Wacken Open Air 2022 – Thursday Review

The skies cooled the hot air. The atmosphere was in a thrilling mood. All of a sudden, “OPEN THE GATES!!” was exclaimed the Wacken Open Air organisers after an exchange of thanks was given to the excitable spectators for the Faster and Harder stages greeting them. There was a genuine sense of comfort when fans ran through the barriers and onto holy ground. It was indeed, emotional.

Walking across the blazingly cool weather to the Wasteland Stage, Irish’s Dead Label grabbed the attention of TotalRock and their many spectators for the many years. The bright-eyed quartet created it first of many storm clouds and circlepits that permeated the height of the crowd with their metal fleetness. After jokingly commented on how the band couldn’t cope this n ew type of heat, it did not stop them blasting some great tracks to set the right mood for the rest of the day.

“Fuck yeah Wacken! Prost!” screeched Mork‘s leader Thomas Eriksen over the Headbangers Stage grounds as the Norwegian black metal quartet blasted “Arv” blasted through the speakers. There was a moment where it could have been a match made in hell moment when Kampfar’s vocalist Dolk bellowed his part for “Født til Å Herske”, unfortunately Dolk’s microphone was not working, so the crowd couldn’t hear the combination. Despite of the mishap, the hellraisers ended their thunderous set with Dype Røtter, giving their mass a satisfactory result.

From one exciting black metal act to another and this was no exception! Hailing from Portugal, Gaerea brought exactly where modern black metal should be – precise musicianship and atmospherically brutal in their own right. Filling the air with the baroscopic “Conspiranoia”, it immediately set the emotions skyrocketing with “Glare”, which gave “Mantle” the appreciation before their opus Mirage is due to be released. Their 40 minute stage presence came to an impeccable high with the thrilling “Urge” that left their Wacken crowd wanting more.

German heavy metal veterans Grave Digger commenced their musical bash with the Baul Muluy Pipes & Drums and Friends playing ‘The Brave’, filling the arena with much deserved excitement. As their mascot commanded the crowd  up and down the Harder Stage, “The Dark of the Sun” was thrown in to balance out the riveting numbers “Lions of The Sea” and “Killing Time”.  A much-needed circle pit launched for “Excalibur” and it was the song that their crowd was eagerly for! Grave Digger introduced their latest single with praise was “Hell is my Purgatory” landed their grand finale for ‘Heavy Metal Breakdown’.

The evening over the Wacken Open Air fields gave a welcomingly warm glow and the utmost pleasure of being embraced with classic anthems from Dirkschneider (ex Accept). Rumbling through the Wacken arena with their super triple threat “Starlight”, “Living For Tonight” & “Midnight Mover” which fans could not help but fist bump the air to! With the classic “London Leather Boys”, the crowd were given a duet by Dee Dammers and Andrey Smirnov to gently guide us with “Princess of the Dawn”. It wouldn’t be a Dirk Schneider set without a hit from Accept’s weighty anthem “Balls to the Wall” to finish off their enjoyable one hour set!

A little birdie told TotalRock that a surprise Amon Amarth concert was going to happen. Quite coincidentally, the next band was named Guardians Of Asgard! As the stages were approached a little closer, both the Faster and Harder stages were guarded by a medieval army front line of maidens and men standing strong. Then, low and behold! Swedish death metal vikings Amon Amarth were greeted with a battle roar as they stood high above their sea of fans. As far as Wacken Open Air surprises go, this was one of the most honourable moments to be witnessed by those present on the grounds. After announcing their new album ‘The Great Heathen Army’ release, the metal titans proceeded their way through their 6 song set and drew to a triumphant close with “Twilight of the Thunder God”.

The sun was setting over the W.E.T. Stage and for Pestilence, that did not stop the Dutch quartet from bring their dose of death metal to the eager fans, old and new. Proceeds were soon elevated when the dust rose from the ground with ‘The Secrecies of Horror’. Throughout their performance, an increase of spectators began to witness the band’s 1991 epic 1991 opus ‘Testimony of the Ancients” in its entirety with songs such as ‘Twisted Truth”, “Lost Souls” and “Land of Tears”. Pulling out a few more ferocious songs from their latest 2021 album ‘Exitivm’, songs like ‘Morbvs Propagationem’ and ‘Deificvs’, what was taken away from their scene was the pure energy and response from the crowd who soaked every moment.

Mercyful Fate were ready to bring their long-awaited performance to the masses with many classic hits, especially their 1982 respected classic ‘A Corpse Without Soul’ which erupted with solos and the primal screams from commander Kim Petersen. The overall vibe from their congregation of raised horns and belting out every word back was nothing short of perfect. To name a few, the Danish legends played a taster of a yet completed new track “The Jackal of Salzburg”, which was inspired from a stay in a historic Castle in Salzburg. As that was a new track that was formulated since their last album in 1999, it has certainly made an everlasting positive impression. “A Dangerous Meeting” & “Melissa” gave flare commemorating towards a smooth anthology of “Black Funeral”, “Evil” and their closer “Satan’s Fall”.

In the meantime, the night has come over Wacken Open Air. Musically, it was about to get darker too. Greek goliaths Rotting Christ gave their W.E.T Stage spectacle that captivated many, despite the Mercyful Fate and Judas Priest clash. As the night plunged further with their stunning trio “Fire, God and Fear”, “Elthe Kyrie” and “Apage Satana” their spectators were engrossed with the multi-layered soundscapes of continuous dark matter and melody. The quartet gripped their viewers one last time with their encore of “In Yumen-Xibalba” and “Grandis Spiritus Diavolos” that left smiles and sweat attached from their great no nonsense hour set.

The Faster Stage couldn’t hold back in introducing an iconic act that was celebrating fifty years of heavy metal reign. With style, UK’s Judas Priest finally brought their bombastic stage production resembling every iconic British elements to Wacken while not wasting a second. Without fail, the spectators quickly filled the arena floor as intense anticipation filled the air. Rob Halford and his crew blasted out classic heavy metal hits ranging from the easily recognisable ‘Breaking the Law’, the fantastically groovy “Hell Bent For Leather”, the adrenaline inducing ‘Pain Killer’ and the quintessential “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”. Out of curiosity while their closing track “Living After Midnight” ripped through the darkness, a full 360 degree turn was made to see the colourful sight of their audience. From the swarm of crowdsurfers being carried across the barriers to get closer to the idols to the union of fans belting every word to their favourite songs of the night made TotalRock felt content to the long wait and the overall outcome of Judas Priest‘s flawless performance.

Day two for TotalRock is now complete! From what the team have witnessed at Wacken Open Air so far, the weekend has only got started and Friday’s shenanigans are about to get better. Get ready!

Review: Phillip Krawiec

Photos: Sabrina Ramdoyal – TotalRock photo gallery