How to Have a Heavy Metal Summer

From hearing of the stories behind the songs from the Scorpions at Wacken to listening to Mumbai-based Demonic Resurrection in Brutal Assault in the Czech Republic, it was an extreme headbangers ball

August 19, 2015 04:14 pm | Updated March 29, 2016 04:12 pm IST - Bengaluru

Nothing can stop them

Nothing can stop them

On our way to the Orwohaus facility in Berlin, we pass through plenty of residential complexes and are told by our guide, “For some musicians, it is more important to have a practice space than a flat.” Beholding the 2,500 square metres of nothing but jam rooms, a recording studio, a live venue and an open space backyard for gigs, it is evident that music is more than just a profession in Germany.

And, when it comes to metal music, it is more of a craze. Beyond Orwohaus, beyond the Federal Foreign Office and local governing bodies funding and supporting venues across Berlin and other cities, when you see 75,000 fans show up to a festival like Wacken Open Air, you truly understand Germany’s love for metal.

The village of Wacken, located about an hour’s drive away from Hamburg, turns into a world in itself in July every year. The locals are selling food and beer and blasting metal through speakers, the festival-goers are of all ages – from seven to 70 – sporting the trademark black T-shirt or leather jacket.

Twenty-five years ago, in 1990, Thomas Jensen started out with his friends to have a heavy metal festival in Wacken. At one point, he managed all artists playing on four stages across two days. “That was for the first 10 years,” says Jensen, now at his relaxed best at the Artist Village, spending time with the festival’s biggest bands. This year, Wacken Open Air hosted the likes of Judas Priest, Rob Zombie, Cannibal Corpse, Dream Theater, Opeth, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Europe and about 80 more, across six stages.

Jensen says, “I think when we started, nobody had us on their radar. Just the village and the mayor – they said, ‘Ah, young people – why not? If it does not cost us any money, they can do what they want’. Then it grew bigger, and people realised, there is something going on. ‘Oh there’s a traffic jam and stuff, what’s going on?’ But we’ve always had good relations with local authorities.”

During this uniquely crafted visitor programme exploring heavy metal in Germany, an evening with hard rock/metal legends Scorpions was equally fantastic – to sit down to dinner and have them regale us with stories behind songs, world tours and more at their Peppermint Studio in Hannover, vocalist Klaus Meine told us about the evolution of heavy metal in Germany.

“The metal community has become stronger over the years. Heavy metal started out as the outsider in the music industry,” says a 67-year-old Meine, who is still energetic and most unassuming for all his rockstar experiences. About Wacken’s role in this heavy metal history, Meine says, “When you look at a festival like Wacken, which is celebrating 25 years, I think the acceptance of heavy metal music is much bigger. There are so many bands. The level of this festival is just amazing. You can see it on the evening news on TV, you know? Thirty years ago, heavy metal would make it into the eight O’ clock news? That’s amazing.”

There’s a certain pride in everything at Wacken – even if you have to traverse through knee-deep mud and risk having your foot permanently lodged into some mucky abyss.While the first two days had intermittent rain, there was sunshine all day on the next two days, the festival always proclaims on its posters, “See you in Wacken – Rain or Shine!”

At metal festivals, the norm is not to care about rain or shine as long as there are some great bands on the billing. Fast forward to next week, and temperatures went up to 44 degrees at Czech Republic’s biggest metal gathering – Brutal Assault. The four-day metal fest, which included a mix of underground metal favourites such as death metal band Demilich or heavy hitters such as black metal band Mayhem, groove metallers Sepultura and Swedish death metallers At the Gates. There were black T-shirts aplenty at Brutal Assault, held at the Fortress Josefov in Jaromer, about 130 kms from Prague, but the heat made sure most men were shirtless and constantly cooling themselves off with water from nearby taps while the women looked like they were attending a brutal beach party in bikinis.

With some solid performances by the likes of mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan, a tribute to American death metal legends Death, and folk/groove metallers Soulfly, Brutal Assault was extreme on all counts – from the sounds to sights to just the feeling of being sunburned.

But it was nice feeling that India wasn’t too far away from Czech Republic. Brutal Assault had two Mumbai-based metal bands at their festival, including veteran extreme metallers Demonic Resurrection, who had fans shouting out their lyrics and requesting songs amidst a hot afternoon set where they dominated. Frontman Sahil ‘The Demonstealer’ Makhija was thankful for the crowd showing up in numbers and harked back to their first time at the festival, back in 2010.

Death metal band Gutslit was the other Indian band taking the main stage at Brutal Assault, bouncing and grooving around to around 800 people at 11 in the morning. While Demonic Resurrection were finishing off their Europe tour, which started in Slovenia in July, Gutslit were just about to kick off their Europe tour, including a handful of club shows in several countries.

The fact that two Indian metal bands made it to Brutal Assault shows that even Europe’s biggest metal festivals are not at all about playing it safe or sticking to favourites. Wacken Open Air founder Jensen knows this.

Jensen assures that at 25 years, Wacken is not under doing any quarter-life crisis. He is more than happy that his young German crew is as gung-ho about organising the festival as he used to be. If we can continue, it is a gift given by the fans to do what we do. He says cheekily, “I don’t want to sit behind a desk going, ‘Oh we did it this way, man’. I want that the young people take over and I just get to hang out and do interviews.”

The writer was invited to Germany by the Federal Foreign Office, Berlin

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