{"id":202,"date":"2011-03-07T11:55:01","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T10:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=202"},"modified":"2011-03-07T11:55:01","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T10:55:01","slug":"wacken-2007-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=202","title":{"rendered":"Wacken 2007 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

WACKEN OPEN AIR 2007<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was the year of 1997 when the two mainmen of www.metal-festivals.com Lotte and Tobi Wan Kenobi travelled to a festival in a little northern village called Wacken. We and two friends of us travelled in the one and only Bock Tours bus and experienced an unforgettable weekend on an open air visited by 15000 metalheads.
\nWell, ten years later we were able to celebrate our own Wacken anniversary. In the last decade the WOA had evolved from an insider tip to the Metal Mekka visited by thousands of fans from all over the world, and I mean all continents by that. Behind the scenes there\u2019s a team starting the festival as a little pub idea which they were able to develop to a big well-working organisation. You can say they have fulfilled their vision they once had created. Probably even more than that!
\nOver all those years our online-mag has grown, too. Started as a little hobby we have extended our coverage as the number of our writers year by year. Nowadays we are prowd to serve metalheads from all over the world, and I also mean all continents by that! As we can see a huge number of them always watches out for our Wacken Open Air-reports!
\nThis year the weather made the organisation of the WOA to a mission impossible. So this time the Wacken-organisation did an unbelievable sensational job to realise the festival! What had happened? One week before the festival-weekend it started to rain, and this rain was supposed to become permanent over this week! The camping- as festivalsite- meadows became set under water. So in the last days the organizors, hundreds of helpers, different tractors and even helicopters blowing the waters in therefore digged ditches realised the impossible: The Wacken Open Air happened like every year!
\nChanges on the campsite were necessary which was the only way to guarantee camping to all visitors. For another time the Wacken organisation showed their big abilities when it was up to eliminate a fire on the festivalsite on the early Friday afternoon. One man had coordinated the crowd from the stage till the firefighters did their job. The situation was totally under control!
\nThis year\u2019s line-up offered for another time a big variety of different sounding acts on a very high quality level! A change was made on the festivalsite: The organizors enlarged it by a special new area for the Party Stage which was a big upgrade! After adding the W.E.T. Stage to the Thursday-program the latest two years this time the organizors added the Pain Stage, too. On Thursday it became named Hellfest Stage and mainly offered so-called Metalcore-bands except for its stage-headliner. At this year\u2019s Wacken Open Air 90 bands (plus the all-evening Mambo Kurt-sessions in the beergarden) appeared on four stages in the three days for about 70000 visitors (For the first time it was sold out weeks before!).<\/p>\n

Thursday<\/strong>
\nBlack Stage<\/em>
\nBlitzkrieg<\/strong> The NWOBHM-legend started the big-stage-action of this year\u2019s Wacken Open Air. The fivepiece from Newcastle around the only left original member and vocalist Brian Ross is mainly well-known by Metallica who had covered their self-titled hit, but they showed by material from their brandnew album (released one week later) \u201cTheatre Of The Damned\u201d they still rock.<\/p>\n

Rose Tattoo<\/strong> The Australian Heavy Rock \u2013 legend had become a steady guest in Wacken which is very popular in the Wacken-community. And they showed why by another Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll- party celebrating classics like \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Gypsy\u201d, \u201cRock \u2019n\u2019 Roll Outlaw, \u201cScarred For Life\u201d, \u201cBad Boys For Life\u201d and the hit \u201cNice Boys (Don\u2019t Play Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll)\u201d without ignoring their new release \u201cBlood Brothers\u201d promoted by \u201cBlack Eyed Bruiser\u201d and \u201cMan About Town\u201d. Another cool party with the formation from Down Under around mainman Angry Anderson and the new old bassist Geordie Leach.<\/p>\n

Sodom<\/strong> The Sodom-appearance was announced to be performed together with guests. So after four tracks from the new self-titled release (including its hit \u201cAxis Of Evil\u201d) different ex-members of the Sodom Thrash Metal-history entered the stage like the sixstringers Michael \u2018Grave Violator\u2019 Hoffmann, Frank \u2019Blackfire\u2019 Gosdszik, Andy Brings as drummer Atomic Steif to play several rarities like \u201cMagic Dragon\u201d, \u201cTarred And Feathered\u201d and \u201cChrist Passion\u201d. Bandleader Tom Angelripper enjoyed this trip through the history of his band which ended with the classics \u201cAusgebombt\u201d, \u201cThe Saw Is The Law\u201d, \u201cSodomy And Lust\u201d, \u201cOutbreak Of Evil\u201d and \u201cBombenhagel\u201d.<\/p>\n

Saxon<\/strong> The alliance between the NWOBHM-legend and the WOA-organisation is a very stable one. The band always fulfills all approaches you expect from a headliner. Besides new \u201cThe Inner Sanctum\u201d-material like \u201cLet Me Feel Your Power\u201d which had become dedicated as their new WOA-hymn by singer Biff Byford in 2006 the band celebrated classics like \u201cWitchfinder General\u201d, \u201cWheels Of Steel\u201d, \u201cDenim And Leather\u201d, \u201cCrusader\u201d and \u201cTo Hell And Back Again\u201d, supported by a great light- and pyro-effect-show. Cool became the duet interpretation of \u201c747 (Strangers In The Night)\u201d between Biff and guest-vocalist Tobias Sammet who is known from Edguy. Another strong show by the British Metal-institution!<\/p>\n

Hellfest Stage \/ Party Stage<\/em>
\nThe Sorrow<\/strong> The newcomers from Austria had just released their debut \u201cBlessings From A Blackened Sky\u201d which had convinced totally by their Killswitch Engage-influenced Metalcore. After some sound problems the fourpiece rocked the stage by \u201cFar Beyond The Days Of Grace\u201d, \u201cFrom This Life\u201d and showed their Metal-credibility by playing an extract from Amon Amarth\u2019s hit \u201cPursuit Of Vikings\u201d to let follow the hit \u201cKnights Of Doom\u201d, \u201cDeath From A Lover\u2019s End\u201d and \u201cSavior Welcome Home\u201d causing a little circle-pit. Especially the talented fronter M\u00e4tze convinced by a professional performance while his bandmates have to improve this issue on themselves a bit.<\/p>\n

Narziss<\/strong> Metalcore with German lyrics \u2013 we\u2019re of course talking about Narziss from Jena. An aspect which makes the band unique and which didn\u2019t seem to disturb anybody! No, the crowd celebrated songs from their current \u201cSolang Das Herz Schl\u00e4gt\u201d-release as (\u201cUnd Du Verblasst\u201d, \u201cMeine Kleine Seele\u201d) as older \u201cDie Hoffnung Stirbt Zuletzt\u201d-tracks (\u201cGotteskrieger\u201d, \u201cEntstelltes Bild\u201d) by a not too small moshpit.<\/p>\n

Neaera<\/strong> The Metalcore-shooting stars from M\u00fcnster showed a strong appearance. The fivepiece around shouter Benny introduced the title track of the forthcoming album \u201cArmamentarium\u201d which earned a lot of applause. The crowd supported \u201cWalls Instead Of Bridges\u201d, \u201cBroken Spine\u201d (And not Spiderschwein! ;-)) or \u201cLet The Tempest Come\u201d fanatically by different moshpits. So the band definitely succeeded.<\/p>\n

Animal Alpha<\/strong> The Norwegian Rock-band left a strange impression. Their frontwoman Agnete Kjolsrud looked like a female blonde version of Waltari\u2019s K\u00e4rtsy Hatakka and played a very strange interpretation of Rock music introducing their debut-longplayer \u201cPheromones\u201d, but they didn\u2019t win mentionable support for tracks like \u201cBundy\u201d.<\/p>\n

All That Remains<\/strong> This was supposed to change by the Metalcore-fivepiece from Springfield. But first of all the sound didn\u2019t work at all. From \u201cNot Alone\u201d on it became better, but it was easy to notice bandleader and fronter Phil Labonte didn\u2019t have his best day. Most of the clean vocals got sung badly or just got grunted by him. Just in the end of the appearance Phil seemed to have refound his voice to sing \u201cFor Salvation\u201d as the second hit of the current \u201cThe Fall Of Ideals\u201d-album, \u201cThis Calling\u201d, as they should have been sung. Because of the strong stage-action this was finally a good gig, but I know they can do much better, especially Phil. Bad luck he had such a bad day in front of the hugest European crowd they\u2019ve ever played for. <\/p>\n

Hatesphere<\/strong> The Danish Death- \/ Thrash-commando changed this aspect totally and ruled for 45 minutes. Supported by a very agile stageacting the very motivated band from Arhus introduced songs from the new album \u201cSerpent Smiles And Killer Eyes\u201d (\u201cFloating\u201d, \u201dLet Them Hate\u201d) and earned even more and wilder support by the crowd for well-known hits (\u201cThe Sickness Within\u201d, \u201cDisbeliever\u201d). So this show became a real triumph to the motivated shouter Jacob Bredahl & his fellows.<\/p>\n

Overkill<\/strong> Even after Wacken had been sold out the WOA-orgnizors confirmed by the Thrash-icon from New York City another popular band. Beginning with \u201cRotten To The Core\u201d and \u201cElimination\u201d it was no matter to Bobby \u2018Blitz\u2019 Ellsworth, D.D. Verni & Co to rule the Hellfest Stage-crowd. This went wild to smashers like \u201cIn Union we Stand\u201d, \u201cWrecking Crew\u201d, \u201cNecroshine\u201d and \u201cFuck You\u201d. We\u2019re really curious about the forthcoming output being published this year\u2019s autumn.<\/p>\n

W.E.T. Stage<\/em>
\nElectric Eel Shock<\/strong> The Japanese weirdos showed people from their island are also able to celebrate real rocking parties. And the crazy trio really knows how to party. The multi-active musicians showed an exciting stage-action added by several cool jokes and gimmicks. So the audience supported Rock \u2018n\u2019 Rollers like \u201cDo The Metal\u201d without any hesitation.<\/p>\n

Maroon<\/strong> Two years after the first special guest Hatesphere the magazine Metal Hammer invited a new one before their Thursday night party was supposed to start. The Metalcore-band with definite Death Metal-influences from Nordhausen started into a confident show in a crowded tent although they played against Saxon and Overkill. Of course fronter Andr\u00e9 Moraweck was again in a good mood and announced after a few songs those had been just slow shit before playing by \u201cMy Funeral Song\u201d a track from their forthcoming album \u201cThe Cold Heart Of The Sun\u201d. A bit later he requested the fans to throw with mens\u2019 underwear at their friends from Heaven Shall Burn while their appearance and took of his pants throwing it into the crowd to continue this performance in underwear. The crowd raged to \u201cAnnular Eclipse\u201d, \u201cChosen By Fate\u201d and \u201cWake Up In Hell\u201d after which Andr\u00e9 invited by Sodom\u2019s Tom Angelripper a singer from a band pointing out they\u2019re creating good music in strict contrast to his own band. After this self-ironic comment they covered the Sodom-classic \u201cAusgebombt\u201d to close the best show of the evening.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong>
\nTrue Metal Stage<\/em>
\nAmorphis<\/strong> Before Suomi\u2019s finest was able to appear a fire (mentioned in the introduction) disturbed the regular run. So about 45 minutes later, after Napalm Death had played therefor their show on the neighboured Black Stage the band was allowed to enter the stage without endangering the fans in front of it. Opening by the new \u201cThe Smoke\u201d and the classic \u201cAgainst Widows\u201d the band caught the absolute support of the audience. The fans applauded, headbanged and sang to songs from all the band\u2019s different creative phases (\u201cIn The Beginning\u201d, \u201cSign From The North Side\u201d, \u201cSummer\u2019s End, \u201cHouse Of Sleep\u201d). The new vocalist Tomi Joutsen seemed to be totally accepted by the fanbase and the band itself enjoyed their gig becoming a home match. They closed their celebrated set by their Death Metal-hymn \u201cBlack Winter Day\u201d.<\/p>\n

Therion<\/strong> The Symphonic Gothic Rock \/ Metal-formation around Christofer Jonsson introduced their new singer Thomas Vikstr\u00f6m who sang all songs very well, but should just work about his motionless stageacting. Supported by three classic background singers the sixpack presented tracks from their new \u201cGothic Kabbalah\u201d-release (\u201cSon Of The Staves Of Time\u201d, \u201cThe Falling Stone\u201d). But of course the final \u201cTo Mega Therion\u201d earned the most following.<\/p>\n

Grave Digger<\/strong> The Teutonic True Metal Band appeared on the right stage. Not just because of its name, also because of the number of fans being bound by Chris Boltendahl and his companions. Those celebrated a best-of-setlist consisting of the opener \u201cLiberty Or Death\u201d, \u201cKnights Of The Cross\u201d, \u201cThe Grave Digger\u201d, \u201cRebellion (The Clans Are Marching)\u201d and the finisher \u201cHeavy Metal Breakdown\u201d. Not my cup of beer, but okay.<\/p>\n

J.B.O.<\/strong> The Comedy Metal-quartet from the Bavarian town of Erlangen returned to Wacken to entertain the visitors for another time by \u201cRock Muzik\u201d, \u201cLalelu\u201d, \u201cWe Will Rock You\u201d, \u201cWir Ham \u2018Ne Party\u201d, \u201cEin Guter Tag Zum Sterben\u201d, \u201cEin Fest\u201d, \u201cMedtl Gschdanzl\u201d or by the idea to rebuild the chorus of \u201cGuantanamera\u201d into \u201cGuantanamo\u201d. I had seen a few bad gigs of JBO, but this was a good one.<\/p>\n

Blind Guardian<\/strong> Krefeld\u2019s Fantasy Metal-kings magnetized about 60000 fans to get \u201cInto The Storm\u201d to be \u201cWelcome To Dying\u201d. Being supported by choirs of thousands of voices Hansi K\u00fcrsch and his friends performed a greatest-hits-performance containing \u201cBorn In A Mourning Hall\u201d, \u201cNightfall\u201d, \u201cThe Script For My Requiem\u201d, \u201cThe Bard\u2019s Song (In The Forest)\u201d, \u201cBright Eyes\u201d, \u201cTime Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)\u201d, \u201cMirror, Mirror\u201d and \u201cLord Of The Rings\u201d. The band played tight, the stageacting was okay and the light show was brilliant, but the most impressing aspect about this appearance were the supporter\u2019s choirs creating a special atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Iced Earth<\/strong> The Power Metal-band of Jon Schaffer has a problem: They create wonderful music, but they lost their voice and the image Jon had built by different comments in the latest years is not the best one. So the fans also supported tracks from the new \u201cFraming Armageddon\u201d like the single \u201cTen Thousand Strong\u201d, but they appreciate classics from the Matt Barlow-era like \u201cBurning Times\u201d, \u201cViolate\u201d, \u201cVengeance Is Mine\u201d and \u201cBirth Of The Wicked\u201d. Of course Tim \u2018Ripper\u2019 Owens showed his vocalist abilities many fans shared the opinion he\u2019s in the wrong band. Anyway, supported by a cool stage design and some pyros the band from Indiana fulfilled a bombastic show.<\/p>\n

Black Stage<\/em>
\nSuidakra<\/strong> The formation from D\u00fcsseldorf were the big W.E.T. Stage-surprise the year before, so they returned as the opener of the much bigger Black Stage. Arkadius and his comrades showed their Melodic Death Metal works well, especially live. New \u201cCaledonia\u201d-material (\u201cA Blackened Shield\u201d) as older stuff (\u201cA Vision\u2019s Demise\u201d) elated the spectators.<\/p>\n

Napalm Death<\/strong> Birmingham\u2019s Death-Grind-heroes were forced to start their appearance 30 minutes earlier than planned because the mentioned fire in front of the neighboured True Metal Stage didn\u2019t leave another choice. So after some time of orientation on the spectator\u2019s side they realised Barney Greenway & Co were devastating the Black Stage, musically of course. The earned positive reactions for new \u201cSmear Campaign\u201d-material (\u201cPuritanical Punishment Beating\u201d), but the mob went wild to the \u201cScum\u201d-medley. \u201cNazi Punks Fuck Off\u201d also kicked ass and emphasized again a final clear statement. <\/p>\n

Possessed<\/strong> The long-awaited reunion of the genre leaders became a pretty disappointing one. The only original member and vocalist Jeff Bercerra got backed up by four musicians of the band Sadistic Intent. Jeff who had been wheelchair-bound since an accident didn\u2019t emanate the old spirit which made a song like \u201cDeath Metal\u201d unique. So most fans got bored by an uninspired show of a formerly great band.<\/p>\n

Turbonegro<\/strong> In contrast to the band mentioned before the Norwegian madmen inspired the crowd to party hard which felt easy while \u201cDeathtime\u201d, \u201cAll My Friends Are Dead\u201d, \u201cGet It On\u201d, \u201cPrince Of The Radio\u201d, \u201cAre You Ready (For Some Darkness)?\u201d \u201cFuck The World\u201d or the final \u201cI Got Errection\u201d. Those party-TNT kept the crowd in motion and fronter Hank van Helvetes funny statements entertained a lot.<\/p>\n

Lacuna Coil<\/strong> The Gothic Metal-leaders from Milano mainly forced their live-activities in overseas, so the fans were very curious to see the Italians. Surrounded by the warm sun slowly leaving the horizon the external conditions realized a nearly perfect atmosphere for songs like the opening tracks \u201dSwamped\u201d, \u201cFragments Of Fate\u201d and \u201cTo Live Is To Hide\u201d as for \u201cFragile\u201d, \u201cCloser\u201d, \u201cSenzafine\u201d and the Depeche Mode-cover \u201cEnjoy The Silence\u201d. After their biggest hit \u201cHeaven\u2019s A Lie\u201d the outstanding singer Cristina Scabbia who harmonized well again with her male college Andrea Ferro thanked all the fans making this big Wacken-event possible before they left with \u201cOur Truth\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dimmu Borgir<\/strong> Ten years after we had seen the Norwegians for the first time while an extreme hot afternoon the band had evolved to the (commercial) leaders of today\u2019s Black Metal-scene. In the past I had watched several Dimmu Borgir-appearances with to much routine and too less power. This didn\u2019t happen in Wacken, the band definitely rocked. After a pretty long intro Shagrath, Silenoz & Co started with sound problems while their opener \u201cProgenies Of The Great Apocalypse\u201d. But those disappeared, so new \u201cIn Sorte Diaboli\u201d-tracks like \u201cThe Sacrilegious Scorn and \u201cThe Serpentine Offering\u201d as classics like \u201cA Succubus In Rapture\u201d, \u201cKings Of The Carnival Creation, \u201cThe Insight And The Catharsis\u201d and the final hit \u201cMourning Palace\u201d got celebrated a lot. And of course bassist Simen ruled again by his fantastic backing vocals. What a cool gig! More of that!<\/p>\n

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter<\/strong> After they had filled up the old area around the Party Stage last year which had been much too small, the group from Weimar appeared on the much bigger Black Stage. They brought a lot of gimmicks to Wacken like a rubber boat, blue balloons and rubber balls. Besides that the formation didn\u2019t convince me for another time. After new \u201cRiders On The Storm\u201d-stuff (the title track, \u201cRevolution\u201d) the pretty big crowd partied to \u201cSeemann\u201d, \u201cReitermania\u201d, \u201cHimmelskind\u201d and \u201cWe Will Never Die\u201d. The fans supported them, me didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Party Stage<\/em>
\nBlack Dahlia Murder<\/strong> The Melodic Death Metal-fivepiece from Detroit had the job to get the fans really woken up, and how they did! By hammers like \u201cApex\u201d, \u201cFuneral Thirst\u201d, \u201cStatutory Ape\u201d and new material from their forthcoming third longplayer \u201cNocturnal\u201d as by a very agile performance the quintet around front-madman Trevor Strnad should have won a lot of new fans.<\/p>\n

Communic<\/strong> Without a live-keyboarder the trio fascinated hundreds of spectators with their Nevermore-inspired Prog Power Metal. Of course the Norwegians around Oddleif Stensland are not a typical live-band, but they convinced by their special aura combined with epics like \u201cWatching It All Disappear\u201d, \u201cThe King For A Thousand Years\u201d, \u201cThey Feed On Our Fear\u201d they earned much applause.<\/p>\n

Volbeat<\/strong> It had taken 30 minutes after their regular stage-boarding time till the Danish shooting stars actually entered the stage. Nearly nobody had left meanwhile knowing what they\u2019re supposed to get: A first class Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll-show! Starting with \u201cThe Human Instrument\u201d, in which front-Elvis Michael Poulsen placed a cool fart-sound gimmick, the whole crowd moshed, headbanged, danced and shouted. Just after two longplayers the fourpiece have so many rocking hits everyone can party to like \u201cSoulweeper\u201d, \u201cPool Of Booze Booze Booza\u201d, the Dusty Springfield-cover \u201cI Only Wanna Be With You\u201d, \u201cRadio Girl\u201d, \u201cThe Garden\u2019s Tale\u201d and the Johnny Cash-tribute \u201cDevil Or A Blue Cat\u2019s Song\u201d. So the afternoon-appearance became a big triumph to the Danish rockers.<\/p>\n

Falconer<\/strong> Power Metal with Folk-vibes was served on the Party Stage in the late Friday afternoon. The nice sounding mixture was welcome for another time and the voice of singer Mathias Blad makes it self-contained, but for another time it was easy to perceive he\u2019s not a live-fronter. So the appearance just made fun acoustically by \u201cUpon The Grave Of Guilt\u201d, \u201cPerjury And Sanctity\u201d, \u201cMindtraveller\u201d and \u201cThe Clarion Call\u201d.<\/p>\n

Enslaved<\/strong> The original Viking Metal-band appeared while the sky darkened increasingly. A perfect time for the Norwegians to inspire the crowd by \u201cRuun\u201d, the surprise \u201cAs Fire Swept Clean The Earth\u201d and of course the classic \u201cIsa\u201d which all worked well with the crowd., and of course with me.<\/p>\n

Schandmaul<\/strong> The Folk Rock-formation from Munich surprised three years ago when they acted in Wacken for the first time. And this year they filled up the whole new Party Stage-area. The masses celebrated songs from the current \u201cMit Leib Und Seele\u201d-release (the opener \u201cVor Der Schlacht\u201d, \u201cKein Weg Zu Weit\u201d) as material known from the further outputs (\u201cHerren Der Winde\u201d, \u201cVogelfrei\u201d, \u201cDein Anblick\u201d) before the sixpiece finished with the ballad \u201cDein Antlitz\u201d.<\/p>\n

Samael<\/strong> The four musicians from Samael played for the second time in a row the last dance of a WOA-day. A role they filled out very well. Ten years after I had watched them on the formerly Main Stage in the early evening they created a unique atmosphere by their very technical music as by their nice light show. Vorph, Xy, Makro and Mas presented by \u201cAve!\u201d and \u201cSlavocracy\u201d new \u201cSolar Soul\u201d-songs which earned mainly positive reactions, the older ones like \u201cRain\u201d, \u201cThe Cross\u201d, \u201cJupiterian Vibe\u201d, \u201cOn Earth\u201d, \u201cOriental Dawn\u201d, \u201cBaphomet\u2019s Throne\u201d and \u201cYear Zero\u201d got more support. A nice appearance ended by \u201cMy Own Savior\u201d.<\/p>\n

W.E.T. Stage<\/em>
\nDrone<\/strong> The winner of last year\u2019s Metal Battle-competition returned to the place of their success from one year before like the first Metal Battle-winner Gorilla Monsoon had done in 2006. The fourpiece from Celle around fronter Mutz presented powerful Neo-Thrash influenced by Machine Head and introduced many songs from their new release \u201cHead-On Collision\u201d. Cool gig!<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong>
\nTrue Metal Stage<\/em>
\nSacred Reich<\/strong> The long awaited reunion gig held in Germany happened in Wacken. The Thrash Metal-legend around main actor Phil Rind hadn\u2019t lost any quality and performed one of the definite highlights of the whole weekend. Of course, considering the song choice: The opener \u201cAmerican Way\u201d, \u201cDeath Squad\u201d, \u201cWho\u2019s To Blame\u201d, \u201cIndependent\u201d the Black Sabbath-cover \u201cWar Pigs\u201d which was sung by hundreds of voices and the final \u201cSurf Nicaragua\u201d left no doubt! This hammer-reunion has to continue!<\/p>\n

Stratovarius<\/strong> The Finnish Power Metal-institution had become a steady guest in Wacken over the past years since they appeared for the first time in 1998. Beginning with \u201cHunting High And Low\u201d the band around the two mainmen Timo and Timo entertained a really huge crowd which celebrated \u201cFather Time\u201d, Black Diamond\u201d, the brandnew \u201cLast Night On Earth\u201d, \u201cKiss Of Judas\u201d and \u201cForever\u201d. Like everytime the sixpiece performed an entertaining show, but somehow they had lost their fire.<\/p>\n

Rage<\/strong> Ten years after Rage headlined the 2007-edition by a special Metal meets Classic-appearance with the Lingua Mortis-orchestra the trio returned with their symphonic vision. This time they got assisted by the symphonic orchestra of Minsk, probably hired by guitar-genius Victor Smolski who originally derives from Belarus. In contrast to 1997 Peavy Wagner & Co had an earlier position, but \u201cFrom The Cradle To The Grave\u201d, \u201cAlive But Dead\u201d, \u201cSent By The Devil\u201d and \u201cTurn The Page\u201d also worked while the brighter sunny atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Type O Negative<\/strong> This appearance was a long awaited as a much discussed one after their comeback-club-tour which had bared physical problems of Pete Steele. And on stage he didn\u2019t really look sane, especially the zoomed pictures on the screen showed he\u2019s not in the best mood. Anyway, the show predominantly rocked. With the new \u201cDead Again\u201d-single \u201cProfit Of Doom\u201d the quartet opened a cool show which got a break after \u201cLove You To Death\u201d. Somehow ridiculous, but we had been warned before. Pete who wore a cylinder (of course a black-green-coloured one) seemed to need the break while drummer Johnny Kelly took one of the stage cameras to film the fans. After this break they finished their to short appearance (They could have played ten minutes longer!) by their two \u201cBloody Kisses\u201d-hits \u201cChristian Woman\u201d and \u201cBlack No. 1\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Flames<\/strong> In 1997 the genre-leaders of Melodic Death Metal acted in the W.E.T.-Stage-tent which had been a much smaller than the nowadays known one. Ten years and a few WOA-performances later they acted in a headlining position. The Gothenburg-fivepiece performed another hammer-show, no wonder with \u201cPinball Map\u201d, \u201cTrigger\u201d, \u201cEpisode 666\u201d, the \u201cThe Jester Race\u201d-classic \u201cGraveland\u201d, \u201cSystem\u201d, the title track of the new masterpiece \u201cCome Clarity\u201d after which fronter Anders Frid\u00e9n proclaimed if he could he\u2019d come down sleeping with each fan. Instead of that he preferred to continue with \u201cOnly For The Weak\u201d including a ride with the moveable stage camera, \u201cCloud Connected\u201d, \u201cThe Quiet Place\u201d, \u201cTake This Life\u201d and the final \u201cMy Sweet Shadow\u201d which made clear for another time: In Flames are always a highlight on every festival! Anders declared their 2005-WOA-appearance as their career-highlight and organized an atmosphere-competition in which the 2007-crowd succeeded. Supported by a fantastic pyro, light and special effect show the band left thousands of happy people after their outstanding performance.<\/p>\n

Subway To Sally<\/strong> Somehow it seems like the sevenpiece from Potsdam had got the steady role as the WOA-finisher which worked very well. Like 2006 the popular Folk Rock-band appeared as the last band on a big stage between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m.. You think most people were asleep? Not at all, the festivalsite was pretty crowded with Subway To Sally-fans celebrating a best-of-setlist consisting of classics like \u201cHenkersbraut\u201d, \u201cFeuerland\u201d, \u201cDer Schrei\u201d, \u201cErdbeermund\u201d and \u201cOhne Liebe\u201d. Nice live-action-conlusion!<\/p>\n

Black Stage<\/em>
\nSonic Syndicate<\/strong> The Melodic Death Metal-shooting stars convinced like they had done a month before on the With Full Force. Again the five men and the nice female bassist inspired the crowd by their \u2018good-mood-music\u2019. The pretty crowded festival area partied to their \u201cOnly Inhuman\u201d-debut-songs like \u201cAftermath\u201d, \u201cFlashback\u201d and \u201cEnclave\u201d. Got your job well done guys \u2013 and girl! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Moonspell<\/strong> Darkness was supposed to reign over Wacken in the early bright afternoon. But somehow it worked: The Portuguese around bandleader and vocalist Fernando Ribeiro created a cool atmosphere by their performance full of passion and atmosphere. The crowd got inspired by their aura as by \u201cVampiria\u201d, \u201cOpium\u201d, the \u201cThe Antidote\u201d-single \u201cEverything Invaded\u201d and \u201cAlma Mater\u201d! Cool performance!<\/p>\n

Dir En Grey<\/strong> The (former) Visiual Key-band \/ Rockers from Japan showed a very strange performance. When fronter Kyo hurted himself bleeding I just can conclude with one word: No! The music didn\u2019t really sound less weired: New \u201cThe Marrow Of A Bone\u201d-material (\u201cDead Tree\u201d, \u201cThe Final\u201d) as older ones (\u201cClever Sleazoid\u201d) didn\u2019t convince me at all and it seemed like just a few younger girls celebrated them!<\/p>\n

Destruction<\/strong> Because of their 25th anniversary Schmier and his two companions celebrated a special show: After Thrash Metal-classics like \u201cMad Butcher\u201d, \u201cThe Butcher Strikes Back\u201d, \u201cNailed To The Cross\u201d and \u201cDeath Trap\u201d Schmier invited the ex-members Harry Wilkens and Tommy Sandmann as the well-known friend-vocalists Bobb \u2018Blitz\u2019 Ellsworth (Overkill), Peavy Wagner (Rage), Tom Angelripper (Sodom) and Oddleif Stensland (Communic) on stage to perform the Metal-hymn \u201cAlliance Of The Hellhoundz\u201d. After the assistance of some half-naked women and of three drummers while the final \u201cThrash Till Death\u201d the band closed a gig which was definitely birthday-party-dignified.<\/p>\n

Immortal<\/strong> The reunion of the Black Metal-icon from Bergen was followed by an absolutely crowded festival area which showed their popularity. Abbath, Horgh and the new bassist Apollyon opened by \u201cThe Sun No Longer Rises\u201d to let follow \u201cWithstand The Fall Of Time\u201d, \u201cSons Of Northern Darkness\u201d, \u201cTyrants\u201d, \u201cOne By One\u201d, \u201cWrath From Above\u201d which seduced the crowd to freak out to the mighty hymns from the north side. Of course Abbath didn\u2019t renounce his typical fire-breathing while playing \u201cUnholy Forces Of Evil\u201d. Thousands of fans kept headbanging celebrating their Black Metal-idols. The Norwegian threepiece closed their performance by their classics \u201cBattles In The North\u201d and \u201cBlashyrk Mighty Ravendark\u201d. After 75 minutes the Black Metal inferno was over, but most of the fans hadn\u2019t enough hoping to see their heroes back soon.<\/p>\n

Cannibal Corpse<\/strong> The Florida Death-Grinders offered a solid barrage for another time. On a show of the fivepiece from Tampa you know what to expect. So they motivated a legion of rock-all-night-maniacs to headbang to smashers from the current \u201cKill\u201d-release like \u201cManiacal\u201d and \u201cMake Them Suffer\u201d as two classics like \u201cFuck With A Knife\u201d and the long time missed \u201cHammer Smashed Face\u201d. The instrumental section showed again they\u2019re one of the tightest and the Corpsegrinder himself demonstrated his windmill-activities besides his grunts.<\/p>\n

Party Stage<\/em>
\nDisillusion<\/strong> The Progressive Metal-geniuses from Leipzig began the Saturday by the opener of the new masterpiece \u201cGloria\u201d, \u201cThe Black Sea\u201d, and with its title song another new one. Singer Schmidt used two microphones standing right next to each other, one for the clean vocals, one for the effect-vocals. Of course the fourpiece didn\u2019t forget tracks from their longplayer-debut \u201cBack To Times Of Splendor\u201d like its title track and \u201cAnd The Mirror Cracked\u201d or their \u201cThe Porter\u201d-classic. With the current video-single \u201cDon\u2019t Go Any Further\u201d the band finished a brilliant gig that inspired the pretty big noon-crowd. One of the biggest weekend-highlights by the probably most talented musicians of the billing!<\/p>\n

Heaven Shall Burn<\/strong> After they had appeared in the W.E.T. Stage-tent in 2003 the German Metalcore-machine filled up the Party Stage-area. And the mob raged from the beginning marked by the \u201cEchoes\u201d-intro, the opener \u201cThe Weapon They Fear\u201d as the following two tracks from the recent album \u201cDeaf To Our Prayers\u201d, \u201cThe Final March\u201d and \u201cProfane Believers\u201d, and created a wall of death for the beginning of \u201cVoice Of The Voiceless\u201d. And Heaven Shall Burn set new standards. Shouter Marcus Bischoff animated the crowd to organize a circle-pit around the beer- and the merchandise-stands placed right in the middle of the Party Stage area, and hundreds of madmen followed to create the probably biggest circle-pit of the world. It was pretty okay that no one followed Marcus joking idea to bring him a D\u00f6ner Kebap with Tzatziki sauce from a Turkey stand from the other end of the Party Stage area. After the also new \u201cCounterweight\u201d it felt easy to conclude I had seen a great gig with a new pit-record. And the idea to use a girlie as a backdrop was pretty cool!<\/p>\n

Dimension Zero<\/strong> The project \/ band of In Flames-guitarist Jesper Str\u00f6mblad and ex-Marduk-fronter Jocke G\u00f6thberg played a very tight set consisting of new songs from the new \u201cHe Who Shall Not Bleed\u201d-album like its title track or \u201cUnto Others\u201d as older songs like \u201cHellmet\u201d or \u201cThe Murder Inn\u201d. In contrast to the last time I had watched them right after their debut when they just appeared in front of less than 50 visitors, this time they motivated numerous of supporters to headbang. Good show, but next time please use your whole time and don\u2019t leave the stage much earlier like this show.<\/p>\n

Norther<\/strong> The Finnish fivepiece around Petri Lindroos served Melodic Death Metal which had evolved a bit from the Children Of Bodom-touch it once had had. And the appearance showed Norther had built a big fanbase in the shadow of Petri\u2019s more popular band Ensiferum. So, new \u201cTill Death Unites Us\u201d- songs (\u201cEverything\u201d, \u201cOmen\u201d) became celebrated like older ones (\u201cDay Zero\u201d, \u201cMidnight Walker\u201d, \u201cReleased\u201d). The band also introduced with \u201cFrozen Angel\u201d a brand new track from the forthcoming album. A cool appearance from an act we\u2019ll hear from.<\/p>\n

Stormwarrior<\/strong> The German True Metal-formation started playing own material which showed this couldn\u2019t have caused the 75 minutes they got to fill and the astonishing number of fans in front of the stage. In the middle of the set Kai Hansen entered the stage to perform with Stormwarrior several Helloween-classics. Of course the audience supported \u201cMurderer\u201d, \u201cRide The Sky\u201d and \u201cI Want Out\u201d much more than the Stormwarrior-tracks, so read the lines above.<\/p>\n

Haggard<\/strong> The second appearance with symphonic musicians on this year\u2019s WOA didn\u2019t work as well as the first one of Rage. Ten years ago the Gothic-Metal-meets-Classic-idea had been a very innovative one, but over the last years it had seemed they had just repeated themselves. An impression Asis Nasseri and his companions couldn\u2019t disprove. And the number of supporters celebrating tracks like \u201cEppur Si Muove\u201d, \u201cOf Might Divine\u201d, \u201cIntroitus\u201d, \u201cFinal Victory\u201d and \u201cAwaking The Centuries\u201d had become smaller. So this gig was nothing special at all!<\/p>\n

W.E.T. Stage<\/em>
\nFair To Midland<\/strong> What happened in the Saturday afternoon became very unique in my long festival career: I went into the W.E.T. Stage-tent to watch this unknown newcomer-band and they totally blew me away performing the best show of the whole first-class-Wacken-billing. The fivepiece from Dallas which had got discovered and signed by System Of A Down-fronter Serj Tankian rocked the half-crowded tent and inspired the former passive crowd to support this agile show considering the compositions from their debut album \u201cFables From A Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True\u201d by its strong opener as video-single \u201cDance Of The Manatee\u201d, \u201cApril Fools And Eggmen\u201d, \u201cKyla Cries Cologne\u201d, \u201cWalls Of Jericho\u201d, \u201cVice\/Versa\u201d and \u201cTall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes\u201d. The songs as the motivated performance convinced every \u2018tent-meanwhile-inhabitant\u2019 although the stage-action of the brilliant vocalist Darroh Sudderth felt sometimes a little strange. But in the end he brought the biggest stunt climbing the backline and moved on sidewards by his hands hanging from the roof till he let himself fall to continue the show. What an ingenous insanity!<\/p>\n

Swallow The Sun<\/strong> After their disappointing performance at this year\u2019s With Full Force the Finnish Melodic Death Doomers showed a much improved appearance. In front of numerous of fans the sixpiece felt more comfortable on the tent stage than on any Main Stage. So band as fans headbanged to \u201cOut Of This Gloomy Night\u201d, \u201cDescending Winters\u201d and \u201cSwallow (Horror Pt. 1)\u201d. In contrast to their latest mentioned appearance this performance worked very well. Strong performance!<\/p>\n

Moonsorrow<\/strong> Although there was playing with Immortal the biggest possible competitor the tent was absolutely filled up with manics who all wanted to see the Finnish Black Metal-band with Folk-influences. Headbanging motion as singalong action reigned over the tent getting turned into a party tent celebrating songs like \u201dUnohduksen Lapsi\u201d and \u201cSankatarina\u201d. The quintet showed an agile performance the writer of these lines absolutely enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nAs I mentioned in the introduction a big respect goes out to the organisation which had to fight against the worst weather conditions they had ever had! But they realized the impossible! The \u2018usual\u2019 organisation of the festival left no wishes open! Especially the new Party Stage-area was a big gain! So did the billing: For another time the WOA offered a first-class-billing combining top bands of all different sub-genres, successful Metal-giants as hopeful newcomers in each of them!
\nThe prices for food and beverages stayed the same as the last years before (e.g. 3,00 \u20ac for a o,4 l beer or softdrink).
\nAnd the Wacken Open Air 2008 seems to become a killer one, too! The first announced bands are: Iron Maiden, Avantasia, Children Of Bodom, Kreator, Soilwork and Sonata Arctica! Iron Maiden in Wacken: Holy shit! And the other mentioned bands are also known for great shows! We enjoyed our ten years of Wacken-participation and are looking forward to our 12th one! See you in Wacken 2008 \u2013 rain or shine!<\/p>\n

Special thanks go out to Britta Kock, Sheree Hesse and the WOA-team!!!!!
\nAt the Wacken Open Air rocked, drank and partied Tobi Wan Kenobi, Sebi Sebericks, Helga and Nicole!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WACKEN OPEN AIR 2007 It was the year of 1997 when the two mainmen of www.metal-festivals.com Lotte and Tobi Wan Kenobi travelled to a festival in a little northern village called Wacken. We and two friends of us travelled in the one and only Bock Tours bus and experienced an unforgettable weekend on an open … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Wacken 2007 Review”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":28,"menu_order":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/202\/revisions\/203"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}