Review by Brian McLean
When the topic of European Metal Festivals is amongst metal heads in deep discussion, one festival always comes to mind whether a resident of any of the European countries or North America. That would be the Wacken Open Air Festival which happens to be the longest running and most respected metal festival.
The summer of 2004 saw Wacken celebrating it’s 15th Anniversary with a slew of acts ranging from Destruction, Children of Bodom, Dio, Motorhead, Feinstein, Nevermore, Anthrax, Mayhem, Brainstorm Blaze Bailey, and Cannibal Corpse. In all, 62 bands from various parts of the world pulled together and destroyed at Wacken.
Those who were not able to be part of this outdoor metal festival milestone can now get a taste of what went down on the stage with the release of Armageddon Over Wacken from Magick Records and Armageddon Music.
Of all the bands that took part, 39 have been included on the three disc set that contains three hours worth of metal. Only a handful of the bands have two tracks on the disc with the remaining acts being limited to one.
Each disc contains certain genres of metal. Disc one contains Black, Death and Thrash Metal, disc two has Power and Traditional Metal whereas disc three is dedicated specifically to Underground Metal.
There are highlights for each individual disc with thrashers Destruction and Death Angel highlighting disc one. For the second, the obvious is Motorhead as well as Dio, Nevermore, and Brainstorm.
Disc three taps in for the unknowns. Zodiac Mindwarp and their space rock sound should be familiar, but Griffin and Raunchy can hold their own. It’s apparent the sound quality for all the bands on disc three is lacking when compared to Dio or Bodom’s single track. It’s safe to say, disc three will more than likely not see as much time in the disc player when compared to one and two.
Wrapping up the entire disc collection, track 18 of disc three proves to be the most memorable for the humor. Just imagine a polka version of Van Halen’s 1984 hit “Jump," add an accordion, a foreign language, spastic Polka beats and rhythms, and change the song title from “Jump” to “Humppa.” Classic!
For the avid fan of metal in general, AoW is a perfect disc to obtain a sampling of what type of material is being released by the various bands. It’s a great piece commemorating the outdoor metal festival and the milestone it has achieved.