Blessed by Steel: The
Wacken 2001 Experience
By Michael De Los Muertos
Photographs and Commentary by Ice Maiden
Day 2 - Friday, August 3rd, 2001
Friday morning goes smoothly. We arrive at the grounds on
time with no hassle - the efficient Wacken “Metal Guards” are still
in a good mood. The first moral choice of the day presents itself
precisely at 10 AM with the first bands of the day: shall we wallow in
pools of grinding death with Deceased, or hoist our swords to the
sky on the clean tones of Nostradaemus? The answer, of course:
“Why not do both?”
I find it interesting that DECEASED is the first band we saw -
because HammerFall was the last, and Deceased is fronted
by King Fowley, the man who, if he did not start the “HammerFall
Sucks!” crusade, at least gave it his voice. We stay for only a few
minutes. The music is standard, brutal death metal. Nothing tremendously
special about it, and Fowley is very energetic, but he seems to forget
the crowd watching his band is mostly German, not American. Nonetheless,
it’s not bad, but not enough to keep us interested for more than a
little while.
NOSTRADAEMUS, on the other hand - the first band I see on the
“Party Stage” - is another matter. This is a great Swedish band with
a classic Gothenburg-esque background, but they lean toward power metal,
and their assault was certainly powerful! Melodic, catchy, fast, and
energetic are the best way to describe their set. I’m tempted, on the
strength of their performance, to check out their album, WORDS OF
NOSTRADAEMUS - the planting of such a desire thus marking the first true
success of a Wacken band, which is to open you up to new metal. I’d
definitely see these guys again.
Hmm…watch bands, or wander? There’s so much to see at Wacken,
including the awesome Metal Market, billed as the planet’s largest
sale of metal CDs and merchandise. Witch Hunter has already been there -
so why not? NIGHTFALL - the next band on the Party Stage -
doesn’t do much for me. In fact they’re completely limp, in my
opinion, and not much worth sticking around for. I’m interested in CARNAL
FORGE up on the Double Mega Stage, since I’ve heard so often that
their gut-churning album is such a triumph, but hearing them across the
field as we walk toward the Metal Market I comment, “Oh, so that’s
what Carnal Forge sounds like.” It’s not enough to tempt me. The
Metal Market is indeed impressive. It’s a hot, humid, stuffy browse
inside a tent full of smelly metalheads who are all about the most
discriminate shoppers you could imagine. How many times are the racks of
metal T-shirts rifled and the CD stacks browsed? It’s so dazzling you
don’t even know where to start.
(Ice Maiden’s Commentary: For those who haven’t been to
Wacken, it is interesting to note that in addition to Metal Market,
which is full of cds, t-shirts, banners and other metal paraphernalia,
there are loads of booths dedicated to other goods metallic: goth
clothing, renaissance clothing, metal jewelry, leather clothing, books,
etc. A person can wander the booths for hours!)
LACUNA COIL is the next major band we see. When it’s over,
several in our party grumble disappointedly about them. Did we see a
different band? I think Lacuna Coil is excellent. Snappy guitar work,
excellent melody, and considerable heaviness - not to mention competent
female vocals, which is a tough plate to serve up to a Wacken crowd
expecting Nightwish merely a day hence. Indeed Lacuna Coil’s set is
very enjoyable and I’m not quite sure why the others in our party carp
at them. This is not the first time my perception differs radically from
my compatriots - see Nevermore below.
(Ice Maiden’s Commentary: I thought the set was OK, but
Cristina’s voice was often off-key. I liked the melding of the clean
female and male vocals, and the melody lines were nice, but her voice
was sometimes great and sometimes just…wrong.
Lacuna Coil was followed by another band female-fronted band, HOLY
MOSES. Fast-paced and with raw death vox, Sabina Classen did a good
job getting the crown excited. I hadn’t really listened to them
before, but found myself thinking that they did a pretty good job.)
LACUNA COIL
HOLY MOSES
Back to the party stage! We manage to catch quite a bit of CAGE
and a fair amount of KAMELOT, and both are excellent. Both are
traditional-sounding, Cage with a much more meaty sound to it, Kamelot
with the crispness of soaring power metal that is rapidly becoming a
staple on the Wacken stages. I’ve never heard Cage before but I like
them very much. In retrospect I wish I would have seen more of Kamelot,
but having to skate off in mid-set to meet folks over by the Jack
Daniels tent (some Metal-Rules folks, no less!) illustrates one of the
great disadvantages of Wacken: not only can you not see everything, but
it’s difficult to even get to see everything you want to see. (Ice
Maiden’s Commentary: Kamelot sounded much like they do on their
albums, which, with power metal, is kind of nice. The primary thing that
stuck out in my mind about them, though, is that their lead singer looks
like a metal Ricky Martin. I kept waiting for him to bust out with
“Living La Vida Loca”.)
CAGE
KAMELOT
5 PM. Back: aching a little bit. Feet: starting to tingle. But now
it’s time for the heavy hitters.
A shudder of excitement goes through me as PRIMAL FEAR bursts
onto the main stage. Chrome-domed like the Halford he nearly replaced,
Ralf Scheepers acts like he’s got scores to settle, and he settles
them. A blasting assault of fanatic power/traditional metal sprays over
the Double Mega Stage crowd like water from an exploding fire hydrant.
“Nuclear Fire,” title track from Primal Fear’s newest triumphant
album, is a highlight of the set, but my favorite by far is “Final
Embrace.” Not a note goes wrong, not a second does Primal Fear falter.
This is the first dose of metalness at Wacken that truly
transcends to a higher level. You can’t help but get swept away. If
they weren’t before, the sizable crowd gathered for the set all go
away Primal Fear fans.
(Ice Maiden’s Commentary: Primal Fear had my favorite set
of Wacken. They were on, they were having fun, the crowd was having fun.
I loved it.)
PRIMAL FEAR
We have to break for dinner. No choice; we’ve gone
hungry since morning. We shuffle to the backstage area. Visions of last
year’s dreadful gyros and soggy French fries dance in my head. We take
a weary seat at a backstage table. “Hey, you know, there’s a menu
here.” Hmm. Pasta dishes, pizza, even a steak! Could Wacken have
improved their food? We order a pasta dish - tortellini alla panna - and
it’s excellent. On a real plate with a real fork! A square meal
at Wacken! Can you believe it? I couldn’t, but it was exactly what I
needed. Onward to the rest of the evening!
It’s nice to see your fellow countrymen get a good response, so
when the American power/prog metal band NEVERMORE tees up to an
enthusiastic crowd, it’s a good feeling. I’m an old hand at
reviewing Nevermore, having seen them open up at the amazing In Flames
show in Portland in December. Nevermore is, in my opinion, far
substandard tonight. Warrell Dane just never seems to get it together,
or to appreciate that he’s playing Wacken. The music is competent, but
the rock-star prancing gets a little tiresome. The set list isn’t even
that exciting. I remember heavy stuff from “Dreaming Neon Black” and
lots of stuff from THE POLITICS OF ECSTASY front and center at the
Portland show, but Nevermore seem to wander through some pretty random
songs at Wacken. I lose interest. Time for another beer. Backstage later
on I hear Ice Maiden, DethToFalseMetal and others gushing about how
awesome Nevermore was. Did I miss something? (Ice Maiden’s
Commentary: Clearly, you did miss something. I thought
Warrell’s voice was incredible at this show-full of the tortured rage
for which he is known. His is a voice you either like or hate-either
way, it is very distinctive.)
NEVERMORE
SONATA ARCTICA - one of the most-anticipated sets of the
festival for me! More power metal! Soaring vocals! Melodic keyboards!
It’s not quite the amazing jaw-dropper that I expect, but then again
I’m back at the Party Stage and I’m still reeling from Primal Fear.
Still, Sonata’s progressive metal is quite compelling. There’s one
problem, though. OVERKILL is playing on the Double Mega Stage at
the same time. These fuckers are LOUD, and their sound conflicts with
Sonata. It’s the only example of annoying sound-conflict I’ve
observed at Wacken either year I’ve been there. I confess I’ve never
been a tremendous Overkill fan, which is why I’m more interested in
Sonata Arctica. But I just can’t hear the finer nuances of their
sound. Too bad; I think I would have had a better impression had they
not been drowned out by Overkill.
SONATA ARCTICA
OVERKILL
Luckily the next band on the double stage is one that everybody is
anticipating - THERION. They don’t disappoint. Unfortunately
when they booked Wacken, Therion was supposed to have a full orchestra
with them, but it’s since been downgraded to merely a choir. No
matter! Therion’s symphonic metal is impressive to say the least. They
pump a hell of a lot of power into all parts of their performance -
guitars, vocals, choirs, everything. The unbreakable bond between metal
and classical music is the spine and support of Therion’s performance.
They pull off the set flawlessly. A tremendous achievement, and clearly
one of the best sets of the festival.
10:15
PM. Back: agony. Feet: not so good. It’s getting dark, and chilly. The
crowd is beginning to close in uncomfortably. Metalheads are appearing
out of nowhere, most jabbering excitedly in German. The reason is quite
clear - HELLOWEEN, probably the biggest band of the festival for
the mostly-German crowd, are about to begin. We lose one of our party in
the thick crowd. One minute he’s there, the next he’s gone. We
don’t have time to search for him. Pure power metal is soon unleashed.
Helloween’s set is tremendous, and it’s everything you’d expect
from one of the original power metal bands. That they wrote the book on
classic power metal is evident. There’s a good mix of old and new
stuff, from the brand-new “The Dark Ride” to the age-old crowd
pleaser “I Want Out.” I confess I’m not a fan of post-Kiske and
post-Hansen Helloween, but this stellar set just about wins me over. The
power and technical mastery of their set rivals, if not excels, the
awesome presentation of Gamma Ray at Wacken in 2000 on the very same
stage. My arm gets tired from pumping my fist in the air during the set.
But it’s rough going. It’s downright cold now and endurance is
catching up with us. My girlfriend is falling asleep on her feet. We
have no choice - we have to retire backstage, and from thence to our
hotel. We have to live to fight another day.
HELLOWEEN
We never do find our missing friend. It turns out he was experiencing
the power of THE HAUNTED over on the Party Stage. Despite
numerous attempts to find him in virtual pitch-darkness, with puddles of
mud treacherously arranged everywhere, we fail. Oh, well. We make
arrangements to have Ice Maiden and her party pick him up after the
final bands - if they can find him. This attempt fails too. A cab ride
back to the hotel at 4:15 AM is his fate. By that time we’re sound
asleep - with metal pounding in our dreams.
(Ice Maiden’s Commentary: The rest of our group can’t
leave quite yet. DESASTER, the incredible German black metal
band, will be taking the stage in a little while, and DIMMU BORGIR
is scheduled to go on stage at 1:45 am. We hang out in the back stage
area for awhile, resting.
DESASTER SLAYS!!!! Aggressive black metal, they played some of my
favorites, including the title-track off of Hellfire’s Dominion, and
the supremely-catchy “Metalized Blood.” I had met some of the band
members, who knew some of our crew, earlier in the day and Black Goat
purchased some Desaster shirts for us. Woohoo! Check these guys out if
you get the chance.
I was still very excited after the Desaster set, and was settling in
for the almost 2 hour wait for Dimmu. I have missed seeing Dimmu live
twice in the last six months, so I was psyched to see the band that put
out the excellent albums Enthroned Darkness Triumphant and the recent
Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. Whether you call it black metal or
not black metal, I wanted to see Dimmu. Sadly, the rest of my crew got
too tired and cold, so I was forced back to the hotel. Boo! I missed
them again!)
DESASTER
Onto
Day 3 - Saturday, August 4th, 2001