It is December, and that means another blog that’ll take me
24 days to write as I go through every band that is announced via the Wacken
advent calendar! Last year they announced some good stuff in this calendar but
there was an awful lot of shite as well. I hope this year is better, but I am
aware they also need to announce some more filler, so we shall see.
1st DECEMBER – SKID ROW
Skid Row were heavily promoted at the 2013 festival (well, one of their box sets was) so this isn’t really a huge shock. I’d say that Skid Row is a good first announcement. I missed their recent UK tour with Ugly Kid Joe, so if they don’t clash with anyone I’d rather see at Wacken, I will see them. The question I have is where will they play? In the UK they seemed to be playing rooms that hold about 600-1000 people in, but obviously this festival is in Germany. I’ve no idea how big they are there. My guess would be one of the bigger bands on the W.E.T/Headbangers stage or maybe on the Party Stage (like Ugly Kid Joe did last year).
2nd DECEMBER – BRING ME THE HORIZON
I don’t really like Bring Me The Horizon, so not overly
interested in this announcement. Oh well. You shouldn’t like every band on a
festival line up or else the clashes would be terrible! I could still watch them
though if there is nothing else on I want to see. Maybe seeing them live would
change my mind. Maybe not. Probably not.
3RD DECEMBER – EXCREMENTORY GRINDFUCKERS
I do my level best not to judge a book by its cover, but in
this instance I did. I genuinely expected to hate them. I was wrong though,
they aren’t terrible. I’m not saying I’m a fan or owt, but they aren’t the
worst thing I’ve ever listened to. What is the worst thing I’ve listened to? I
think Job For A Cowboy have to be up there. Watch them get announced now!
Anyway, I doubt I’ll make an effort to see this band, sorry! Also, they seem to
have done a reworking of The Final Countdown called The Final Grinddown. That
is terrible. Now, if Europe were to be announced, they could collaborate live
and do...actually no. Please don’t. If that happens now...urgh
4TH DECEMBER – CREMATORY
This band were announced for the 2013 edition of Wacken but
pulled out. I’ve written about them before, and I said the following: “I guess the best way to describe this band
(other than a touch boring) is a goth band. There seems to be some black metal
up in there but I’m not sure. I know I’m not a fan of it, regardless.” Well,
that solves that one then. 1 out of 4 then so far...sort of.
5TH DECEMBER – HAMMERFALL
When I first saw this announcement, I was ok with it. They
played in 2012 and they were pretty decent so I’m ok with that. I guess you
could shout “repeat booking” but Wacken tend to do that a lot anyway. This
announcement however appears to be for a one off show where Hammerfall will
play their debut album as well as some other material. That makes things
slightly different and makes me overall more positive to the announcement. I
will likely watch if there is nothing else on.
6th DECEMBER – STEEL PANTHER & BULENT CEYLAN
Sneaky little double announcement there from Wacken. Bulent
Ceylan is a German comedian. Given that he speaks German and I don’t, I suspect
his act will be lost on me. I guess the booking of Steel Panther isn’t the
worst thing in the world given that I’ve already booked my ticket. If there is
no-one better on at the same time, I will watch them. Only seen them live once
and that was just one song, Death To All But Metal and Corey Taylor joined them
on vocals. It would be cool if that happened again. I suspect it won’t though.
7TH DECEMBER – VOGELFREY, BLECHBLOS’N, PAMPATUT & RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS
A 4 band announcement and none of it is for me. Bah! The
first 3 bands played last year and I think two of them are folk bands so
they’ll be confined to the Wackinger stage; maybe the Beergarden stage. This
announcement is essentially a waste of time. They could just do a news story
one day with all the Wackinger bands in and save everyone a lot of time.
8TH DECEMBER – THE VINTAGE CARAVAN & FLESHGOD
APOCALYPSE
I had hoped after the somewhat lacklustre announcement the
day before that Wacken might fire back with a big name or two. That didn’t
happen but they did announce two very different bands. Starting with Fleshgod
Apocalypse, that sure is some death metal right there. I’ve said before how I’m
not massively fond of death metal but i do like some of the stuff I’ve heard.
Well, I’ve not heard much of this band but I do think they’re alright. I am
really interested in The Vintage Caravan though. Only listened to two songs as
that is all that is on Spotify, but what I have heard I have liked. So no big
names but two bands that if there is nothing I’d rather see on then I will
watch.
9TH DECEMBER – SAXON
Given the 2014 edition of Wacken is the 25th
anniversary of the festival, it shouldn’t have been a shock that a Wacken
favourite would be announced. I am surprised though that Saxon were announced
as they played a pretty major slot in 2012. They were one of my favourite bands
from 2012 though so I’m certainly not complaining. I will likely watch them
again although since seeing them at Wacken, I have also seen them at one of
their own headline shows so if there is someone else on I’d rather see then
I’ll likely give Saxon a miss. Obviously, I won’t know that until the stage
times are released but right now, I’m happy with the booking. I do wonder if
they are rebooking the 2012 Night To Remember for the 2014 festival. I’ve no
problem with Volbeat playing again!
10TH DECEMBER – AUGUST BURNS RED
I’d seen this bands name on other festival line ups before
and I guess I had convinced myself that I’d previously listened and didn’t like
them. Well, for the benefits of this blog I’m listening to every band that gets
announced. I quite like what I’ve heard of August Burns Red. I suspect they’ll
be a WET stage band, and as such they might get missed if they are clashing
with someone else I’d like to see on the main stages. However, if they aren’t,
I’ll give them a watch.
11TH DECEMBER – CRIMES OF PASSION AND GODSIZED
There won’t be much to write in this entry as both bands are
completely new to me. I’ve listened to some of Crimes of Passion and it is
alright. I would say of the two bands in this announcement, I prefer Godsized.
Only listened to two of their songs but I really like what I am hearing. One
thing this announcement has got me thinking though is that I wish Wacken would
do away with the advent calendar and say “Xmas eve, huge band announcement!”
and announce the lot in one go. They could even do the competitions if they
like and draw people’s names out of a hat to win the various prizes on offer. I
suspect what with 13 more days and 13 more announcements, this won’t be the
last time I feel this way.
12TH DECEMBER – NAILED TO OBSCURITY
Much like most bands from this series of announcements, I
haven’t listened to much. However, what I have heard is alright. Chances are
though I won’t be seeing them. That’s just the facts!
13TH DECEMBER – CHTHONIC
That is some good noise right there. Good call Wacken, good
call. I will hope to watch this band. Pretty certain they played before in 2012
but I missed them. I would like to rectify that for 2014.
14TH DECEMBER – SALTATIO MORTIS & BEMBERS
2014 will be my 5th Wacken, and Saltatio Mortis
will have been at 3 of them. Wacken sure do love booking some of their
favourite bands a lot. Just wish they liked AC/DC that much. Ho hum... Anyway,
Saltatio Mortis are about as entertaining as stubbing your toe. I mean, you
find it funny for like a second, then realise it’s your toe you stubbed and
then you get annoyed. I’m not sure I should write these posts after a couple of
beers, but yeah! I get the feeling Bembers are a comedy band. This is purely
due to them being called Bembers and the Masserfaggers on Spotify. Anyway, as I
have expressed previously, comedy bands at a foreign festival are generally
lost on me. They say a punch line in German and everyone around me laughs and
I’m thinking “I hope that wasn’t aimed at me. Even if it was, I’ll never know”.
Maybe that says more about me than you wanted to know. Don’t judge me!
15TH DECEMBER – DEGRADEAD
I would say this band sound a lot like a combination of In
Flames and Bullet For My Valentine, which is not a bad thing. I didn’t listen
to much of their stuff but what I heard was alright.
16TH DECEMBER – LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE,
NACHTGESCHREI, FIRKIN, OMNIA, DUNKELSCHON
Lacrimas Profundere seem to be alright from what little I’ve
heard of them. I suspect they will be appearing in the Bullhead City tent
rather than on one of the open air stages over the course of the weekend which
means watching them is unlikely, but who knows. Nachtgeschrei sound like they
will play on the Wackinger stage, ideally at a time where I am over the other
side of the arena. I really don’t understand the logic of booking pagan/folk
music for a metal festival. I will say pagan/folk metal is excluded from that
thought because it is at least metal. Firkin are much the same but they do have
some cover versions on Spotify which are interesting. Whether or not they play
them live is a different matter. Omnia have covered Tenacious D’s Fuck Her
Gently but aside from that appear to be another folk band on the line up. That
said, it would make as much sense to book another artist who uses the name
Omnia on Spotify (dance/trance music – I won’t claim to know exactly what it
counts as. Although whatever it is does seem to be fairly decent in a sort of
“I’d dance to this after 6 VKs” kinda way). Dunkelschon aren’t on Spotify but a
quick Google of their name tells me they are a Celtic Medieval Folk Rock kinda
band. I can’t say that description has inspired me to open Youtube so I
actually have no idea what they sound like. They could be the best band ever,
and I’d never know. Well, let’s be honest with each other, just you and me.
They aren’t the best band ever. I probably wouldn’t include them in a top 5,000
bands of all time list. That is saying something given that I can’t think of 5,000
bands.
With 9 announcements left, I am thinking for my personal
tastes, the December announcements last year were far better than what we have
been offered so far. Saxon has so far been the best announcement and that is
really saying something when it is a band that seems to play this festival more
than others. I have fading hopes that any of the announcements before the Xmas
eve one will be any good – but I’m happy to be proven wrong. On the Facebook
post to go with this announcement they added “and yes: We will announce some
big bands soon”. At least they’re aware these announcements have been a bit shite.
17TH DECEMBER – ICS VORTEX
All I can find out about ICS Vortex is that he used to be
the bass player in Dimmu Borgir as well as several other bands and playing
Wacken is his solo project. The album they have on Spotify seems to be fairly
decent. So much so in fact that I wouldn’t mind seeing this band play. I
suspect they’ll be on in the Bullhead City tent, but still, it would be good to
see them.
18TH DECEMBER – NIGHTMARE & SANTIANO
Nightmare appear to have two different eras according to the
quick bit of research I’ve just done. They were a heavy metal band until they
split up, and after their 1999 reunion became a power metal band. They seem to
be fairly decent at the power metal side of things. The earlier stuff seemed to
be influenced heavily by NWOBHM and is also quite good. The band is on the main
stage at Hellfest this year, so I wonder if they’ll have an open air slot at
Wacken. Santiano are fast becoming another Wacken “house band”. They played in
2012 and 2013 so when they play 2014, that’ll make 3 years in a row. I walked
past them playing the Wackinger stage this year and thought they sounded
alright, They are yet another folk band though who will take up a few slots at
the festival no doubt. A waste of a booking if you ask me given this will be
the 3rd year in a row for them. Give some other folk band the chance
to play the biggest metal festival in the world....wait.
19TH DECEMBER – FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
Five Finger Death Punch are an alright announcement I guess.
They are one of those bands who when I hear them on Rock Radio, I don’t
immediately change over. That said, if I was listening to something else and
someone said “hey, FFDP are on the other station”, I wouldn’t change over to
listen to them. They have some good songs, they also have songs that do nothing
for me. They seem to have praise thrown at them and I wouldn’t be shocked if in
4-5 years time, they are headlining arenas and festivals, but they don’t do a
lot for me overall. I’ve not seen them live so if there is no clash at Wacken
I’ll probably give them a go. I am encouraged by this announcement though as
this is the biggest band to be announced since Saxon. Maybe the announcements
will all be bigger bands now? We’ll see!
20TH DECEMBER – HELLYEAH & WASP
I saw Hellyeah at Download 2007 and once I’d gotten over the
fact that I was seeing another original member of Pantera playing live (having
seen Down the year before), they were alright but a tad boring. Listening again
and they have some good material. They could be worth seeing, maybe. WASP are a
classic rock band and I hope to be able to see them as I haven’t yet. They have
some great material. I remember when they headlined Bloodstock not that long
ago, heh. Playing? No problem. Headlining? Alright then...
21ST DECEMBER – HATEBREED & DER W
Der W seem to be alright. I don’t have an awful lot to say
about them other than that. Hatebreed are pretty decent live. If there is
nothing else on, I’ll give them a watch.
22ND DECEMBER – MOTORHEAD
I wondered if this announcement would happen after what
happened at Wacken 2013. For those not in the know, Motorhead cancelled all
their summer dates but one due to Lemmy being in poor health. Nothing was said
until the last minute by Wacken when they confirmed Motorhead would be playing.
During the set, Lemmy had to leave the stage, leaving Phil Campbell to
improvise. After one more song, Lemmy left again and didn’t return. He was too
ill to continue. This meant there was a lot of time to wait for the next band,
subjecting everyone in the arena to Corvus Corax. Motorhead then cancelled
their winter European tour and rescheduled for 2014. Motorhead are a quality
band and their latest album Aftershock is pretty damn good. I’ll give them a
watch I’m sure. I can only imagine they’ll have a 75min slot like they were due
to have this year. With any luck, they will put someone decent on against them
in case it doesn’t work out again. Putting Corvus Corax on against them was a
further kick in the teeth to the fans when Motorhead finished early. In fact, I
think this would be easily resolved by not booking Corvus Corax. That one is a
better idea.
23RD DECEMBER – CARCASS
NOW THAT IS MORE LIKE IT! And...breathe! Carcass are fucking
ace – by far the best announcement of this advent calendar. Dead happy they are
playing Wacken and they will be a must see. Just don’t clash them with A Pale
Horse Named Death....please! I saw Carcass earlier this year in a small club in
London and they were just superb live. They then went and released one of the
metal albums of the year – Surgical Steel. It will be good to see some stuff
off of that album. All ready for Black Sabbath tomorrow then (no insider
knowledge while writing this, just rumours).
24TH DECEMBER – MEGADETH
First things first, I don’t mind me some Megadeth. Not seen
them live since 2011 so yeah...I’m alright with that announcement. I really
thought the way things were going with this series of announcements that they
might announce the Night To Remember band today. This leads me to think one of
3 things. 1) The announcement is coming soon. 2) The announcement has already
happened but the band who will be the Night To Remember headliner haven’t been
publicised as such. 3) It’s Megadeth. Now, if 3 is right, that would be an
underwhelming festival headliner. They have never played Wacken before if my
knowledge of previous Wacken festivals is correct, but I’m not 100% on that.
Could it be that a reasonable sized name plays for the first time and gets
Night To Remember? I guess. I heard rumours about Black Sabbath (no insider
knowledge, just rumours) and I guess they could still be announced. Hell, the
festival is sold out; they don’t have to announce it until a week before. That
would be a dick move though. In fact, Wacken people, if you are reading this –
don’t get any fucking ideas!
Well, that is the advent calendar done for another year. I
am of the opinion that they should do away with it and just make December
announcements and do a Christmas competition at the end if they really want to
give prizes away. Living in the UK, we were able to see the announcements at
11pm our time and it was almost a disappointing end to a day if the band was
shit or it wasn’t anything good. I am aware that my opinion here is somewhat
irrelevant as Wacken 2014 will be my last Wacken for at least a year. The Rugby
World Cup is on in 2015 with tickets on sale in 2014 so that is my financial
priority ahead of any festival. In terms of the quality of the announcements,
there were some good names announced as ever, the best by a country mile being
Carcass. I didn’t listen to a great deal of the bands I didn’t know unless they
really caught my attention but I give everything a re-listen if needs be when
the stage orders/times are announced so I can make plans for what I plan to see
over the weekend.
Still, the line up is a bit nearer completion now. 64 acts
have been announced. When you consider that there are between 20-30 acts to be
added from the Metal Battle competition - that would put the figure around the
90-95 mark. You can probably increase that figure to around about 100 when they
announce all the regular acts that play most/all years (Mambo Kurt, Masters of
Comedy, and Skyline etc). Wacken 2013 had 134 acts on its line up (not
including Karaoke All Stars). With that in mind, I’d say there are still at
least 30 acts to be announced for the festival including the Night To Remember
headliner, assuming of course that it hasn’t already been announced. It will be
interesting for sure to see what happens when the next announcement is made.
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