The only few bands that I'd like to see on the billing would be Blind Guardian, Elvenking, Manowar, Ensiferum and Wintersun. Apart from them not being booked yet I'm saying this is quite a decent lineup already
So too much negative talk here, though some of u BM or DM ppl might still have som justified whine
The lineup is only "good" if you have a particular love for the "big" bands of the folk/viking scene, melodeth, progressive, metalcore, or groove metal in general that are really geared towards the same fans when you think about it. There are some decent old school bands on the bill, yeah, but overall its over shadowed by the above. Personally, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with folk metal as I like it myself its more the rest that, in addition to the bigger bands of the folk genre, tends to attract a certain kind of people.
Personally, out of the lineup so far I'm only
really excited to see Whiplash, I think. I'm very curious to check out Sarke, to tell the truth. I'll definitely be going to see Korpiklaani and Turisas that is for sure, as they are fucking awesome live bands and the amuse the hell out of me(its only what I said above that, at least in my experience, many of the people attracted to the above seem to be showing up in these kinds of shows too...so if you give them both then double of those types will end up showing up
). I'll also likely be seeing Kampfar as they were pretty decent last time.
But given the current billing that leaves me rather unexcited I guess I will also be checking out Endstille, Enslaved (old material great...but not sure how I feel about seeing them live based on the new material), Einherjer and Napalm Death (which isn't all that exciting since I think every metalhead in the world has managed to see Napalm Death about ten million times without actually trying
)
And well, Saxon is Saxon
Ok so I have about two bands that I've never seen that I'm quite exicted about, two bands that I've seen before but are always great fun to see live, and the rest that I'll be seeing just because there is nothing better so far. Am I paying nearly 200 Canadian dollars to see bands that I would not actually pay for a ticket to see them live under non-Wacken circumstances?
Actually, when you look at it there are actually almost literally no black metal, death metal, or thrash metal bands. It's not that we "may" have something to complain about, but rather that this year's festival seems to be dedicated to, excuse my french, watered down piss
(Before complaining please see: Dragonforce, Bullet for My Valentine, Walls of Jericho, Callejon, Kingdom of Sorrow, Lacuna Crap, Epicrap, Machine Head etc. etc. I mean seriously, what is this crap?). Even though I am only really a "big" fan of a handful of traditional heavy metal bands, I would rather have an entire festival made up of them and no extreme stuff than have a festival full of rather shitty, shitty "metal" (if some of that even qualifies, for crying out loud) any day of the week.
Honestly, when I see people who were complaining before just give and say "well, I guess its not so bad" I can't help but feel that they're only saying this because they're giving up hope and just settling for second/third/furthest from first rate bands. I mean, I suppose the lineup is alright if I want to spend the week surrounded by a horde of emos and not hear any good bands blasting at any point in time from off in the distance, or have the opportunity to see good bands
[/rant]
And yeah, despite my whining I'm still sitting here waiting for the next updates with my fingers glued crossed
