Our final day at Wacken was met with the weather finally turning in the fans favour with sun shining and temperatures rising – and yet another massive line-up greeted the last day of Wacken festivities!

Khold

The first band on the Black Stage this morning is really not one you want to wake up to and start your day. The only reason I ended up watching this band was because I was waiting for Powerwolf…and it was mildly average at best.

Khold is Norwegian black metal that really doesn’t sit on the top tier of bands that deserve full recognition, and live it’s just a mess. Overly distorted guitars making indistinguishable noises that covered the bland vocals, clearly I wasn’t the only one unimpressed by the performance as the massive stage only had about 3 rows of people that showed up to watch it.

A shame but it was simply not good.

Powerwolf

Finally after enduring an hour of Khold it was time for Powerwolf. The sun was out, the temperature was great and the festival was now in the highest spirits following the previous two days of musical brilliance. Powerwolf are a band I like more and more every time I see them live. Sure every album they release nothing changes, but they own that sound now, and create great shows surrounding that theme of Holy Vampire Werewolves or whatever.

With organs blaring through the PA, the band arrive on stage covered in corpse paint and roar into ‘Sanctified with Dynamite‘. They are highly energetic, and every interaction with the audience meets with a deafening response – clearly Powerwolf are Germany’s new hometown boys.

The band ensure an action-packed set playing comic classics such as ‘Resurrection by Erection‘ and ‘Amen & Attack‘, and getting fists pumping in the fan favourite ‘We Drink Your Blood‘. The only thing that would have made the set better is if the band played at night to enhance that vampire theme, but they are getting big, and I have no doubt they will be in those night spots soon.

Amorphis

Straight after the energy-ridden set of Powerwolf, the Finns known as Amorphis were here to mellow things out a little with their pro-grade gothic metal. While the band have been generally a bit of a slow watch in times past, it was exactly what was needed right now.

Last time I saw Amorphis at Wacken they had a late night set split into an acoustic set and a full-on metal set, but in this instance they were here to take a run through the classics. Today the band definitely were bringing their A game, layering each song with waves of pyro shooting in all different directions while tracks like ‘The Castaway‘ and ‘Black Winter Day‘ radiated through the giant PA.

To my surprise Amorphis had sucked in a massive audience as I do know this band is not for everyone, and a bit of a gloomy band to be seeing on a Saturday afternoon. The chosen setlist was excellent though including a lot of tracks from ‘Tales From A Thousand Lakes‘, and balancing the hour and ten minutes out with some of Amorphis‘ best. This show definitely ranks in the better performances I have seen from this band.

Skiltron

Skiltron are one of those bands I have wanted to see for a while as they seem like a lot of fun, but I am never able to catch them on their rare trips to Europe. The Argentinian folk metallers have released some fine music, and now I can finally catch them live.

While the stage was tiny other people also seemed to share the same story that they have missed Skiltron when they have come to town and can finally see them. The Wackinger Village was packed as a result, but Skiltron certainly brought the force we were all hoping for.

Bagpipes flailing and guitars rocking, we were treated to tracks such as ‘Bagpipes of War‘ and ‘By Sword and Shield‘, entertaining those who were stunned to find their homeland was indeed Argentina. It was a show fun for all.

Sabaton

After a bit of an afternoon break that included a few beers and a couple of Zyklopenspeiss, it was time to get into the real heavy hitters of Saturday’s festivities. First up in that line was the mighty Sabaton, who have rose to immense fame over the years, and their last show at Wacken 2 years ago was met with overwhelmingly positive response – much so that they have been given a headliner role of the Black Stage this evening, and the band would film this show for a DVD.

Sabaton are known now for putting on great live shows that are highly energetic, and painted with the high flair and personality of frontman Joakim Broden, and more than ever the band are on the ball tonight, presenting everything they have got for 70’000 metal fans for the world to see what they can do.

Naturally the band kick off with ‘Ghost Division‘ bringing that huge amount of energy to the scene, and backing it all up with a huge stage show including a take, fierce light show and waves of flames to strike when those big notes smash through the PA.

Intermittently catching up with the audience between songs and throwing a few jokes and stage antics around, the band fill up their slot with all the Sabaton hits, including ‘Gott Mit Uns‘ and ‘Swedish Pagans‘ (constantly hummed by the audience throughout the entire set!). Without a note missed it was a brilliant set and quite the spectacle that will make excellent for the DVD, especially when the band got every single fan jumping during the classic ‘Primo Victoria‘. Sabaton prove that they can rank among the best heavy metal bands, and they are far from done in their quest for world domination.

Judas Priest

I know I’ll get virtually slapped for saying this, but Judas Priest have never been one of my favourite bands – I just never really could get into them…but that is until I saw them live at Wacken 4 years ago…my god did they own. As true veterans of heavy metal they knew exactly what they were doing, and had a commanding stage presence like I had never seen! So my ultimate respect goes to this band now, and I was extremely excited to see the Priest again in the full-headlining capacity.

Of course they did not displease at all. As 40 year veterans of the industry every movement the band made was so natural and just completely took over the packed grounds. The population of a small city had come to see the Priest rock out, and all were instantly captivated on the first notes of ‘Dragonaut‘.

With the hellish light show blaring across two stages, the band took a no BS approach to their music and ran through all the songs that we wanted to hear – the deafening sing-a-long of ‘Breaking the Law‘ and the thunderous roar of ‘Hell Bent For Leather‘ sung of course on top of a Harley Davidson.

Judas Priest are magnificent and certainly define that age has no relevance in metal. At the age of 66 vocalist Rob Halford was spot on with his vocals hitting every high note, as well as adding a few death screams in for emphasis. After ‘Electric Eye‘ and ‘Painkiller‘ were played it left everyone in complete euphoria – even with the adverse weather, these past few days of music have been simply perfect.

Cradle of Filth

The final act we witnessed for the evening was extreme gothic metal maestros Cradle of Filth who could not have asked for a better set time. Playing in the cool darkness late at night very much provided an atmosphere against the music and presence of the band. Perhaps this is why it was the most enjoyable performance I had seen from this band.

Not only that atmosphere that really suited the band, but the setlist they had chosen was one that included all my favourite Cradle tracks. ‘Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids‘ had a massive stage impact as well as ‘Born in a Burial Gown‘ darkened the already haunting evening. It was Cradle perfection all around.

It finished off a great Wacken despite all the challenges and obstacles that were thrown at fans and promoters alike. It’s festivals like these that really show the unity of metalheads, and the gathering at Wacken is like one big family reunion from around the world. It’s always sad to be leaving, but there is always next year…

See you in Wacken again, rain or shine!