For the second time we conquered Wacken under the flag of VOICES FROM THE DARKSIDE, once again just Nhashi and R’Amon. After last year’s chaos we immediately spotted several improvements: there was a second entrance doubling the speed of getting onto the festival site. Secondly, that disturbing “food mile” inside the festival area was removed and finally the whole atmosphere was a lot more relaxed. Maybe due to the fantastic weather which, on the other hand, caused not only the VOICES staff a hard time. Then there were monitors all over the festival site where one could find out changes concerning the running order. Miraculously, there weren’t any except for SINISTER who had just kicked out their new guitar player one or two days before. Backstage, strange games where drunk Scandinavians slapped each other in their faces were introduced to us and some idiot stole my right ear plug (I had another one, asshole) at the festival site while I was suffering from the sun and some alcohol abuse at the CARPATHIAN FOREST show. 
The first band I watcheed on Friday was DEW-SCENTED, but for me it was way too early to be ready for action. I was still sort of asleep and, to be honest, I prefer som “Poser” Metal in the morning: some nice melodies, not too loud, etc. Maybe playing 'War Ensemble' might have helped me a little bit. What I noticed was that once again Alex from OBSCENITY had taken over the bass for DEW-SCENTED, banging off his fucking head although 2 hours later he was scheduled to play with OBSCENITY as well. Impressive. Apart from that we heard some new stuff from the forthcoming album and if this represented the whole new album we’ve got another thing coming! Leif rules! 
When I heard that DIAMOND HEAD weren’t really DIAMOND HEAD but recruited from DH as well as from members from TYGERS OF PAN TANG I was a little worried that Jess Cox (TYGERS / Neat Records) would be singing, wearing his shining white clothes from the TYGERS gig in Wacken from a couple of years ago and I was right! Arrgghhhh! My eyes! As expected they played songs from both bands and those old guys didn’t really bring it across any more. Standing around and falling asleep. Some of you might have noticed songs METALLICA had covered when they still used to play Metal instead of bollocks, for example  'The Prince'. Too damn slow! These TYGERHEADS definitely don’t need to be kept in The Cage nowadays! 
DISMEMBER in Germany! It’s been some time, right? Of course the fans wanted old stuff and they got songs like 'Skin Her Alive' or 'Dismembered'. Everything sounded pretty convincing but is this still DISMEMBER? New guitar player and a session bass player? Who cares, they were strong, so what the heck! 
Last time in Wacken I couldn’t watch RAISE HELL as Mr. Dee Fuckin’ Snider was playing at the same time. This year I couldn’t watch RAISE HELL because they were playing on the fucking WET stage in the fucking tent!!! I didn’t even come close the tent after my short break! Dammit! Next on my list were TESTAMENT. The last time I saw them was at the Clash of the Titans tour in 1990. Long, long ago. After Chuck Billy had fought down cancer he was ready to tear off our heads! It’s been quite a while that I have seen a guy with such a happy smile on his face. The band was hungry and full of energy. Great set list as well: 'Practice What You Preach', 'Into The Pit', 'Disciple Of The Watch' or 'Alone In The Dark' (a LOT from “The Legacy”). But what did they do to the songs? Sometimes I almost didn’t recognize them! Too fast, too heavy for my ears. Hey, nothing against Death Metal, not at all, but old TESTAMENT classix this way? Under these circumstances the following doesn’t come over my lips too easily: welcome back, TESTAMENT! 
After their “exclusive” German show at the Bang Your Head!!! festival earlier this year, TWISTED SISTER in their original line-up headlined the Wacken Friday for ICED EARTH whose singer had left the band (now replaced by “Ripper” Owens from JUDAS PRIEST after Halford’s comeback). Once again they used AC/DC’s 'It’s A Long Way To The Top' as an intro and played a best of set with songs such as 'Stay Hungry', 'Under The Blade', 'Burn In Hell' or the crowd’s (not mine) favorite: 'We’re Not Gonna Take It'. A strong gig for sure but the world’s best entertainer didn’t have enough time to talk. What a disgrace! Get this guy for a spoken words thing next year ;-) 
Ah! Due to SINISTER’s cancellation (who needed their replacement HOLY MOSES?) I had my perfect start for the day on Saturday morning: HUMAN FORTRESS from Germany were playing the WET stage and there was a considerable crowd waiting for them already. They played some pretty unique Power Metal from their debut CD and from their forthcoming release. The only disappointment was that their singer didn’t wear his coat of mail. Hey, a real knight couldn’t decide if it was to hot for his armor in times of war ;-) 
More Power Metal? Sure! For the third time in four years TWISTED TOWER DIRE had come to Germany and their rather small but fanatic crowd of fans loves them! In his version, their singer had asked his children whether they wanted to go to Disneyland or to Wacken and they had voted for the latter! The band had gotten some beating for their latest release as for real underground fans it sounds a little too polished indeed but on stage the songs sounded as raw and aggressive as the old stuff like 'The Witches’ Eye'. 
I almost missed CALLENISH CIRCLE as I was waiting at the bloody METALIUM show for Jutta Weinhold’s (ex-ZED YAGO) guest appearance (which didn’t turn out to be that fantastic anyway). Then I had almost the same problem as the day before concerning RAISE HELL: the fucking WET stage was absolutely overcrowded and I could only watch the last song, 'Obey Me' from the distance. 
Canadian Prog / Power Metal freaks EIDOLON would have been a better candidate for the WET stage but they were lucky to play the Party Stage. Lucky? With that “crowd” it looked rather sad. They’re a good band, excellent musicians and good songs but for some reason nobody notices these guys. Instead, still everybody goes for those HAMMERFALL clones / clowns. Is there any justice in the world? 
NILE-time! And it was already dark! An almost perfect Death Metal gig, only much too short as I would have liked to hear a few more old songs. Considering the setlist, 'Black Seeds Of Vengeance' was almost an oldie! We were lucky to see the band as NILE had had some trouble with their airline (“Fuck the fuckin’ airlines!”). When did Carl throw away his old Fender? Or did NILE get an endorsement deal with Dean? Well, he was definitely impressed when he adjusted that (in Germany) famous J. F. Kennedy quote: “Ich bin ein Wackener!” At that point, all of us were! After 'Destruction Of The Temple' NILE left the field to SLAYER. To make a long story short: this was not the best SLAYER gig I ever witnessed. The P. A. was not loud enough (in fact we missed the first song because of that) and then the band played too many new songs (from the 90s or so) in the beginning. Honestly, who wants to hear that crap? Moreover, the band seemed to be a little tired, almost lame! Luckily, after a while SLAYER continued with their old stuff and either the band had found their power back or I was just too happy about 'Mandatory Suicide', 'War Ensemble', 'South Of Heaven', 'Angel Of Death', 'Piece By Piece', 'Dead Skin Mask', 'Criminally Insane', ... still going strong, eh? 
VADER had the unthankful task to hit the stage after SLAYER. There are so many people complaining that VADER are playing everywhere all the time and that they’re all about routine and nothing else. But routine, hard work and, most of all, discipline, helped the band out of their situation. In the middle of the night right after SLAYER, thousands wanted to see the Polish Death machine and VADER definitely satisfied their needs with songs like 'Nomads' or 'Reign Forever World'. And Wacken surely was a good place to introduce their new bass player Robbie from BEHEMOTH. I definitely had some fun! 
Finally, when I was already trying to get some sleep, ONKEL TOM got on my nerves with silly talk and silly songs. Yeah, alright, you’re so old you saw Bon Scott. Congratulations! Next year I’d like to see more “cult” bands one doesn’t get to see too often but apart from that, Wacken 2003 rocked much more than last year! But I’m still damn glad I’m male and don’t have to queue up at Dixieland! See you next time!

Story & live pics: Ramon Claassen  

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