Arriving to Wacken directly from Argentina is not an easy task, specially when you have done some train hours from Freiburg to Hamburg and then you have to ckeck in a hotel near the train station and depart immediately to catch the first train to get to Itzehoe and then get the Metal Bus from tre station to Wacken (this bus was going to be a pain in the ass for returning, because of the bnot availability of the service and also because this guys were not really in time). Any way, we had just got married so we decided to pass three great days in the greatest of ll metal festivals. Here are some chroniques of this three amazing days that we hope to repeat really soon:

August 5th

We arrived directly from Hamburg right in time to see a part of the MOTÖRHEAD set, they played some classics and also some new tunes from their newest records like "We are Motorhead". Lemmy was more communicative than I have seen in many times when they played here in Buenos Aires.

The first thing that surprise when you arrive to Wacken is to see such a small town full of people wearing black T-shirts. Then you arrive to the exact point of the concert and you are struck by the camping place full of tents and all the infrastructure that this festival has. Then, in the exact point of the concerts you are overwhelmed by two huge stages (The True Metal one and The Black one) and a smaller one (called The Party Stage).

Then comes the BÖHSE ONKELZ which, even if in this southernmost shitty part of the world are almost unknown, they are a classic in Germany. They played their mixture of hard rock and metal before a big audience that knew all of their lyrics. I liked their music but this was not going to be my favorite band of the festival.

August 6th

This was the first day with full metal from the early morning to 3 a.m of the next day. This is a hell fo experience because you think that you will not have enough strength to see most of the bands and then you take the 1 liter beer that they are selling and then forces copme back to you and you can see most of the shows (you arrive a little bit drunk at night but...this is metal !)

First band that we caught was MNEMIC in the smaller stage and they show was powerful, maybe lacking a little bit of good sound but always effective with their violent riffs and screaming vocals. Anyway, ORPHANAGE was starting their set so we run to the Black Stage in order to reach the show of one of my favorite bands. Their show was an absolute kick in the ass and it left you wanting more from this great band.

Then we went directly to see PARAGON. It was funny then running to catch a little bit of METHEDRAS show in the Metal Band stage that was sounding almost at the same time and I just wanted to see part of both bands and running a  little bit I could appreciate part of the show of this bestial italian thrash band

WEINHOLD: Jutta Weinhold is a classic in the german metal scene and I wanted to appreciate her new project called imply Weinhold. Seh showed a lot of strength in her performance

ARCH ENEMY: This was one of the highest points for my taste of that day, with the pure energy and aggression that this band unleashes. If you have listen their records then you have to add some more aggression and you will have an idea of how this band sounds live. Angela has a killer voice and she screams with violence all the lyrics.

BRAINSTORM: THis was a pure metal show that I enjoyed, starting with plenty of green smoke before getting directly into "Shiva´s Tears" and showing this band as a powerful pure heavy/power metal outfit

MAYHEM: We just wanted to see this black metal primigenial band whose set was widely announced. This guys unleashed their primitive black metal over the audience. Maniac was sort of in a "special mood", not being very communicative. The band had a really raw sound

GRAVE DIGGER: one of my afavorite bands of the true metal stage with a long set full of classics Son of Evil, The Grave Digger, Excalibur,  Knights of the cross, Scotland United, Rebellion, Heavy Metal Breakdown (their absolute classics), Morgana Le Fay.

KOTIPELTO: One thing that got my attention from this set is that Timo did not rely on Stratovarius songs, concentrating on songs from his two solo albums (and a cover ofg Queensryche´s "I don´t believe in love"). That seemed to me very honest of him and a good thing for his touring band

DIO: The great old man with the iron lungs had for this opportunity a set list consisting of only pure classics from Rainbow / Black Sabbath/Dio, making this show a really enjoyable experience. The band is solid but Craig Goldie improvises somewhat too much over the original guitar solos.

DESTRUCTION: The band of THRASH metal with capital letters. Yes, one of the most classic thrash metal bands of Germany, along with Kreator and Sodom, unleashed a set of bestial classics

DORO & WARLOCK: One of the surprises here was to see Doro with an orchestra and later to see the reunion of the 1986 Warlock line-up. She delivered all her classics, from "All We Are" to "Burning the Witches" and the killer "I rule the ruins". There were guests such as Blaze Bayley singing "Fear of the dark" or "The trooper" along with Doro,  or Chris Caffery who played also a good solo on "Für Immer" as a guest musician. An historic show that maybe leaves a door open for a new Warlock album someday in the future.

AMON AMARTH: A bestial ending for the first night, this is one of my favorite bands in the festival. Full of brutal tunes then band unleashed tracks from all their albums with emphasis on their newest one.

August 7th

BAL-SAGOTH: Started our day this symphonic black metal band full of incredible dark atmosphere. It was a great and strange experience to see this guys playing in the pure light of almost noon. This was for my taste one of the best shows in the festival, with the band playing tracks like Atlantis Accendant, Starfire Burning Upon The Iced Veiled Throne Of Ultima Thule, The Empyrial Lexicon.

DEATH ANGEL: I just wanbted to see this band that was coming back and we could see that they still rule. They delivered tracks from their classic albums and a couple of their comeback album "The Art of Dying" demonstrating how they still can thrash.

UNLEASHED: The vikings from hell devastated Wacken with their pure viking metal show full of intense riffs and growling vocals. "To Asgard we fly" and many others shocked the festival with pure intensity.

ANTHRAX: Well, another of the classical bands pleying in Wacken. With new line-up after the departure of Frank Bello the guys showed they are a powerful band that can unleash classical tracks and mix them with newer ones always satisfying the metal craving audience. John Bush was at top form with his powerful voice unleashing Anthrax vocal lines. "Indians", "ONly", "Got the Time" where just some of the tunes played in that afternoon.

CANNIBAL CORPSE / AFTER FOREVER: The most difficult election here....should I see Cannibal Corpse or should I see the amazing After Forever ? I decided to see both of them running form one stage to the other and watching parts of each show. Cannibal Corpse could not include early material on their set because of some banning by authorities but they devastated with newer tracks. At the same time After Forever was unleashing a really good set with a mixture of tracks from the new album (that were awesome) and classic tracks from their previous album. Floor was at top form despite the heat and the band sounded solid as a rock, specially the guitars and keyboards.

NEVERMORE: One of the most crushing bands in the whole festival. They delivered the crushing rhythms that are the essence of the band´s music, along with the harsh vocals that are the other trademark of Nevermore´s sound. The set was devastating starting with "The Seven Tongues of God". the soudn was not that good, specially in the ebginning but after a couple of tracks things got much better.

RECKLESS TIDE: THis was the winner of the Metal Bands Battle. I saw part of their set in the smaller stage between seeing Nevermore and Hypocrisy and they simpley blew me away with their two singers and with their thrash metal with modern sound. A band to keep an eye on.

HYPOCRISY: Another of the highlights of the festival. The sun still shinning in the afternoon when Peter Tägtgren and company kicked off with a powerful set that devastated an audience that had been overwhelmed by Cannibal Corpse hot show

HELLOWEEN: Pure power metal unleashed by this band that made a good mixture between classics like "Dr. Stein" or "Eagle Fly Free" with newer tracks from thir "Rabbit don´t come easy" album. A surprise was the inclusion of the "Keeper of the 7 keys" track played in all its integrity. Kai Hansen was the guest artist invited to join the band in a couple of tracks as "How many tears" and "Future World". A band that continues doing good shows.

CHILDREN OF BODOM: The storm comes down from Finland and this guys unleashed many of their amazing tracks with mephasis on "Hatecrew Deathroll" album. The singer Alexi is extremely charismatic and he manages really well the show.

SAXON: THis was the biggest surprise of the festival because they did a really good show befoire an exhausted audience delivering their classics as well as soings like "Dogs of War". This was a set to enjoy, because each song wa a hit single and Biff was in total shape that night delivering his best.

SATYRICON AND NOCTURNO CULTO: Satyr and Nocturno Culto together !! Pure black metal guaranteed. Their set consisted most in Satyricon tracks and some Darkthrone ones but every track was full of the darker than hell feeling that this guys have in their souls. I was delighted to see this band that night as closure to my stayiong in the Wacken festival.

An amazing festival with bands of all styles and the biggest infraestructure for a Metal Show always seen. I hope to return soon to see much more of this european spirit of metal. With no doubt Germany rules for metal festivals.