Review: Nikki Hallam
Thursday
Thursday at Wacken Open Air 2025 began at 8am with the gentle soundtrack of erotic moans thundering from our camp’s speakers, a morning ritual of porn soundtracks to wake everyone up.Ahhh, how’s the serenity? I know this might not sound like everyone’s ideal wakeup call, but in Wacken’s weird, magical bubble, you learn to love the morning chaos. we kicked off the day in true festival fashion: Bloody Marys in hand, Pfefferminz for toothpaste and boots stomping toward another day of unforgettable bands.
Ugly Kid Joe, hailing from Santa Barbara, arrived at the Louder stage with their mix of humour and rock opening with Neighbor. They delivered an unexpectedly teary rendition of their breakout cover, Cat’s in the Cradle, the song that changed their lives in the early ’90s. Seeing grown metal heads get misty over such a poignant stripped-down moment only showed they can hit the feels as hard as the riffs. They ripped through a cover of Ace of Spades with reckless joy, paying homage to Motörhead while leaving their own rowdy mark. With a grin, frontman, Whitfield Crane kicked the energy back into overdrive, belting I Hate Everything About You, with a voice that’s lost none of its grit or power, turning thousands into a cathartic choir.
Over to the Headbangers stage Norway’s Svarrtjern shared their unnerving blasphemy with us, complete with ropes tied in hanging nooses swinging from their microphone stands. Vocalist Hans Fyrste is vile, he grabs his junk and spits blackened mess onto the stage, he truly is the Prince of Disgust and aptly they opened with that track. The corpse paint and blood melted down his face as he snarled through gritted teeth, “I’m sorry, it’s another love song, we call it All Hail Satan”, which pulled the crowd out of the mud and into a fist pumping fury. Through the echoes of distorted guitars they ended on Code Human and as always, Svarrtjern’s raw take on underground black metal leaves you rattled. Their presence drips with unholy energy made for an experience that’s unsettling yet impossible to look away from.
After a quick pit stop at camp for whatever mystery booze was still on the table, we high-tailed it back to the Headbangers Stage for some good old Scandinavian chaos courtesy of Sweden’s Hellbutcher. One half of Nifelheim’s legendary maniac brothers, Hellbutcher himself marched on with his crusade for Real Black Speed Metal and he definitely wasn’t there to fuck spiders. “Are you ready for some fucking metal? We’re playing our whole album… we only made one!” He grinned, before tearing straight into Perdition. Leather, spikes, chains and yes, a shiny codpiece, the stage looked like a satanic armoury and the energy was feral. They closed out with three blistering covers: Iron Maiden’s Instrumental Losfer Words (Big ’Orra), Bathory’s Die in Fire and a face-melting take on Venom’s Black Metal that turned the Headbangers Stage into pure bedlam. As Hellbutcher stalked off, his belt flashed its final sermon: “FUCK OFF.” Consider the message received.
We trudged the long march to the Louder Stage (why is it always the furthest stage when the clashes are brutal?) just in time for Static-X. If there’s any Nu-Metal band on the bill capable of convincing us old-timers to risk our knees in the mud, it’s these guys. We strapped up and braced ourselves. When Wayne Static tragically passed in 2014, most fans figured Static-X were gone for good. But then came Xero, the masked, mechanical Wayne doppelgänger, stepping in as vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Rumour has it he’s Edsel Dope of Dope fame, which was extra strange since Dope cancelled their own Wacken slot earlier that day.
Spooky coincidences aside, Xero was pure chaos incarnate. The set itself was a carnival of weird, masked mascots with giant heads shooting smoke guns, a disco-ball pumpkin dude crowd-surfing in an inflatable raft and at one point, a bubble machine gun blasting smoke-filled bubbles all over the pit. Beach balls flew, mud splattered and just when we thought it couldn’t get any more unhinged, the sample line from I’m With Stupid, “Wanna grab my shovel?”, kicked in and the place exploded into a proper jumping moshpit. They closed with the Wisconsin Death Trip time machine that is Push It, yanking us all the way back to 1999. Xero’s delivery was sharp, the havoc was dialled to eleven, and you couldn’t help but think Wayne was smiling somewhere.
While tonight’s headliners had already kicked off their gigantic set spanning over three-hours on the Harder stage, we took our time, grabbing dinner before wandering into the packed infield to witness Guns N’ Roses make their historic Wacken debut. The crowd turnout was ridiculous, a sea of ponchos and leather vests stretching all the way back. Axl Rose prowled the stage, mic clenched, proving that even after decades of rock ’n’ roll, he still has some strut left in him. Sure, the vocals weren’t always as sharp as they once were, but honestly, survive 40 years of the hard rock lifestyle and come out flawless? I’d like to see anyone try.
Slash, meanwhile, was absolutely untouchable with his top hat, Les Paul and those solos before Sweet Child O’ Mine slicing straight through the rain and sending shivers down our spines. Between costume changes and extended jams, the set rolled on until Axl took his seat at the piano for a heartfelt November Rain, reminding us all why this band is stitched into rock history. Finally, it was time for the inevitable closer, Paradise City. The band and audience, exhausted but elated, gave it everything left in the tank. Axl reached for the high notes with every fiber of his being, while Slash descended to the stage edge, shredding inches away from the diehards. With the final notes still hanging, the GNR logo glowed above in a fleet of drones, a sky-high salute to the fans.
A detour through the Wasteland turned into a second daily dose of Megabosch because once is never enough with these self proclaimed Rockstars of the Apocalypse. What began as a tongue-in-cheek LARP project in 2009 has mutated into full-blown Wacken royalty, a post-apocalyptic theatre troupe armed with fire, sleaze and thunderous hooks. Their sets are pure spectacle, think Mad Max go-go dancers strutting through smoke, costumes that look welded together from scrapyard relics and instruments seemingly scavenged from the end of the world. Frontman General Pause is the eye of the storm, fire reflected in his gleaming abs as he climbed twisted machinery all the while straddling his vintage mic stand. At his side, guitarist General Midi grins while shredding like a man possessed, the whole stage a blur of flames and filth. They played Wacken so often this year you could catch them twice a day if you were lucky, but it never feels like enough. Because when General Pause is firing a flame thrower at you from an excavator and turning doomsday into foreplay, it’s pretty hard to walk away. If the real apocalypse isn’t this sexy, we’re all in for a huge disappointment.
Finally back at camp with dry socks on we’re reunited with our camp friends, lost somewhere during the day. Stories flowed as we were surrounded by the assault of ten competing stereo armies from other camps. Sleeping at Wacken Open Air is basically a full-contact auditory experience.
Friday
Friday kicked off with a sharp wake-up call of DINO METAL! Heavysaurus stormed the W:E:T stage at 11:00am and the lines were so absurd we couldn’t even get through the gates. Security had us trek all the way around to the Louder stage and back to Bullhead City. By the time we squeezed in, we caught a handful of songs, but what a sight, kids perched on shoulders, inflatable dinosaurs bouncing in the air and many tiny hands throwing metal horns at their heroes. Hidden beneath those heavy metal dino suits were some truly accomplished players, serving up perfect sound alongside bursts of fire and pyrotechnics.
Their songs are insanely catchy, blending their originals like Bandvorstellung with epic nods to classics such as The Trooper, The Final Countdown, and Master of Puppets. When they launched into their show-stopper, Dino-Metalheads, the kids and parents went nuts! It’s no wonder all their shirts sold out. They waved us farewell to the Jurassic Park theme song and as we wandered off dazed, we asked ourselves exactly what we had just witnessed. We loved it, were we now Dino-Metalheads?
Back over to the Louder Stage, it was time for some Swedish grooves for breakfast with four-piece Graveyard and we were hungry! Their blues-infused rock and roll was exactly what we needed, rainy as hell and gloomy, the duelling guitars cut through the downpour like a warm ray of sunshine. Joakim Nilsson and Truls Mörck took turns on the mic, their sweet harmonies adding a surprising intimacy to the soaked crowd. The old-school Marshall stacks roared, giving their sound a thick, commanding presence. Highlights included Hisingen Blues and Cold Love, before they closed with a stripped-back, powerful rendition of The Siren that left everyone melted into the mud. By the end, it felt less like a show and more like sharing songs with old friends, Graveyard’s magic in its purest form.
Meanwhile at the Bullhead City stages, we were ready to get old school again with Drowning Pool on the W:E:T stage. They open with Sinners and the crowd is ready, “Where are all my Fucking Sinners at?” Vocalist Ryan McCombs screamed out, he is indeed back to taunt us. While they played a heartfelt rendition of Tear away, we couldn’t help but remember the former and first Drowning Pool vocalist Dave Williams, who was tragically found dead on their tour bus in 2002. This was a loving homage to him and oh boy did Wacken know the words. Now for the finale after a brief eight song set, of course they played Bodies and Ryan was down in the crowd for this one. Throwing his mic stand around getting the crowd to sing the big lines of the chorus, not sure if this was anti-climatic (as most were waiting to hear the moneyshot) or exhilarating because they got to sing it, either way, the fans loved it.
Hanging out in the Press area awaiting the announcement of the Wacken Metal battle winners for 2025, we get some respite from the weather. All of the metal battle bands were running around the Wacken united area, flying their country’s flags nice and high. The room was tense and filled with suspense and after a long lead up, they announced the winners in reverse order. Third place going to Hellbound from Bulgaria, second place Numento, from Finland and finally (drumroll….) in first place, Expellow hailing from Switzerland. The mood was electric, screaming, cheering and yes, even some crying. Well done Switzerland!
Then, the press were treated to a surprise intimate performance from none other than those crazy dino Metalheads, Heavysaurus. An up close and personal show followed by interviews with Creators and the musicians. The dino’s were being very cheeky running around the press tent creeping up behind people, it was a lot of fun to see them interacting with all the kids.
Back out into the wild, English doom greats, Orange Goblin were next on the Headbangers Stage. The sun set, shining down on the river of mud, creating an appropriate backdrop as they played their final show in Germany while on their ‘final ever tour’. Performing their ‘30th Anniversary Show’ for us, they were ready to settle down and take time for themselves and they certainly played for their lives. Orange Goblin have been such a strong hold for stoner/ doom fans over the years and honestly I felt like they should’ve had the glory of playing on a bigger stage. Ben Ward, ever the enigmatic frontman, his stance is staunch and he is of course in a Boltthrower shirt. A firm grasp on the microphone, he takes a swig of his 0.00% beer and spits a spray into the air. He meant business. Playing a backlog of songs spanning their entire career, it must have been a task choosing the setlist, but they nailed it. The filthy & the Few and The Devils Whip got them fist pumping and the Wacken mud people well…Swimming in the pit and doing mud people things. When they closed with Red Tide Rising and bid us farewell, it finally sank in. While we were happy for whatever comes next in their journey, musically or otherwise, but judging by the crowd’s faces, letting go wasnt going to be easy.
As the darkness of the night creeped over the hoards of fans braved the mud in the dark, which was literally an actual sport by this point. The infield and its surrounds were packed, not one space was free and everyone was at the Faster stage, keen to continue this weekend’s Nu-Metal resurgence with Papa Roach. Not only did they bring the crowd, but they brought us 90’s kids back to a time when life was a lot simpler. Jacoby Shaddix was a force of nature on the mic, bounding across the stage, engaging the crowd and unifying 80,000 metalheads into a joyous army of shout-alongs.
The set was a full-throttle spectacle, pyro blasts, rich visuals and relentless surprises. We’re talking medley covers of Linkin Park, Black Sabbath, Korn, Limp Bizkit and System of a Down, it was great to see them give a nod to those bands that helped them pave the way for this genre. However the real party peaked during their encore when they played the much anticipated, Last Resort and as expected, everyone knew the words. Watching Papa Roach awaken Wacken’s inner nu-metal teenager was wholesome as hell.
As the rest of Friday evening is a blur of cocktails and trying to walk and not fall over, many found themselves in the wasteland again for a show worthy of only Wacken’s best drunken loons. Scotland’s absolute troublemakers Party Cannon were up and they had already rallied one of the biggest circle pits of the festival and on the small (in comparison) Wasteland stage. Between fans wielding inflatable anything-they-could-find and curious passersby, the crowd was primed for madness. When it all erupted, it was some kind of beautiful disaster, you couldn’t help but watch it all unfold. Inflatable crocodiles and giant ice lollies were getting thrown around while a sign on stage demanded, “Lower your IQ!!” Playing songs like Weird But Not Illegal, employed hilarious push-up contests in the mud, it’s no wonder they have a cult following. I will sum it all up with the words of my friend Spike, as he was seeing them for the first time & it’s perfect:
“Caveman Death metal played whilst a guy in a gimp mask masterbated a one metre long penis and people crowdsurf on giant watermelon slices. Thirty foot flames shot high above this technicolour carnage and Party Cannon hate seriousness. It was beautiful and I wanted it to last forever.”
As we sit back at camp after that fever dream, we look up to see the sky is filled with a loving drone salute to the late Ozzy Osbourne. The glowing purple lights read, WE LOVE YOU OZZY, followed by the Black Sabbath logo flying its wings into the darkness. What a day and what a tribute.
W:O:A 2026 „The Anniversary“ ticket link: https://www.wacken.com/
– GALLERY –
