Blessed by Steel: The
Wacken 2001 Experience
By Michael De Los Muertos
Photographs and Commentary by Ice Maiden
Day 3 - Saturday, August 4th,
2001
Saturday begins on a hopeful note. A good square breakfast in
our hotel - the weather, just slightly overcast and cool enough to be
comfortable - a feeling of excitement all over again as we get on the
road and head back out toward the festival. Today’s acts are the real
shit. The final climax of the metal world’s finest hour - if we can
make it that far.
We arrive shortly before 11AM. DESTRÖYER 666 is about to get
started on the Party Stage, but the feeling of being all together again
at Wacken with our friends is a bit too much to resist. “I shouldn’t
downplay that in my review,” I think. Wacken isn’t just about
bands. It’s about getting together with friends - family, almost - and
searching for that rare CD, or that T-shirt you promised you would get
for EvilG, or that Scottish kilt that your girlfriend has talked you
into buying! I find it at a little booth over near the exit to the
festival site. Hey, Dispatched wear kilts on-stage and they’re one of
my favorite bands. So why not?
VINTERSORG
is the first Saturday band at which we spend substantial time.
Vintersorg is a (mostly) one-man band, but Mr. V has brought a few
friends to fill out the other instruments in the live set, and overall
they work together very well. This band takes a while to grow on me but
it finally does. The traditional Viking-esque elements of the music
combined with its natural heaviness and power give the impression of a
very strong and affectionate tie to the past, musically speaking as well
as culturally. It’s great to see metal musicians really care about
their roots and their history, and Vintersorg definitely comes through
on that score! Melodic, powerful, yet very unique - in retrospect
Vintersorg is one of the highlights of the second day of Wacken, another
band in the “I-don’t-own-anything-by-them (him),
but-I-may-just-check-them (him)-out” category.
VINTERSORG
There’s
no question what the next band will be. Sweden’s mighty DARK
TRANQUILLITY have taken a lot of guff in the past few years for
departing from the style of their awesome album “Projector,” but you
wouldn’t know it by watching them on the Double Mega Stage. Absolute
precision and technical mastery approached by almost no other band at
the festival are the hallmarks of DT’s great set, which is studded
with both older and newer material. If death has a melody, it must be
Dark Tranquillity! A stellar, businesslike set with no complaints -
I’d definitely see DT again and I hope I get the chance to.
(Ice Maiden’s Commentary: Most people I know harp at Dark
Tranquillity for leaving behind the masterful death growls and melodic
mastery of “Skydancer” and “The Gallery,” and moving to clean
vocals and an overall less aggressive cast with “Projector” and
“Haven.” Like Rotting Christ’s change over time from its first few
albums, the old albums of Dark Tranquillity often sound nothing like the
new. However, I, for one, like both styles, and was not disappointed
seeing one of my favorite bands for the first time live. Any fan of
Gothenburg death should have been happy with this set, although I think
some fans wanted to hear more of the band’s older songs.)
DARK TRANQUILLITY
We stick around for METALIUM on the other half of the Double
Mega Stage. The overcast clouds are now teasing us with brief rain
showers - several mud puddles in the Wacken festival area are starting
to grow by early Saturday afternoon, attracting the attention of
rambunctious metalheads who decide it’s fun to wrestle and get filthy
at the same time. Metalium’s space-age-slash-medieval set
accouterments promise good things. The set starts out with a shock of
rollicking power metal and several numbers from the “State of
Triumph” sagas - but Metalium doesn’t really deliver on their
promise. The prancing and posturing of Jack Frost, and in fact most of
the guys in this band, gets tiresome very quickly. Metalium’s problem
is not so much music, because they play power metal very well, but
it’s attitude. As the set rolls on it’s clear they think they are
Gamma Ray, or wish they could be. Unfortunately they’re just not that
special. And I gotta be honest - the flimsy T-shirts with steel pecs and
washboard abs painted on them really don’t give this band a lot
of credibility. Metalium gets one of the lower marks of the Wacken
festival, which is a disappointment since I was hoping their set would
be particularly strong. (Ice Maiden’s Commentary: I gave
them a big thumbs down, and left to go peruse the Metal Market.)
METALIUM
Two rules we learned at Wacken on Friday: the first was, eat,
and the second was, don’t get too tired. We retire to the
backstage area following Metalium. Another plate of Tortellini Alla
Panna suffices to kill the hunger pangs. Friends are backstage,
including Black Goat of Barbarian Wrath Productions. Ice Maiden and I
get talking to him. My back aches with a dull fury. I debate with myself
whether or not to catch ANNIHILATOR. They’re one of those bands
that you really ought to see - but then again, one of those bands whose
albums don’t do much for me. We stay backstage for a while. One
question arises among our group: “How do you get to the Wet Stage?”
Everyone has seen the Wet Stage - it’s in a tent somewhere near the
far side of the festival area - but no one has actually been
there. We’d better figure it out, because one of the most-anticipated
bands for me (and for several of the Metal-Rules.com staff back home as
well!) is about to go on-stage there. We discover to get to the Wet
Stage you have to exit the festival area! The line to get back in is
dreadfully long, and involves an extensive security search. Thus, if you
leave, you better make it worthwhile. My girlfriend and I decide to head
over there. We’ve already lost Ice Maiden. She better make it for Lost
Horizon - she’s got the camera!
(Ice Maiden’s Commentary: I actually headed over early to
try to catch some of Annihilator. Thrash-masters of old, they looked,
well, dorky. I know that how people dress shouldn’t affect how you
hear the music, but somehow their hockey jerseys and short hair cuts
affected my perception of Annihilator. Bottom line-the people who really
love thrash seemed to be enjoying the show. I didn’t stay for long.) (Editors
Note: Those Hockey Jerseys look kick ass to me...I want one!!
ANNIHILATOR RULESSSSSSS!!!!)
ANNIHILATOR
A bathroom trip is necessary right after we leave the penned-in
festival area. The nearest stall is in a bank of mobile toilets near the
edge of the campground. While waiting for my girlfriend I look out over
the campground. Flags - French, German, even a Southern stars-and-bars -
flutter in the late afternoon breeze. The ground is an endless jumble of
tents, battered cars, metal bumper stickers, beer cans, trash bags. An
abandoned party tent is right next to me, beer cans still scattered on
the cluttered ground. I can hear the drone of RAGE from the
Double Mega Stage from where I’m 
standing. It’s an awesome barrage of traditional metal. I should be up
front there! “Wouldn’t you know it,” I think, “we exit the
festival pen and all of a sudden a great band goes up!” I didn’t
plan this well. We should have gotten outside the pen later. Ah, well.
We don’t have time to go back inside the festival area, get searched,
go up to Rage, then get out and get to the Wet Stage by 5:30. Too bad!
The Wet Stage tent is hellish. It’s stuffy and smoky inside, and
ten degrees warmer than outside. The ground is literally carpeted with
crushed beer cans. You can’t walk without them crunching under your
shoes. PARAGON is just finishing up. Here’s another band I
should have planned to see! And they’re local boys too - these snappy
power metallers are from Hamburg, only an hour away from where we stand.
They end their set with a cheerful-sounding, eardrum-crunching song.
Then we’re left to swelter in this terrible tent. Wasn’t the Wet
Stage outdoors last year? I don’t remember.
The energy in the tent before LOST HORIZON is palpable. In a
way it’s good that the Wet Stage is isolated and unpleasant - all the
people here had to go out of their way to get here. The most awesome
collection of power metal maniacs I have ever seen begins to mill about
up at the front. A rogues’ gallery of Italians are, naturally, the
most vocal and animated, their leader dressed in a sleeveless denim
jacket covered with patches - HammerFall, Blind Guardian, Helloween, all
the classics. Others have thoughtfully brought toy plastic swords to
celebrate the coming of new power metal heroes. A third guy is over the
top. He’s wearing homemade vinyl armor. Yes, that’s right - a sort
of Naugahyde poncho, its back covered with studs and a Manowar “Sign
of the Hammer” patch. This guy makes me look well-adjusted!
With Lost Horizon’s band members and techs on stage preparing, the Wet
Stage tent feels like it’s about to explode.
“Explode” is right. Lost Horizon knows how to rile up a power
metal crowd, and they do it from the word go. Launching into the
fist-pumping anthem “Heart of Storm” as their first song, these
war-painted, bizarrely-costumed, totally insane power metal field
marshals wage a ferocious war on everything false, and in the process
whip up the crowd to a virtual frenzy. I was not quite sure how Lost
Horizon’s keyboard-heavy, well-produced sound would translate to a
live setting, but I’m not disappointed. The essence of METAL!
resonates from everything they play, all from their debut album
AWAKENING THE WORLD. For a brand-new band with one album out,
Lost Horizon absolutely slays everything in their path. Their set is so
immense that merely singing along and pounding your fist in the air just
aren’t adequate to react to a band like this. Easily crossing the line
into the “transcendental” category that makes the very best Wacken
experiences, getting a chance to see Lost Horizon is alone justification
for my plane fare to Europe. We will hear more from this band -
hopefully a lot more, and for a very long time. If they stick around,
Lost Horizon are going to be one of the most important names in power
metal before long.
LOST HORIZON
The
clouds are clearing; the sun is setting; there’s a bit of nip in the
air as we get back to the main festival area and reunite with our clan
backstage. As we head back to the Double Mega Stage for IN FLAMES,
it’s evident from the weather and the mood that Wacken is as much an
ending as it is a climax - one of the last true weekends of the summer,
the last of the big good-weather festivals, the last time many of us
will be together until next year. A bronze-colored sheet of sunlight
bathes the crowd during the In Flames set. They certainly get the crowd
moving. Their set is not quite as engaging (or nearly as emotional) as
when they played Satyricon in Portland in December, but you can’t just
help grooving along to the catchy, crowd-friendly melodic death that
these Gothenburg veterans spew forth. Unfortunately I see signs that In
Flames might be cracking. Anders Friesen is wearing a tie. He jumps up
and down and commands the crowd to do the same thing. Creeping hallmarks
of mallcore - and this from me who loves CLAYMAN, which continues
to be roundly denounced despite its brilliance. A great set, but I
wonder if we’ll ever really see the “real” In Flames again or if
they’ll be tempted by the foul poison of commercialism. (Ice
Maiden’s Commentary: Damn it, I’m starting to believe the
folks who say that In Flames is selling out. They told the crowd at
WACKEN to jump up and down! And they did it!!! I’m all for enjoying a
show, and I’m not saying it isn’t right to dance, move and have a
good time. But jump up and down? What next? “The roof, the roof, the
roof is on fire???!!!??”)
IN FLAMES
We’re getting toward the end. The NIGHTWISH banner that
rises on the other half of the stage sends a ripple of excitement
through the crowd. It’s very rare for a band to play Wacken two years
in a row, but Nightwish was at Wacken 2000 and I’m curious to see how
they follow their set. The crowd is much larger this year. If
they’re not headliners, they’re getting damn close. Progressive
metal and a lovely operatic wail signify the entrance of the
gently-conquering heroes. As night falls, Nightwish’s set is literally
stunning. Everything is absolutely perfect, and the glory of Tarja’s
voice coupled with well-crafted progressive metal in fact takes the wind
out of the sails of every other band at the festival except Lost
Horizon. Plenty of stuff from WISHMASTER, their newest opus, as well as
older albums - but the highlight of the set comes midway through.
“We’re going to play this song for the first time in Germany,”
says Tarja. I’m thinking, don’t tell me they’re going to attempt -
yes, “Sleeping Sun,” one of the most perfect metal ballads ever
written. The crowd is mesmerized - the same crowd that has clattered,
splattered and growled along to brutal bands like Carnal Forge,
Cryptopsy and Exhumed. When Nightwish plays, you stop and listen -
period. It’s as if the metal world is going to sleep when Wacken is
over, and Nightwish sings its lullaby. You had to be there! (Ice
Maiden’s Commentary: I was there, and I can’t glow about the
set as much as Muertos. Yes, Tarja’s voice is angelic, but I didn’t
think the set had the same power as last year.)
10:45
PM. Wacken is almost over. The last band whose complete set we’ll
witness - we just can’t make it any longer - is going on, and that
band is HAMMERFALL. It’s been four years since their very first
slagging as Helloween clones playing musty clubs in Gothenburg, and,
although the slagging hasn’t abated, at least HammerFall are now
headlining Wacken. They deserve to. Joacim’s vocals aren’t perfect,
Oskar’s guitar playing isn’t the best in the world, and, let’s
face it, they do take the “glory of metal” thing about as far
as you can take it without having the advantage of being Manowar (or
Lost Horizon!), but HammerFall still rule. Their set is pretty equally
divided among their three albums, but, like those albums, the best stuff
comes from the first two. The stage show is fairly corny and Joacim,
like poor Anders Friesen, is beginning to suffer from rock-star
syndrome. But how can you not love anthems like “Heeding the
Call,” which rounds out the encore? Now it’s dark, and chilly - your
body hurts, you’re exhausted and hungry, you want to go home - it’s
time for the end now - but you’re reminded that you’re still here
for metal, and it’s impossible, no matter how desperate your
situation, to not be carried away by it. (Ice Maiden’s Commentary:
Cheesy or no, there is an incredible power in thousands of people
singing and swaying along with Hammerfall. No, they aren’t my favorite
band, but it is awesome to look around and see happy faces, fists in the
air, and thousands of metalheads enjoying the moment together.)
HammerFall
So Wacken ends. We stumble back across ground covered in litter, past
swamps of human urine behind the overtaxed backstage toilet trailer,
into a pitch-black campground that’s a lethal obstacle course of
trash, tent poles, and cars with fogged-up windows. We’re too tired to
stay for the last few bands (hey, I’ve seen Motörhead twice), but are
we too tired to mourn the death of Wacken? Never! There’s always a
lingering sadness, no matter how badly you want to get home to your own
bed, your own CD case, your own soft freshly-laundered pile of metal
T-shirts. Even on the drive back to the hotel Wacken begins to take on a
mythic, epic quality in your mind, enhanced even more so when you talk
about it, particularly to those who weren’t there. Metalheads talk of
Wacken the way war veterans talk about battles and campaigns in which
they fought, and it’s no wonder why. It’s the ultimate bond among
our people - metalheads, I mean - and those who have shared it know what
a powerful experience it is.
(Ice Maiden’s Commentary: There are still some bands I
need to catch, and I don’t have to be on a plane at 5 am the next
morning like Muertos. Some of us stay to catch a few more acts. I watch DEATH
SS, the mildly bizarre Italian black metal band. The lead singer is
dressed like some sort of twisted shaman, but they actually have a
pretty solid set. Very energetic. It is hard to describe Death SS,
because it is such a combination of styles-gothy, black, heavy, but with
keyboard interludes that are reminiscent of some 80’s
“alternative” music.
DEATH SS
ARCH ENEMY, a band I was REALLY looking forward to, has
cancelled. I had hoped to see Angela live and watch those male-sounding
death growls come out of a woman, but she caught a cold and they were
forced to cancel. Just as well, I suppose, because they were scheduled
to play the Wet Stage. You have to understand-ANY stage that is enclosed
at Wacken is bad, bad. Many metalheads are camping-they have limited
access to showers, and often don’t bother seeking out the human
“body wash”-like a car wash but for people. People have been
drinking. People have been playing in mud that was created by the
overflow from the toilets seeping into the ground. You don’t want to
be in an enclosed space with these people. Believe me.
My final Wacken act is the incomparable MAGO DE OZ. Their
album “Finisterra” has not left my cd player since I first put it in
earlier this year. Their music is a combination of heavy metal, folk and
Celtic music, and incorporates violins and flutes. Unfortunately, they
are late setting up, one of the only late bands at Wacken, so they only
got in part of their set before the plug is pulled promptly at 3 am.
While they set up you could hear Sodom raging on the Double Mega Stage.
Incredible and tight! I debate whether to stroll over there but worried
about missing Mago de Oz, which, along with Primal Fear, Lost Horizon,
and Desaster, ends up being a real highlight for me.)
MAGO DE OZ
A wide, deep ocean stretches between me and home, and on Sunday, August
5th, I’m on a plane high above it - on to new adventures, friends old
and new, the next metal concert, the next review for Metal-Rules.com. I
have little time to ponder what I’ve been through. But there’s a
Wacken T-shirt on my back, a Wacken beer cup in my luggage, a package of
Wacken-bought CDs and T-shirts in the mail on its way back to me, and,
most importantly, Wacken memories rattling around in my head - along
with many Lost Horizon choruses!
In the spirit of the great bands who were there, I end the review
with something very corny, very cheesy and very melodramatic. Lost
Horizon, one of those bands whose major job, lyrically speaking, is to
extol the virtues of metal, has a fitting lyric: “Life baptized in
metal, by the secret of steel you are blessed.” Wacken is one of those
glorious things that makes you realize how true that is, and how lucky
are all of us - those who have been to Wacken and those who have not -
whose hearts have been touched by metal. (Ice Maiden’s Commentary:
Amen, my metal brother. Amen.)
Ice Maiden with the Stormlord guys