulder pads, this gave them all the gimmicks of a glam rock band and would have been far more entertaining than their lacklustre renditions of tedious songs, with a poor sound only contributing to the poor impression left by the set. King ov Hell enjoyed prancing around the stage like a serious version of Abbath, and it was this blatant posing which made the entire affair so laughable, and that's why their set is only worth a pitiful [2].
The Saturday of the festival, everyone had the trademark festival aura of tiredness and stale beer, and after a wardrobe malfunction, I only made it to the festival area in time for the second half of Obituary. This was a bit of a shame, as it was largely a selection of their slower songs for the latter part of their set, which don't particularly suit a festival atmosphere. Whilst I appreciated how well these legends of metal from Florida performed, there wasn't enough in what I saw to grab many people in the crowd, which was why I have to give them a disappointing [5].
As I went to get a good spot for Carcass, I was forced to endure the misery of an As I Lay Dying set, this dreadful showcase of musical inability was offensive on the ears. The frontman's introductions of numerous songs as old tracks, despite them being exactly the same style as ones that weren't gave a real idea of how the band managed to progress from their first albums and mature in their sound, they didn't. There were a collection of occasional harmonies and riffs that you had heard previously in old thrash songs, and how they managed to get around this plagiarism I had no idea, unless it was simply by annihilating it with shoddy musicianship and an ever-changing drum beat, from officially my worst drummer of the festival. This set made me want my festival money and my ear drums back, a horrendous [0].
Then followed arguably the second best band of the festival; Carcass put on a killer set, interspersed with dashes of brilliantly dry British humour from Jeff Walker. The band sounded just as great as they do on record, and Walker's vocals surpassed his recorded performances, with such a gritty growl that stunned everyone watching. The crowd interaction was brilliant, and the set list was difficult to improve upon. The appearance on stage of old drummer Ken Owen, for a drum solo followed by a few words is easily the most emotional I have ever felt at a metal gig. The determination he showed to even pick up drumsticks again, after a debilitating 4 month coma and double brain surgery is beyond my capacity to understand, and I couldn't agree with Jeff Walker more, when he told the crowd, "He's stronger than all of you." Daniel Erlandsson helping him off the drum riser was a nice touch, and the care the band all showed for him was heart-warming. The chants of Ken's name appeared to impress him and the band, as the crowd really got behind him in a way that made you feel proud to be a part of it. The only thing that stopped this performance getting a perfect 10, was Erlandsson's failure to learn Ken Owen's characteristic drum beat to Death Certificate properly, this was a great set, an inspiring [9.5].
The guys I was at Wacken with convinced me to go and see Killswitch Engage, against my better judgement I joined them, and I was proved well and truly wrong. They put on a stunning set, with crushing riffs and even a hilarious song on the part of the eccentric (or possibly drunk) lead guitarist. The prompt of the next song being recorded for an official video was enough for us to join the impressive sized mosh pit. The thoroughly enjoyable set was finished off with the song I went to see them play, their take on Dio's classic, Holy Diver. They played a blinder of a set, a surprising [7].
At The Gates were the third reformed band I saw of the festival, and again, they didn't let down the oldies. Another band I never thought I'd see, and they were something truly special, exploding onto the stage with the anthemic title song from the album that defined melodic death metal for years to come, Slaughter of the Soul. Playing tracks off every release since their debut, the set included classics such as Cold, The Swarm, and for the encore, Blinded By Fear. These pioneers of the Gothenburg sound showed the best of their career in barely an hour and a half, the grateful crowd were largely in awe of what they had just seen. Easily one of the best bands of Wacken 2008, a brilliant [9].
Nightwish were the last band of the festival I saw. Annette seemed to handle Tarja's role with good grace, though some of the songs saw her struggle, Everdream, a personal favourite, was performed beautifully. She seemed to care about the crowd and their enjoyment more than Tarja videos ever appeared to convey. Though the lack of any of Marco's classic covers was disappointing, the entire set was incredibly entertaining, and based on their professionalism of their playing, their set is worth a complimentary [8].
And so ends another year of Wacken. It's been a good one, with plenty of ups and downs, surprises of both the good and bad kinds, though the burritos were nothing like as good as what they've been before. Cynic stole the show from Carcass but only narrowly, and it's difficult to split At The Gates, Iron Maiden and Primordial, who would all be worth paying the 100euro ticket price to see individually. Hopefully the Carcass reunion is not too short lived, and Cynic's new album due out in the next few months should be cause for a new wave of touring for the band. The main downer this year with Wacken, was that it was too big, the festival area needs to expand to accommodate enough people for headliners if they plan to sell the same number of tickets next year, and because this is unlikely, it's why I'll be going back to Metal Camp, for a nicer, quieter Headbanger's Holiday.
Dan Cowen
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