Wacken Open Air 2024: Great adventures in the Holy Promised Land, Part 2

What is most striking about a festival like Wacken, something that has already spread to other festivals around the world, by the way, is the number of diverse artists and bands that come together in a mandatory event for all those bands that at some point have wanted to get somewhere or that, simply, have been consecrated for years and return victorious to what was once their home where they are welcomed with open arms. That is probably the case of Blind Guardian who have participated in eight of the thirty-three editions of the festival since their first appearance in 1992, the third edition of the then young festival.

Blind Guardian reached the top a whopping thirty years ago with the release of their seminal album Imaginations From The Other Side (1995, Virgin Records) after an already successful and almost perfect album like Somewhere Far Beyond (1992, Virgin Records) closing the circle with what is probably their best-known album, Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998, Virgin Records). Blind Guardian obviously stepped onto the Wacken stage in 1998 to present Nightfall… and you can get an idea of ​​the band’s health at that time by taking a look at the videos that you can find on the internet. Not in vain Blind Guardian is one of the power metal bands that has best managed to stay afloat over the years thanks to having spaced out their albums and always ensuring a minimum of quality in their releases.

Eight years after their last performance at Wacken if we do not take into account the streaming edition made in 2020, the bards returned home with a new album under their arm as The God Machine (2022, Nuclear Blast) which has also been the object of applause in many media and has enjoyed a very good reception by the press and the public. Having seen them a month before Wacken, there were no surprises in the setlist, although I would highlight above all that they have rescued my favourite song from my favourite album, Lost In The Twilight Hall, a total and resounding success that I will remember for the rest of my days.

Blind Guardian‘s performance was, as expected, superb. A clean live performance, calculated to the millimetre and, above all, full of emotions. Hansi maintains an impeccable vocal register and is always communicative with the public, while the duo Marcus and André always strive to always offer their best show, as if this were the last concert they were going to give in their lives. The same goes for Frederik behind the bass drum, the drummer is a real machine that completely shines in songs like Majesty or the more recent Violent Shadows, although where he completely shines is during the intense and dark Bright Eyes.

What happened with Suzi Quatro? I’ve read good reviews about her performance on other websites precisely because I wanted to compare opinions, since it was one of those bands that I really wanted to see because they take me back to my youth before my teenage years. However, I think I didn’t quite connect with her and it’s probably because I was expecting the 74-year-old woman to sing like she used to and that was a serious mistake. The setlist was just what I expected from the important Detroit artist, she probably didn’t leave out more than a couple of songs that I would have liked to hear like Mama’s Boy or I’ve Never Been In Love, but on the other hand I was able to fulfill some of my dreams like enjoying Tear Me Apart, 48 Crash, Can The Can or The Wild One live.

An absolute ten for the musicians accompanying the eternal Detroit rocker who, in addition to reviewing Suzi Q‘s classics, delighted us with a couple of interesting covers such as Bad Moon Rising by the eternal Creedence Clearwater Revival or Sweet Little Rock & Roller by Chuck Berry as well as Rockin’ In The Free World by Neil Young. It must be said that as the days have passed I have retracted my initial opinion on this live show since Suzi‘s energy and majesty on stage is something that many should take note of, however I got carried away by my need to hear that angelic voice of the American artist when she was barely thirty. I wish I could go back and see this show again with the eyes of someone who has understood that what was will probably never be again but that we should not discredit what we have now. Great Suzi, eternal artist among the great artists of the last century.

In contrast to Suzi Quatro we had other bands on the bill like Watain who I was really looking forward to seeing as well. Those whom I call the faithful disciples of Dissection, one of my favourite extreme metal bands, have even had an ex-member of Dissection like Set Teitan (Aborym, Spiritual Ceremony, Vomitain) in their ranks until he was expelled for committing acts that I absolutely do not tolerate, advocating Nazism, although that is another story.

The long-running Swedish black metal band led by vocalist and emcee Erik Danielsson (No Future), drummer Håkan Jonsson (ex-Die Hard) and guitarist Pelle Forsberg (ex-Unpure) have put together a good team with live members Alvaro Lillo on bass and guitarist Hampus Eriksson as well as drummer Emil Svensson who accompanies the band during their live shows. For the occasion, they prepared the complete set based on their fourth studio album Lawless Darkness (2010, Season Of Mist), performing in its entirety what is possibly their album most valued by their fans and the press in general.

Watain’s show was a spectacle without equal, a forceful display of resources from the moment the first chords of Death’s Cold Dark began to sound until the showman Erik Danielsson left the stage after the last bars of Waters Of Ain, but not before offering a sinister and luciferian performance accompanied by a huge amount of blood, smoke and fire, a lot of fire. Good old Danielsson got into the swing of the guitar in Lawless Darkness, a moment that has remained engraved in my memory and that I will never forget. It’s a shame that the exclusivity of the show left out songs like Black Flames March or The Howling because the duo formed by Pelle Forsberg and Hampus Eriksson on guitars encouraged them to continue playing for a couple more hours, going through Watain‘s back catalogue until the first rays of sun appeared over the mountains.

Besides Watain we had other black metal masters and true pioneers in the Norwegian scene like Mayhem, who call themselves The True Mayhem, who had announced a special show commemorating the band’s 40th anniversary. Like Watain, the members of Mayhem took over the Louder stage to review their interesting, though not so extensive, recording career, performing songs from each of their six studio albums released to date. The only original member of the band from their formation is Necrobutcher, obviously, he is probably one of the musicians in the black metal scene whom I admire the most for his determination and for having always followed his own rules without paying attention to what others say out there. Whenever I think of him I remember the interview that good old Sam Dunn did with him at Wacken in 2004 as well as the answer to this same interview with Dunn again in 2013 for the documentary Metal Evolution.

Attila has never been my favourite vocalist of Mayhem‘s, I’ve admitted that on several occasions, I lean more towards Maniac‘s vocal power on albums like Grand Declaration Of War (2000, Season Of Mist) or Chimera (2004, Season Of Mist), plus perhaps his most memorable appearance as vocalist on the seminal Deathcrush (1987, Posercorpse Music). I have to say though that Attila Csihar‘s voice has improved a lot over time and I really enjoyed his performance at Wacken when he took the lead on songs like Chimera or Psywar.

Obviously I have nothing against Hellhammer‘s superb performance behind the bass drum. His style has always been out of this world and few drummers can compare to Hellhammer although there are certain exceptions. The only problem I had with this live show was due to the order of the setlist where they obviously left the best for last, such as Deathcrush, Necrolust and Pure Fucking Armageddon, with Messiah and Manheim included. The order of the songs was precisely from their most recent work Daemon (2019, Century Media Records) in reverse order until reaching their iconic debut Deathcrush, with the last part of the show being the final flourish and the spectacle that everyone wanted to see. Naturally, there was no shortage of Freezing Moon, Funeral Fog or De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, songs that are part of Mayhem‘s glorious debut (1994, Deathlike Silence Productions).

Although the dose of black metal at Wacken was more than enough, there was one of those bands that raised the level of a festival that will see me again in the coming years even further: Vreid. The melodic black metal project born in 2004 from the ashes of Windir made its appearance on the Wackinger stage during the last bars of the Blind Guardian concert to bring us the sound of cold Norway thanks to the four musicians who give life to this long-lived project that to date has nine studio albums behind it.

The band is made up of vocalist and guitarist Sture Dingsøyr, guitarist Strom, bassist Hváll and drummer Steingrim, all of them members of Windir during 2001 and 2004, when the prolific musician Terje “Valfar” Bakken died tragically. From that moment on, honouring the memory of the sadly departed Valfar, the members of Windir decided to put together a new project which they named Vreid. In 2024, it will be 20 years since the formation of Vreid as well as the tragic death of Valfar, in addition to 30 years since the members of Vreid have played together since the birth of Ulcus in 1994, so the show that Vreid brought was presented as 30 Years Of Sognametal.

The setlist was composed entirely of songs from five of the nine studio albums published by Vreid in these two decades of life as well as their most recent and corrosive single Flammen accompanied by two Windir covers such as Saknet from the titanic Arntor (1999, Head Not Found) and Journey To The End from the totemic 1184 (2001, Head Not Found). The Norwegian quartet was joined on vocals by Vegard Bakken, Valfar‘s brother who had already performed as a vocalist on the live show Valfar, Ein Windir in 2004. Exciting is one of the words that could very well define this very special show by Vreid, a unique experience that cannot be described with words. Seeing Sture Dingsøyr and Strom performing Journey To The End is one of the few moments that have made the hairs on my entire body stand up during a concert in my life, and I have seen many bands to date. I am grateful to have been able to witness a unique experience like this.

What can I say about KK’s Priest? Tim Ripper Owens is easily one of my favorite vocalists who is now allied again with K. K. Downing, ex-guitarist of one of my favorite bands like Judas Priest, there is nothing that can go wrong in this equation. The first time I saw them live a little over a year ago I was completely speechless, I was able to enjoy one of my favorite songs like Burn In Hell live when I already thought that that would only remain in the memory of a few and it is another one of those moments that I will never forget.

KK’s Priest was formed in 2019 when Downing decided to return to the genre that saw him grow and mature for more than four decades by putting together a project with his ex-partner Tim Ripper Owens who were joined by guitarist A.J. Mills (Hostile), bassist Tony Newton (ex-Deeds, Voodoo Six) and drummer Sean Elg (Cage, Miwa, Nihilist) with whom he has recorded two very notable albums such as Sermons Of The Sinner (2021, EX1 Records) and The Sinner Rides Again (2023, Napalm Records).

Obviously, a large part of the setlist was dominated by Judas Priest songs such as Breaking The Law, The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) or the aforementioned Burn In Hell, although I must say that having seen them just over a month before Wacken, I prefer their performance at this festival for having recovered Sinner and for their intense interpretation of Joan Baez‘s famous anthem Diamonds & Rust. What KK’s Priest brings live is a dose of pure old-school heavy metal that will delight Priest fans and new followers of the band thanks to such powerful songs as Hellfire Thunderbolt, Strike Of The Viper, Sermons Of The Sinner or Reap The Whirlwind.

Wacken 2025: First bands announced

The next edition of the German festival will take place again in the city of Wacken on July 30 and August 2, 2025. The bands confirmed so far are the following: