Pic LEATHERWOLF by: R. van Poorten (Metal Maidens)
INTRODUCTION
Before I'll start this exclusive MM report, I'd like to thank the organization of the festival (Sheree Hesse, Holger Huebner, Thomas Jensen, Mirko Marten (CMM) and everybody who was involved here) for making it possible to write these lines. You people are definitely the best!!
This year there were around eighty bands at four different stages. Because we weren't able to watch every band (and some even played at the same time!!), we had to make a few (and sometimes difficult) choices. Possibly, our choices are not really satisfying to everybody and we do apologize for this. However, we can assure you, that we (the crew of Metal Maidens: Toine, Rita and Liselotte) did our very best to cover the (most) interesting bands. There was also some BAD news: Unfortunately, WITCHERY (due to illness of the drummer) and TWISTED SISTER (replaced by D.A.D.)cancelled their shows at Wacken.
Friday, August 6th, 1999.
When we arrived at the festival area in the afternoon, we noticed that DRECKSAU and WHIPLASH had also cancelled their shows, so we had to change our schedule a little bit. Because of the fact, that the History stage could not be reached easily, we haven't been able to watch the shows of GRAVEWORM (they've just released a new album called "The Angels Reach The Beauty") and PARIAH, who were on our list. PARAGON opened the festival at 13.00 hours exactly on the W.E.T. (= Wacken Evolution Tent) stage. They proved to be a mighty opener with the perfect attitude. They stand for everything this festival is all about: pounding drum beats, speedy guitar riffs, a thundering bass and high screaming vocals. They played a set that consisted of songs from their two previous albums "The Final Command" and "Chalice Of Steel". The festival started off really well with this band. Also, the sun was shining brightly, so who could possibly ask for more? POWERGOD was the next opener on the Party stage. Their first CD "Evilution Part 1" was good enough to give them a place on one of the stages at Wacken. And they certainly deserved this right by playing a powerful forty-five minutes set. In fact, all the sets were about this size, which is really the perfect length. Nobody gets bored and the bands have time enough to show the audience what they're capable of. During the POWERGOD set, I had to rush to the True Metal stage to see EDGUY. Their new CD "Theatre Of Salvation" might sound a bit too much like GAMMA RAY or HELLOWEEN, but they are a great spontaneous band on stage. Most of the songs were taken from the new CD and they sounded far more powerful than on CD. Through some changes in the running order, it was now time to see the Swedish kings of thrash: BEWITCHED. And they really sounded very tight! A good combination of old and new songs came by during this set. I'm really looking forward to their new album "At The Gates Of Hell", which will be out very soon.
The day continued with a great performance by the (recently) reformed LEATHERWOLF. The guys in the band looked a bit older, but they played a great set. Three guitarists in the front row is something you'll see very seldom. Only a band like LYNYRD SKYNYRD does this for a long time now. Besides them, LEATHERWOLF is one of the very few other bands I can think of, who does this. They were here to present their new live CD "Wide Open". They hadn't been in Germany since their tour with ZED YAGO in 1989. We only had a short time to see BRAINSTORM, who play solid power metal. Their two CDs "Unholy" and "Hungry" got a fifty-fifty treatment, and the German fans loved it. During the set of BRAINSTORM, we rushed back to the True Metal stage to welcome back Don DOKKEN.
He had replaced George Lynch by Reb Beach (former WINGER guitarist). And his new CD "Erase The Slate" is a true killer! Bass player Jeff Pilson is still a real animal on stage. At first I got the distinct impression Mr. Dokken wasn't really willing to show the audience, he was glad to be back. He came on stage smoking a cigarette and acted very uninterested, but soon he showed that he was ready for a great comeback. New songs were easily mixed with oldies like "Break The Chains". Reb Beach proved to be a very successful replacement for George Lynch. The new LYNCH MOB CD "Smoke This" is a real failure (Don't check it out, 'cos it has got nothing to do with rock or metal!!), but DOKKEN however kicked some serious ass at Wacken. What a way to celebrate your return! Then it was time to welcome the first Metal Maiden on stage. CREMATORY played on the
Black stage with Katrin on keyboards. Their new CD "Act 7" is a continuation to the gothic sound they already had. But live they also threw in some heavy riffs. Katrin doesn't get too much space on stage, but she still is an unbearable part of the band of course. Although they sound much more gothic than metal on their recent work, they convinced me of being a tight playing band. But who would expect anything else after seven years of experience? Somewhere else on the festival site, we witnessed ROLAND GRAPOW, who showed that YNGWIE J MALMSTEEN must have been a big inspiration for him. He played a mix of songs from his two solo albums "Kaleidoscope" and "The Four Seasons Of Life". Of course he couldn't leave without playing the HELLOWEEN classic "Dr Stein". It was also a big surprise to see Mike Terrana on the drums. We heard that he left METALLIUM, because he was tired of touring. Now we saw him on stage with ROLAND and later on, we'll see him back in the band of AXEL RUDI PELL. GRAPOWs guitar work was definately influenced by the earlier work of MALMSTEEN and so was his stage presentation. Nonetheless, it was a great band to see live. Then it was time for a quick bite and from there on, we went directly to see UDO. The ex-ACCEPT singer is definitely a must to see. He played a killer set which was full of old ACCEPT classics and almost no material from his own new CD "No Limits". We were in for a real treat here with killer songs like "Restless And Wild", "Son Of A Bitch", "Princess Of The Dawn", "Fast As A Shark", "Balls To The Wall" and "I'm A Rebel". UDO goes on forever and that's the way his fans like it. On one of the other stages there were young newcomers showing that they're worth to play on this cult festival.
Like MYSTIC CIRCLE who play brutal black metal with a horrendous show full of blood, leather and metal. The bald corpse painted singer drinks blood from a skull and it all looks very fascinating. Their third CD is called "Infernal Satanic Verses" and they are about to tour in Germany with SUIDAKRA, STORMORD and GRAVEWORM. Their new CD has got a beautiful sleeve, but they proved their music and show are also really enjoyable. One day they'll be the headliners of this festival. It's another step on the ladder to success for these beginning bands. But the festival also saw a lot of revivals. What to think about the speed monsters of DESTRUCTION?
It seemed such a long time, but it sounded like they'd never been away. With songs like "Bestial Invasion" and new song "The Butcher Strikes Back" (a continuation of "Mad Butcher"), they proved the original German thrash/speed metal is still the best. While the youngsters were welcoming the new heroes of the so-called 'true metal scene' HAMMERFALL, I decided to see some true 'true metal' on the W.E.T stage. From France we got a smashing performance from a band, called KILLERS. And although their new CD "109" may not be a true killer, the band showed us that they know how to play some great heavy metal. IRON MAIDEN-like riffs were combined with fantastic screaming guitar solos.
From there on, it was easy to switch to the stage where we would see the gig we've all been waiting for. GIRLSCHOOL still has a lot of fans all over the world. And man, they played a great gig! It took them some time to enter the stage, but that didn't surprise me at all. From the time they arrived at the site, they had less than half an hour to prepare themselves for their gig. And they simply drove the audience mad by starting their set with "C'mon Let's Go". The band has got the same line up as during their show back in '95 in Zwolle (Holland) with SAXON. Tracey Lamb on bass, Denise Dufort on drums, Kelly Johnson on guitar and vocals and last, but not least 'the always good looking' Kim McAuliffe on guitar and vocals. And the band seemed to have a great time on stage, too. Although Kelly wasn't always attentive, they played a sort of 'best of' set consisting of great songs like "Stay Wild", "Kick It Down", "Not For Sale", "Future Flash", "Little Green Men", "Screaming Blue Murder", "Demolition Boys" and "Emergency". Inbetween the songs, Kelly was wearing a viking helmet which she got from someone out of the audience. Other bands would have thrown it aside, but Kelly decided to wear it. And so Kim almost wetted her pants. She was glad she didn't have to sing during this happening. And the people loved it! They sang every hit together with the band. Needless to say we caught up with the band backstage after the show for an exclusive chat (see MM#17). GIRLSCHOOL left behind a cool impression like always and it was great to see these ladies still kick some serious ass!!! Watch out for their new CD, which will be out soon. Next on the bill was IMMORTAL, who convinced me with their latest release "At The Heart Of Winter". Three black metal guys from Norway blasting power with a touch of melody here and there. A lot of people came to see them and the photo pit was really jam-packed. Certainly one of the better black metal acts of today. But the real uncrowned 'Kings of black metal' were on next. MERCYFUL FATE played very loud and knew that a lot of fans were here to see them play. They played a lot of old stuff like "Desecration Of Soul", "Melissa", "Come To The Sabbath" and of course the beautiful "Satan's Fall". MERCYFUL FATE proved they still belong to the premier league of heavy metal bands with King Diamond as eye-catching middle point, cursing the crowd with his mike stand made out of bones. It was time to see the old heroes of SAXON go through another set of old classics like "Power And The Glory", "20,000 Feet", "747 (Strangers In The Night)", "Dogs Of War", "Cut Out The Disease" and "Princess Of The Night", which were played with the same enthusiasm as ever. SAXON can be seen as the bigger brothers of GIRLSCHOOL. They're still standing tall and pleasing their fans after so many years. They earned everybody's respect. And so did JAG PANZER. Harry 'The Tyrant' Conklin was dressed in black leather and ready to kick ass. And they showed the people that metal ain't dead yet. The fans threw their fists in the air while singing the lyrics of classics like "The Viper", "Chain Of Command" and "Shadow Thief". Just like 'The Mighty Tyrant', the drummer had cut off his hair. But who gives a shit about this useless information? The band still plays straight heavy metal. However, I'm still waiting until they decide to bring back "The Crucifix" in their set again. Although they stand out much better in clubs, they left behind an astonishing crowd. Time seems to fly, because after a short break (one of the very few of this day), it was already 02.15 hours and time for the last band of the first day. Headliners of today were the reunion of the TYGERS OF PAN TANG. And man, they really blew me away!!! The band consisted of Jess Cox on vocals, Robb Weir on guitar and three members of BLITZKRIEG. I got the shivers all over. They played a lot of old stuff like "Don't Touch Me There", "Insanity", "Euthanasia", and "Suzy Smiled". And the anticlimax came right before my very eyes. While Jess was introducing the next song "Straight As A Die", he heard that their time was up already. With a lot of screaming announcements, the band was put on the bill as headliner and now they were simply kicked off the stage. I was astonished, and so was the band. Every second of their great set was highly enjoyable. Was it so difficult to let them play just one more song? I just couldn't believe my eyes. Before we knew it, the organization pulled the plug of the sensation of the first day. And exactly when the clock stroke three, we went backstage to find our car to drive back to our hotel in Itzehoe. When I looked at the bill a bit later, I realized that I didn't see RAGE, MAYHEM, SINNER and NAPALM DEATH. But I had a great time already. We drove in the misty night with a speed of about thirty miles an hour. Ready to hit the sack. Tomorrow there would be another day full of metal mayhem waiting for us……….
Saturday, August 7th, 1999.
After a three hours sleep and a good breakfast, we were quite fresh. The sun was shining again and we prepared ourselves for another full day. At ten o'clock already, we had to be at the festival site for another Metal Maiden. We missed a few minutes of the first band to appear, namely DR DEATH featuring female vocalist Conny Preusser. The band played a mix of gothic rock and metal. "Jesus Looks Like Me" was one of the highlights of the set. The band thought it was nice to let monks spray blood over the crowd. Conny sang the last song and proved that she has a beautiful voice. But she still misses the expression of the more experienced singers, like f.e. Vibeke Steine of TRISTANIA. Nonetheless, DR DEATH was a good band to get everybody awake again. Next band was MARSHALL LAW, which is a continuation of the old English band with the same name. Their latest album "Warning From History" takes you back to the sound of the NWOBHM days of about eighteen years ago. They screamed that British heavy metal ain't dead yet and convinced the audience with an unknown enthusiasm. After a cup of coffee and a few tones of PARADOX, we were ready for the brutal pure metal attack of WARDOG. Tom Gattis is a name that makes some hearts beat faster than they already did. The band played a lot of songs from their new CD "A Sound Beating". But a lot of people came to hear the old stuff. And they got it, 'cause the band also played a song like "The Wrecking Crew" from Tom's days with TENSION. I even saw someone dressed in a DEUCE teeshirt. DEUCE was Tom's first band together with Marty Friedman, who we all know from his work with HAWAII, CACOPHONY and recently MEGADETH. Talking about cult, then you're possibly talking about Tom Gattis. After the Wacken gig, he'll be playing in Europe together with DESTINY'S END and SACRED STEEL. We already talked about TRISTANIA. Well, they were on next. It's obvious this band has got a lot of experience on stage. Vibeke is a great singer and it looks like she is in some kind of deep trance, when she's on stage. She comes to the microphone, when she has to sing her lines and then she returns to her place and dances. She never stands still. Her voice is like the voice of an opera singer - high and very clear. In contrary to their male vocalist Morten, who screams like a madman. Together they form a great team. And the crowd loved every second of their set. They opened with "Evenfall", which I would have liked better at the end of the set. But who gives a shit? From the new single, they played the title track "Angina". TRISTANIA definitely is a band to keep in mind, when you're talking about well-talented newcomers. I'm being totally honest, when I say that METALLIUM was a bit of a disappointment to me. They have SAVATAGE guitarist Chris Caffery in their line-up. And their debut CD "Millennium Metal Chapter One" sounded not bad at all. But on stage the magic didn't work. The band consists of good musicians, but they just don't form a team on stage. It's always nice to hear "Smoke On The Water" though, but I think this band falls into place best between the walls of the studio. We had a short time to rush through the Metal Market. LABYRINTH's gig had been set to a later time. However, later on we heard it had been completely cancelled. In the tent, we caught up with some friends of ours. The Metal Market is not only a place to buy your CDs, LPs, 7", posters, badges or whatever, it's also some kind of a meeting place for collectors like us. Forty-five minutes are much too short for so many interesting stalls. And we had to get back in time for our Dutch pride THE GATHERING. Anneke is still a great singer and performer and her band is very tight. But their music nowadays is something you either like or you don't. I am getting used to it, but I still doubt if THE GATHERING is a suitable band for Wacken. They don't play real metal and it's very much on the edge. Their sound was real bad in the beginning. Even Anneke found it disturbing and she couldn't stop laughing after the sound started to buzz real loud. I don't want to push this band down, but I must admit that I preferred the old stuff the most. Especially "Strange Machines" is still one of my favourite tunes. And according to the reaction of the crowd, it was certainly one of the highlights of their set. One of the highlights of the whole festival played during the set of THE GATHERING: STEEL PROPHET. They really kicked some serious ass!! The band attacked the audience like wild animals. It was like they were playing for the very first time. The enthusiasm was even transferred to the crowd. Bass player Vince didn't simply play his bass - No, he tortured it like a complete madman. Rick Mythiasin is the ultimate front man. Before the band started to play, they threw their demo tape "Inner Ascendense" from 1989 into the audience. Twenty, thirty copies went into the crowd. What a way to do some promotion! They closed their set with the ACCEPT cover "Fast As A Shark" and the IRON MAIDEN medley "The Ides Of March/Purgatory". The crowd went crazy and so did the band. Vince jumped in the crowd and destroyed his bass strings. This gig was really amazing. Their CD "Dark Hallucinations" will certainly appear in my personal top ten of 1999. MARDUK didn't play after STEEL PROPHET. At first they said they wouldn't play, because it wasn't dark enough. The real reason however was, the band still hadn't arrived at the site. And to be honest, I don't know if they did play or not later on. The fans went totally mad and started to throw beer cans on stage. PRIMAL FEAR was just about to end their set and so we decided to take a short look at the show of SUBWAY TO SALLY. The band sounds a bit like SKYCLAD. They mix folk and metal and complete it with a great show. I'm sorry to say, I'm not really familiar with the music of the band, but I must admit that we will certainly spend more time and space on them in the near future. They have a female violin player in their line-up. They are able to create an enormous party in no time. It was also scheduled that after the gig of SUBWAY TO SALLY, there would be a wedding on stage. A great combination, a wedding with a party band to accompany it. You'll surely gonna hear more about this interesting band.
And then happened, what we already feared it would happen. The rain started pouring down from the sky, creating a real mess. In no time we were soaking wet. AGENT STEEL was on next on the W.E.T. stage and they played a great set (to me it was obvious why they call this the W.E.T. stage!). Bruce Duncan, the new singer, sounds great. It's difficult to replace a front man like John Cyriis, but Bruce has got a great voice! And he's a good front man also, manipulating his audience like never before. The band celebrated a great come back and I'm really looking forward hearing their new album. I wished I'd wings during this festival, cause right after AGENT STEEL, I had to rush back again to see AXEL RUDI PELL. He is the blonde version of Ritchie Blackmore (ex-DEEP PURPLE/RAINBOW, now BLACKMORE'S NIGHT). He's also a guitar hero pur sang and plays a show that looks very similar to the shows Mr. Blackmore did in his good old days - completed with some of the same songs. We also see Mike Terrana on the drums. The set is closed with the usual guitar smashing. AXEL RUDI PELL's shows are very cool and I wonder why he never plays in Holland?!? OK, we're taking a quick bite now (another delicious Thai dish), while listening to DESTINY'S END playing in the background. They sound great, but PRETTY MAIDS is already waiting for us. Their latest album sounds pretty good, but they start with a few rather dull ballads. Later on, they grab back to their earlier stuff like "Back To Back" and "Red, Hot And Heavy". I wished they would have played some more of their older songs but they're still very good, professional musicians. RAZOR from Canada played a great show. I don't know too much about their music, but they play extremely tight and the audience just loved their show! On the True Metal stage, METAL CHURCH are doing their reunion show. Originally, DORO Pesch was supposed to jam with the band during the (DORO) song "All We Are", but due to the fact that DORO's father had become very ill, the whole thing got cancelled. Afterwards, we heard that METAL CHURCH didn't sound that fantastic, so I'm glad we decided to see another reunion, namely JAGUAR. The band consists of two old members and two newcomers. The old members are Jeff Cox on bass and Garry Pepperd on lead guitar. Their singer is a complete lunatic, who can't stand still for one second. He's full of energy and besides that he's a great singer also. They opened with the old classic "The Dutch Connection". (Thanks Garry!!!!) The whole gig was some kind of 'best of' set mixed with a few new songs like "Cut The Mustard". Songs like "The Fox" and "Axe Crazy" still sound amazing nowadays. And then that singer again. He had his mike tied to a sort of jump stick. And he even climbed to the top of the tent and shook hands with the fans in the front row. This show was really amazing. After the TYGERS OF PAN TANG and GIRLSCHOOL, JAGUAR was the third NWOBHM band that had a lot of success here at Wacken. This in contrary to SWEET SAVAGE last year, who received a lot of negative critics all the way. And the rain kept pouring down. After JAGUAR had played their fantastic gig, I heard the last tones of "Highway Star" played by METAL CHURCH. On to ATROCITY, who played a complete new show. New clothes, lots of explosions and of course a guest appearance by Liv Kristine Espenaes (THEATRE OF TRAGEDY). This gig was compensating the gig, they were supposed to play last year. Despite the weather they convinced the audience, they're still one of Germany's hottest bands. Their new CD "Non Plus Ultra", which is some kind of compilation, will be reviewed in our next issue. NEVERMORE is a band that has a lot of experience and you'll notice that right from the start. They climb on stage, kick some ass and then move on. They know how to get the crowd going. Firstly, they get them into a trance and then they hit them on the head…..really hard!! Warrel Dane has always been the ultimate frontman, ever since he still played with SANCTUARY. In fact, we were supposed to see TWISTED SISTER right now, but apparently the band of frontman Dee Snider was having a lot of trouble with the rights to the name TWISTED SISTER. Playing here at Wacken would have cost them a fortune. Reason enough to cancel the show. But now the organization had a problem. Who could replace such a big name? We've heard that MOTORHEAD were being considered to do the job. And actually Mikkey Dee was on the festival site, but Lemmy couldn't make it on time. So finally the organization decided to hire D.A.D. (DISNEYLAND AFTER DARK) from Den-mark as headliners(?!?) instead of TWISTED SISTER. I missed the reaction of the audience after they heard about this cancellation…
Because we already heard the whole story backstage, we went to see SOLITUDE AETURNUS. They can be seen as the younger brothers of BLACK SABBATH. Slow, doomy, ultra heavy and pounding metal, that grabs you by the balls immediately. The band was very enthusiastic and reflected this enthusiasm to the, already tired, audience. Meanwhile, the rain kept falling down. I think the Lord above was mad, that he missed the TWISTED SISTER show, which was originally scheduled. WARRANT (from Germany) was one of the last bands that I have seen. It was Sunday morning already, but I certainly didn't want to miss the show of these German speed metal monsters. From the first moment on, an executioner with a black cap was swaying with an axe on stage. That was what I needed at this time of the day: swords and axes!! So, right from the start, the band caught my attention and they kept it 'till the very end. True heavy metal, played at high speed level with many guitar solos. After I've seen this, I'm sure I'm gonna search for their LP "The Enforcer" and their EP "First Strike". It was a dream come true and for me they were the ultimate closer of this years festival. I know for sure, when it wouldn't have rained for such a long time, we definitely would have seen bands like DIMMU BORGIR, THERION & ORCHESTRA and ONKEL TOM (Featuring Tom Angelripper of SODOM) as well. THERION was on my list of interesting bands. Their new CD "Crowning Of Atlantis", sounded very good indeed. But all the three reporters were soaking wet and a lot of visitors had already returned to their tents. Besides that, we definitely wanted to say goodbye to some of our closest friends. Backstage we heard, that SACRED STEEL would be playing. For a moment I thought about going to this gig as a definate closer of this years festivities, but because of the very bad weather, we didn't. Time to return to our car. But it was there, when the catastrophe really started. How were we supposed to get out of this pool of mud that covered the whole parking/camping area?? After a few 'failing' attempts from our side, we did find some guys who wanted to push the car out of this swamp. These guys must have looked like mud wrestlers afterwards, 'cause I was sweeping away like a big balloon until I finally reached the hard road. If they ever get to read this review, I hereby want to thank them so much for helping us out of this mess!! We owe you one!!!!!
Text: Toine van Poorten
Photos: Toine and Rita van Poorten.
On Sunday, it was time to get back home again. On our way home, the road was full of headbangers and metal heads. We saw the guys of HAMMERHAWK with their van. They were also one of the visitors of the festival. See ya all next year! We also read the names of the bands that already have been confirmed for next years edition. Names like ARMORED SAINT, IMMOLATION, STRATOVARIUS, LIEGE LORD, HADES and LIZZY BORDEN.
Some suggestions for next year would be: VORTEX, HALLOWEEN (USA), WILD DOGS, ANGELWITCH, ROSE TATTOO and PEGAZUS (they could travel together!). And for the section 'Bands with a girl in their line-up', we were thinking about WHITE SKULL, WYKKYD WYTCH, WICKED ANGEL, the return of HELLION and of course THE GREAT KAT! (Aaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhh!!!!!!). Thinking about this, and all the great bands we were able to see this, and also last year, made us draw only ONE conclusion. We hope to return to Wacken in 2000, because we had an amazing time at this well-organised festival. Wacken 2000 - read all about it in one of our upcoming issues. See you there in about fifty weeks and remember: don't miss it!!
METAL FOREVER, Toine.