Global Domination | Witnessed | Wacken Open Air 2010, Germany: Day 2

Recent updates

Recent discussions

Witnessed

Wacken Open Air 2010, Germany: Day 2

07/09/10 || Altmer

Who: A fuckload of bands.
Where: Wacken, Germany.
When: August 6, 2010.

A good night’s sleep passed, and a day full of metal awaited. Today was certainly a lot more busy than the previous day, and it certainly also was slightly less rainy. The rain I encountered on the journey day was pretty bad, but by now that had all subsided and we could enjoy a nice, firm sun, without the temperature extremes that plagued the local populace at Graspop. This promised to be a day which was certain to be full of surprises, good and bad.

Dew-Scented were first up today, and I arrived halfway their set because fuck it, I don’t care at all for German thrashy death metal, or maybe, deathy thrash metal. Fuck if I know. I don’t care for this stuff, well-played though it may be, and I am not paying to see these guys on one of their own shows. It’s competent shit for competent people much like potatoes are food for Joe Six-Pack. Thrash metal with mediocre vocals and okay guitar riffs tickleth not the fancy of this reviewer. A 4 for these thrashing Germans, and may they do it till death. Their own death, that is. Fucken snoreworthy.

Amorphis were next. I casually enjoy Amorphis from time to time, even going as far as to buy a few albums, but their set reminded me why I don’t really love Amorphis. They’re decent. No doubt. Tomi Joutsen’s vocals rule. The newer songs are excellent, and they have a knack for composing, catchy melodic lines with semi-brutal parts, which go over like a storm live. They are also Finns, so they don’t talk much and prefer to let the music do that for them. I can understand why – the songs are strong – but a bit more interaction wouldn’t be too much to ask and the older stuff, is, quite frankly, dull live. Those songs don’t hold up to modern standards. Yeah, the gayer stuff is actually more interesting live. When they hit their zenith, like on the newer material, they do their thing really well, but when they don’t, they bore me, and this translates from CD to a live environment just like that. “Against Widows” bores me. So does “Alone”. They might be interesting to give a shot again, when I am more familiar with their older material, but as for right now they deliver a no-frills set lacking the required spunk for me to go nuts over it. 6.5

Their setlist was as follows:

Silver Bride
Sky Is Mine
Towards and Against
The Castaway
Alone
Against Widows
From the Heaven of My Heart
The Smoke
House Of Sleep
Black Winter Day
My Kantele

After that we rushed to the left, to watch Israeli metal darlings Orphaned Land from up close. Since I have a Jewish girlfriend, and Jews cling together, afterwards there were many comments in Hebrew apparently (and a lot of Israeli flags as well). This was probably the second best show of Wacken, actually – attracting many also that did not know the band, but were drawn to it by the different sound, and making the crowd swell and swell. Kobi Farhi, the fucking girl, wears a dress on stage though, and basically looks like Jesus if he decided to get a few tattoos. There was also a (mediocre) bellydancer on stage during “Sapari” so even if you don’t like the music you can look at boobs. I enjoy this kind of stuff, genuinely – this band has grown on me immensely and their live show is fantastic, and it’s genuinely different from most thing I’ve witnessed, both in sound and attitude. The highlight of Saturday, for me, this. 9

Setlist was as follows:

Birth of the Three (The Unification)
Ocean Land (The Revelation)
Barakah
The Path (Part 1) – Treading Through Darkness
The Sahara’s Storm
Olat Ha’tamid
Disciples of the Sacred Oath II
Halo Dies (The Wrath of God)
Sapari
Norra el Norra (Entering the Ark)

Endstille I listened to while waiting for Kamelot. I fucken don’t like this kind of blasty black metal and I also don’t really like Endstille. That means they are now shifted into the Altmer Association of Suckidy Suckdom. Yeah. That’s how much I (don’t) care about Endstille. Band can suck it. You think that’s unfair, you whine about it when I kick you in the groin. Twice. Just because I can. 3

Kamelot are a bunch of gay power metal pussies. This is probably the prevailing opinion at GD, and I dissented from this opinion for quite a while. I absolutely love “The Black Halo” and will continue to defend this album until I die – it’s a culmination of everything good about power and progressive music, with strong melodies, entrenched in longer songs, with epic conceptual lyrics. It’s a must-own. I even enjoy some of the other Kamelot material that is not on this album. I’ve seen them live twice before even, and they pretty much delivered an amazing show both times. So, needless to say, expectations for this set were high.

Unfortunately, Kamelot blew it real fast. There was no energy in this performance. The light show was obscured by the fact that it was daylight. Khan seemed like he was missing some of his vocal cues, and forgetting to sing one or two verses altogether (either that, or the sound just cut out selectively, as he wasn’t particularly high in the mix either). Even when they played good material, like closer “March of Mephisto” or “When the Lights Are Down”, they seemed like a shadow of their former selves – they just seemed like they weren’t into it. The singalong during “Forever” was rudely interrupted by a passing hot air balloon that flew over the stage (and consequently drew attention away from the band). The closer “March” remains a splendid song indeed, but this performance was not a third time lucky or indeed a holy trinity of good shows, and I am disappointed. I hope their new album can make up for this, even though my hopes for this band are sinking lower every day. Kamelot gain a 5. Mediocre, this time.

Setlist (the order may be off):

Ghost Opera
When The Lights Are Down
The Great Pandemonium
Center of the Universe
Hunter’s Season
The Human Stain
Rule the World
Karma
Forever
March of Mephisto

Arch Enemy followed Kamelot and this was a pleasant surprise. I am no huge Arch Enemy fan, but since most of our group diverted to see Tarja me and the girlfriend (who has seen Tarja already at Graspop) decided to watch Arch Enemy instead. Not a bad decision on the whole. Arch Enemy played a solid, consistent set and Angela, although looking more masculine than many guys on any given day, sounds quite feminine when speaking. It doesn’t detract from her ferocious growls though. The band are a tight unit (with the Amott guys in there, I expect no less) and they rushed through a nice best-of festival set that pretty much covered all the songs that make me like this band. I’ll go see this lot again for sure at some point and I’ll make sure to be a bit more familiar with some of their older songs, since I’m no Liiva fan. 7.5

Setlist as follows:

The Immortal
Revolution Begins
Ravenous
Taking Back My Soul
My Apocalypse
Dead Eyes See No Future
Dead Bury Their Dead
We Will Rise
——————
Nemesis
Fields of Desolation (taped outro)

Equilibrium was casually walked in on as an aside, but I didn’t pay attention to it that much. I can’t say I’m a fan and the exceedingly cheesy keyboards prevented me from really enjoying this lot. I saw them before at Paganfest once (I was there to see Dornenreich and Eluveitie) but their sound was so awful I didn’t really count it as worthy of judgment. Another try, another disappointment – I think I just don’t like this band. As with most folk metal, they straddle the line between epic and cheesy – and fall on the wrong side of the boundary. I can take folk metal when it’s done right – but this isn’t. Fuck you, I guess. 4

Slayer rounds off today’s coverage. I would actually add something after this, but after Slayer I was pretty dead on my feet, so I won’t cover Secrets of the Moon for you (or Ihsahn which was at the same time as Slayer). Slayer, however, I dig. The problem with Slayer’s set was that EVERYONE wanted to see it, so at some point they stopped people from entering the actual stage grounds, due to overcrowding. For that same reason, we went out of the stage after a few songs because we really wanted some space. However, Slayer are excellent overall (apart from Araya’s vocals, who much to my dismay are deteriorating). Slayer’s set was relatively short, but contained all of the big hits. I prefer it when they play their older songs, though, as I am not a fan of anything after “Seasons”. In any case, they make the crowd go wild, even if Araya doesn’t really need to say anything. Basically, it’s fun, it’s Slayer. You know what you’re gonna get here and they delivered in spades. Fun shit, and I really do want to see them again properly with a crowd that doesn’t squeeze me to death. 7.5

Setlist as follows:

World Painted Blood
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Expendable Youth
Dead Skin Mask
Seasons in the Abyss
Hell Awaits
Spirit in Black
Mandatory Suicide
Chemical Warfare
Raining Blood
South of Heaven
Angel of Death

This concludes day two of Wacken. It was definitely an enjoyable day overall, but most of today’s sets were decent rather than exhilarating (excluding Orphaned Land which was an excellent surprise) and I’m just bummed about Amorphis and Kamelot being way below my expectations setwise. The next day will feature a few more excellent bands, so stay tuned – you wouldn’t want to miss me covering TPH’s own J filling in during Candlemass’ set, now would you? I thought not. Keep your eyes open also for other reviews, because I likely will be covering more live reviews in the coming months.

Witnessed