Sunday the 16th marked my one year anniversary here at Last.fm (ignore the 'Registered' date to the left, see 'Scrobbling since' instead). Here's a journal to mark the occasion.
Before I get to the albums, just a little bit about what Last.fm has done for me in that time. I can honestly say Last.fm is the site I'm most addicted to, more than any other. You hear of people saying they're addicted to Facebook; I could never use FB again at the drop of a hat (though I do like it) but Last.fm is so much more.
I've discovered some of my now favourite bands, either entirely through or with the help of Last.fm and the people I'm met here. Machinae Supremacy, Iced Earth, Evile, Sanctity and Dream Theater to name a few, but there are countless more on my ever growing "list of albums to get". Last.fm also took my music geekery to new heights, given the way I monitor my charts. In fact, here's a look at my chart toppers in my 52 weeks of being here:
And then of course, there's the people. Besides having Roobai breathing down the neck of my music taste (love you really! :-p), I've also met some awesome people here, the closest of whom are of course McMartin and Whitey. I'm not just mentioning you guys out of obligation to return a favour, I mean that, and I fucking can't wait til Megadeth! \m/ (McMartin, will eventually get around to sending you a pic so you can tell me apart from all the other 'typical metalheads' :-p)
Okay the albums, in an attempted but very vague reverse order.
12. Slayer - Christ Illusion
I know saying this is going to rattle a few cages, but I think I prefer new Slayer to anything they've done previously. Well, thier 80's work is masterful too, but I certainly prefer their 00's material to their 90's stuff. Christ Illustion starts fantastically with Flesh Storm; easily one of my favourite Slayer songs now. Other highlights include Skeleton Christ, Jihad, Black Serenade and Supremist. The album is by no means perfect - songs like Catalyst are easily forgotten and Catatonic can be irritating; and perhaps overall it isn't as altogether polished as albums such as South of Heaven (which was beaten to a spot on this list by a hairline). What can't be denied is how much I enjoy this album, and perhaps it is greater as whole than the sum of it's parts but so be it. Slayer have promised one more album before they call it a day, and if it's Christ Illusion mkII I'll be more than happy.
11. Rob Zombie - The Sinister Urge
I bought this album because a friend recommended Zombie. I later found out that friend had only heard one song - Dragula... once! But hey maybe it was meant to be, I love this album! I don't listen to much industrial, but the tight riffs and catchy chorus' on this album had me hooked from the first listen. Songs like Demon Speeding, Dead Girl Superstar, Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy) and Iron Head are almost impossible not to sing along to, and the crunching guitar sound is always appealing. Again, the album isn't perfect, but nothing beats it for the fun factor. I bought Hellbilly Deluxe 2 days ago and am loving it so far, who knows, it might be here in a years time...
10. Anthrax - Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
Controvesial! "Volume 8 over Spreading the Disease, you're crazy!". Yep, Volume 8 is a fantastic album which reminds me of a crazy mix between Pantera and new Metallica, which is odd. Songs like Inside Out, Born Again Idiot and Killing Box could very well be Pantera songs (yes, I know the Pantera boys guest on them), whilst Catharsis and the brilliant Harms Way have the new Metallica groove going on. Then we've got the System of a Down-esque 604 and Cupajoe, topped off with a fully blown country effort in Toast to the Extras (also one of my favs on the album). So I guess it's the variety that makes/breaks this album, love it or hate it: I love it.
9. Slayer - God Hates Us All
More of the new Slayer, this time my favourite Slayer album... *dodges flames* GHUA is solid nearly all the way through: Disciple, New Faith, Cast Down, Exile, Seven Faces, Here Comes the Pain, Payback... okay that's most of the tracks on the album already! Strangely the only song that doesn't appeal quite so much in Bloodline, which seems really popular even with the haters. To me, it grooves like a Diabolus in musica outtake, and that isn't a good thing. Oh, and this album is the ultimate anger release album.
8. Anthrax - Persistence of Time
Couldn't work out whether this should be above GHUA or not... as I said the order is vague. This is probably my favourite 'thrax album, Among the Living would come close but I bought that more than a year ago. I love most of the songs on this album, the least of which is again one of the most popular - Keep It in the Family. Don't see the fuss there. Best songs for me are Blood, In My World, Gridlock, Belly of the Beast and Discharge.
7. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
If you don't like Maiden, skip to number 3. Sorry, this is just the way it fell, bare in mind they're my top artist and I bought all 14 of their albums in the past year! SSOASS was the joint second Maiden album I bought after The Number of the Beast and along with Powerslave. This album has some weaker songs, namely The Prophecy, but the overall feel is very song. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is almost certainly my fav Maiden title track (and they've got some bloody good ones, think about it!), and I generally like the mellow production of the album coupled with the fantastic song writing. Hey, I even love Can I Play With Madness!
6. Iron Maiden - Powerslave Aces High is definitely one of my favourite Maiden opener, it rocks very hard. Many people complain about the middle 4 songs of this album being filler - whilst I wouldn't go that far, I agree that 3, 5 and 6 aren't as strong. But Flash of the Blade, filler?! No no no no no!! Possibly my fav on the album, that riff, the chorus, awesome! Elsewhere, Powerslave rocks with some nice lyrics, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner holds a place as my first 10+ minute song. Overall this album just wins out over SSOASS.
5. Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
Again this will rattle a few cages but I don't care. AMOLAD is tough to get into, but once you do it's totally worth it. Different World is uncharacteristic of the album but equally brilliant. All the other songs are in a simular style, but the likes of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, The Longest Day, For the Greater Good of God and The Legacy are definitly some of my favourite tunes from Maiden. The lyrics of this album are also consistently top notch for me, particually during the softer opening/closing of some songs. I would even rate The Pilgrim 5 stars :-p
4. Iron Maiden - Brave New World
Here lies my favourite Maiden album. I always feel too generous rating every song on an album 5 stars (Ride the Lightning achieved it), so Ghost of the Navigator currently sits on 4 in my iTunes. Put on any other album it would probably have 5; this album is so good! I'm considering very strongely bumping this up to #3 as I type, but I'll keep it with the rest of Maiden for simplicity. Not much more to say, this album is the epitomne of Iron Maiden and the heavy metal genre as a whole, buy it now even if you think you don't like metal. The Fallen Angel (linked as it needs some love!)
2. Machinae Supremacy - Deus Ex Machinae
Probably the toughest choice of this journal was choosing which MaSu album to place first. Yes folks, they really are that good. Eventually I went with Redeemer, but DXM has to take an equal amount of credit for being the album to get me into them having heard nothing about them previously. Every song on this album ranges from very good to mind blowing. Favourites are Flagcarrier, Return to Snake Mountain, Player One, Throttle and Mask and recently, Tempus Fugit. This album is the most SIDtastic of their overall releases, a sound that was to some extent lost with Redeemer in favour for the epic sound...
1. Machinae Supremacy - Redeemer (Underground Edition)
...and epic is the only word to describe this album! Well, along with ridiculously-awesome. MaSu certainly have reason to be arrogant in Elite. Rise and Fury/Fury 2007 are also fantastic with good riffage. As is Ronin. I think I'm in the minority of people who think the Japanese works really well in Kaori Stomp, but I'm certainly not alone when it comes to Oki Kuma's Adventure. Rogue World Asylum also deserves a mention, just for that chorus. I think what sets MaSu apart from the rest for me, besides the SID and Rob's voice, is the quality of the lyrics. Maybe they just really appeal to me, but MaSu consistently put out some of my favourite lyrics ever. Same goes for DXM above. Finally, it's not on either album but Winterstorm deserves a mention, for probably being the single best song I've discovered in the past 12 months!
Well that's that, I'm gonna go make a cuppa tea. If you read all that and you still have a pulse, cheers, let me know! :-)
This was the fourth time I'd seen Iced Earth and the first time in five and a half year. Four concerts and four completely different experiences. The first time was at the Waldrock Festival back in 1998. It was soaking wet and the band were throwing out promo cassettes from the stage, one of which I caught and still have. Later in the same year they headlined in Zaandam with Wicked Angel, Brainstorm and the mighty Sentenced as support. That one stands out as the concert with the most apathic crowd I've ever seen. After that it was waiting until 2002, when the band came over with a massive show to support the Horror Show album and acted as their own support act, doing older material before the break and new material after.
Which brings us back to 2007. Completely skipped first support Turisas and missed half of Annihilator. What I saw/heard from Annihilator was pretty good and in fact tons better the previous times I'd seen them, even when the new singer is no Randy Rampage. Which I suppose in a way was a central theme this evening : current singers vs previous singers.
Iced Earth's setlist was solid and varied. Quite a few songs from The Dark Saga were played (I Died for You, Violate, The Hunter and Vengeance Is Mine), but what surprised me was the few songs of the original Something Wicked album that were played. As the new album supposedly is based on the trilogy on that album, I was kinda expecting the whole three songs to be played, but none of that. It was My own saviour and nothing more. At least the really old stuff wasn't forgotten as the title tracks of both Iced Earth and Night of the Stormrider were played.
Stormrider was one of the stronger tracks this evening, no doubt fueled by the fact that Tim Owens had disappeared off the stage for a while. Hiring him was in my opinion the worst thing Jon Schaffer did. It was like Iron Maiden replacing Bruce Dickinson with Blaze Bailey. I mean, Owens is technically far superior to Bailey, but it's one of those unforgivable singer replacements. Mr.Owens annoyed the hell out of me with his constantly insisting on people clapping and screaming along. Several times he shrugged as if to say 'is that all?' and one time he even reacted to an applause with the words 'is that the best you can do?'. WTF?!? Whatever happened to earning your applause, earning the energy of the fans? It turned what could have been a great concert into something with many downsides. Also in the parts where a little bit of emotion got into the lyrics rather than straight power, Tim clearly looked uncomfortable. The emotion is for sissies type of uncomfortable.
What was left is many moments thinking back of that concert five years ago. A band as a unit with Matt Barlow walking up and down the stage like a caged lion, posing with his fellow band members and giving away a stunning vocal performance.
Before I went to the show I did some research on the support acts. First band on the bill is Turisas, a band from Finland who plays folk metal. Since I am not interested in that kind of music, I decided to skip them and leave home a bit later.
The next band that would play is Annihilator. A band which I've seen perform a couple of times before. I was not impressed back then and decided to take it easy to get to the venue. If I'd miss them it would not be a disaster.
When arriving at the venue I noticed they had made some dramatic changes to the interior. The entrance is a lot wider and the bar is suddenly located where I normally would bring my jacket for safekeeping. And there is also a stairs going down that was not there before. A bit confusing at first, but a major improvement since people can get out of the venue a lot faster when the show is over!
On the background I can hear that Annihilator is already playing. I still had time to catch a couple of songs like Alison Hell. I must say that the show and sound was a lot better than on previous shows and would not have mind to see more of them!
It's been a couple of years (5 according to the band) since the band played their last gig in The Netherlands. That was also the last time I saw them perform. Back then Matthew Barlow was still the lead singer. In the meantime he was replaced by former Judas Priest singer Tim Owens. During the show I learned that, in my opinion, this was not an improvement. More on that later...
Compared to previous concerts I attended, the stage was a bit empty. No props, just a huge backdrop. Nevertheless the band played a decent set with songs from a lot of albums. Some of the songs are:
All songs were played as can be expected... perfect. Only thing that really annoyed me, was the singer. He just does not have the expression/passion that Matthew had. All songs suddenly sound like they are being played by Judas Priest. And another thing I really REALLY hate is that he constantly insisted that the crowd clapped along, shouted 'HEY' and made more noise (or like he said 'is that all you've got?'). It is okay to do this a couple of times during a concert, but he nearly did it every song!
What I also noticed, was that I liked the music/concert a lot more when he disappeared off stage. The music seemed to have more power and passion at those moments. The band was a real band then. Which reminds me that Tim hardly had any interaction with the other band members. It was just like he was a total stranger to them. There was no 'fooling around', no standing right next to for instance Jon Schaffer (the musical brain).
A couple of guys after the concert said to each other that they were at a concert of Iced Priest. And I cannot agree more on that.
All in all the music was very good, the band really enjoyed themselves, the audience was great... but I want the old singer back.
Line-up: Tim Owens - vocals Jon Schaffer - rhythm, lead, acoustic & bass guitars Brent Smedley - drums
Solos on 5, 6, 10, 12, 14, 17 by Troy Seele
Clean guitar on 7 by Tim Mills
Bass on 7 and fretless bass on 12 by Dennis Hayes
Lead guitar on track 16 by Jim Morris
Hammond and keyboards by Howard Helm
I must say I awaited this album. For quite a while now I've been an Iced Earth fan (it all started when I heard "Alive in Athens" for the first time, but that's another story). Unlike many other people I actually enjoyed "The Glorious Burden" (with the exception of the Gettysburg trilogy, which I found extremely boring), it was a good, solid album, too bad it had more in common with power metal than with classic Iced Earth heavy/thrash. To see my rankings of Iced Earth albums prior to "Framing Armageddon" see this link. Anyway, let's now move on to the review, shall we?
I was cautiously optimistic after hearing "Overture of the Wicked" (however the new version of Something Wicked Trilogy is appalling, especially vocal-wise), but this optimism was soon to be brutally confronted with reality.
The album begins with an overture of some tribal, Native American rather than Eastern, sounds, but this is just a background setter and an introduction to the album. Then comes "Something Wicked (Part 1)" with some nice touches reminiscent of Something Wicked trilogy (both the lyrics and the melody), however this tune lacks power and heaviness. Nevertheless, as the album progresses it gets worse and worse. Those short, mostly instrumental, interludes are annoying and redundant (don't tell me they add to the story as "The Dark Saga" or "Night of the Stormrider" did well without such tunes). And so the album goes on, longer tracks interweave with shorter interludes but there is nothing to grab one's attention. Most of the songs are mid to down-tempo ballads, which make it even more difficult to listen to the album. There is nothing really exciting in that album with the exception of "Ten Thousand Strong", which is a good, powerful song with massive chorus, however it resembles "Declaration Day" too much for my taste. Then we again have a bunch of slow tracks (after "The Clouding" I nearly wanted to stop listening to this album) that sound like pop/rock ballads (save for the lyrics). After all that boredom comes "Framing Armageddon", which appears to be quite good one, but is nothing more than a decent song. The final two tracks don't differ from the majority of this album. And then comes this relief that it is finally over.
What is wrong with this album? Well, first of all it's so boring that I nearly fell asleep. Second, there is nothing exciting there (apart from the single), not even a single riff! And that's what disappoints me the most, once renowned for great, fast, heavy/thrash riffs, frequent rhythm and tempo changes in his songs Jon Schaffer seems to be either tired or getting old. Virtually all songs on "Framing Armageddon" are simple and have no more that one riff played over and over again. What is more, there is no heaviness, nor power to them. Yet another bad side of this album is Tim Owens. He's just a mediocre Rob Halford wannabe and I've never heard a good album featuring him on vocals (mind that "The Glorious Burden" was meant to be sung by Barlow). And one more thing - the choirs. Come on, this sounds like Demons & Wizards (which is far better than this album) or some similar power/epic metal bands.
As far as the good things are concerned ('cause there has be something good about it; it's not that bad, is it?) the first thing that springs up is Brent Smedley's drumming. And that's really it. I don't see any more positives. Jon plays slightly below his normal level, but he managed to record all the guitar parts.
OK, time to summarise. What we get is the worst Iced Earth album up to date. Apart from one song there is really nothing that one would like to come back to. I would say let's hope that the second part would be better, but it surely won't be better. Not much, at least. Honestly, since "Horror Show" there is this downward slope for the band. They release worse and worse albums, and instead of playing what they were (and still are) famous for they sink into power metalish crap. Not that I don't like power metal, but I really despise the direction that one of my favourite bands is heading to.
Ever since I discovered Iced Earth with The Glorious Burden I have been waiting for the follow up. My expectations were pretty high, I think that their previous effort, especially with the Gettysburg trilogy, was very solid. In fact, Gettysburg 1863 is nothing short of a symphonic masterpiece.
After listening about ten times to the album (and still can't stop listening to it), there are a few things that pop out:
If there was any doubt about Tim "Ripper" Owens, there should be no more left. The Ripper delivers a fantastic performance. As a vocalist, he is in the same league as the Gods: Dio, Halford and Dickinson. He can sing a trailblazer song like Ten Thousand Strong effortlessly and the same time put a lot emotions into ballads like The Clouding and Reflections.
Musically it's a much richer album than previous Iced Earth records (minus Gettysburg 1863). The album also has a distinct epic feel. Jon Schaffer definitely delivers. There are maybe two songs I don't enjoy as much, I can't find any weak tracks. There is also a great deal of variety on this album, everything from slow and heavy tracks to screamers to ballads to nice instrumental interludes. While not being a progressive metal album, it does delve into progressive territories with tracks like Something Wicked Part 2, The Domino Decree and The Clouding.
For a great song by song review, check out this review
Finally, not many bands can beat Iced Earth for catchy choruses. Combine great vocal performance from Ripper and the great melodies from Jon with catchy choruses and you got a 70 minute epic in your hands.
Ciao, per quelle 2-3 persone interessate ad un punto di vista sul Wacken di quest'anno eccovi le mie impressioni.
E' il sesto Wacken a cui io ed i miei amici Iko (Icomei) e Vio (cptFarlock) partecipiamo, e dalla scaletta e dalle nostre previsioni doveva essere un grande evento! Le aspettative erano tante visto che erano in programma una bella camionata di artisti che seguiamo da anni (Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Therion, Gravedigger, Stratovarius, Rage per dirne alcuni...) e per quelle novità che avevamo conosciuto da poco (non vedevo l'ora di vedere gli Haggard anche se su un palchetto sapevo che sarebbero stati strettini!! :))
Il primo giorno, dopo un po' di madonne a causa del tempo e del terreno fangoso che ci aveva costretto a piantare la tenda a km dall'area concerti, entriamo subito nello spazio concerti per respirare l'aria del Wacken, che sturba all'inizio per il suo miscuglio di odori (...e puzze...) ma poi inebria!!
:D
Non avevamo una meta, i gruppi del giovedì non li conoscevamo, quindi abbiamo bivaccato fra un palco e l'altro evitando i Sodom (non nelle nostre corde...) e fermandoci davanti al Party Stage, dove suonavano gli All That Remains, che ci hanno fatto una gran bella impressione. La gente che era là a vederli era ben fomentata, e ad un certo punto gli ATR hanno chiamato un "Circle of Death" o un "Circle Pit", ben seguito. Divertenti da vedere e coinvolgenti.
Ci siamo quindi gustati i Saxonche, nonostante gli anni pesino sulle loro spalle, hanno dato vita ad un gran bel concerto con un sacco di gente a vederli. Nonostante non conoscessi molte delle loro canzoni, sono rimasto ugualmente coinvolto e contento dello spettacolo.
Il giorno dopo siamo entrati con calma nell'area concerti, dopo aver perso Iko (le cui ultime parole sono state "andate avanti, che mo' vi raggiungo!!"... l'abbiamo ribeccato verso mezzanotte prima degli Iced... senza parole... :p), gli Amorphis non ci hanno impressionato un gran che, e io e Vio ci siamo messi in fila per i Therion, colmi di aspettativa perchè li avevo visti qualche Wacken prima con un'orchestra numerosa, e avevano dato vita ad uno spettacolo fantastico! Stavolta non si sono presentati con l'orchestra, ma il concerto è stato grandioso ugualmente! In 8 sul palco, 2 coriste (di una delle quali mi sono innamorato immediatamente, mentre Vio si è innamorato dell'altra... :)), due cantanti (uno presentato come "nuovo acquisto", veramente azzeccato), il chitarrista pelato veramente simpatico e coinvolgente, ci hanno regalato un'ora di buona musica. Peccato per l'orario: verso le 2 del pomeriggio l'atmosfera non ha giocato in loro favore, ma con una scaletta così, dove li piazzavi??
Finiti i Therion, siamo rimasti in fila per goderci i Grave Digger, un gruppo di cui siamo appassionati da molti anni. Intanto, sul palco a fianco hanno suonato i Possessed, di cui non ho memoria, quindi non mi sono piaciuti!! :p
I Grave però mi hanno personalmente deluso. Normalmente, quando entra in scena Chris Boltendahl, io penso qualcosa tipo "Cazzo, sono venuto a vedere un vecchio che strepita sul palco!!!" ma poi, con la carica sua, del gruppo e delle canzoni, si cancella questo pensiero e rimane l'esaltazione. Stavolta, Chris non mi ha fatto ricredere, vuoi perchè hanno suonato diverse canzoni dall'ultimo album (che personalmente ritengo una schifezza...), vuoi perchè la carica non mi è sembrata all'altezza, vuoi perchè Chris si è scordato un paio di strofe durante una canzone... insomma il pensiero di cui sopra è rimasto. Mah, sarò stato io!!
:|
Vabbè, dopo i Grave abbiamo un po' di tempo prima dei Lacuna e dei Blind, quindi facciamo una velocissima passatella dai Falconer (che non ci sono per niente piaciuti, quindi aria...), abbiamo visto da molto lontano i Turbonegro (in mutande...), e ci siamo messi in fila per i Lacuna. Il posto che abbiamo trovato era fichissimo, molto vicino al palco, sotto le casse di sinistra, ma forse a posteriori è stato un errore perchè per i Blind siamo stati a km di distanza dal palco tanta era la gente!!
In fila per i LC ci siamo goduti J.B.O., un gruppo tedesco che fa spettacolo prendendo in giro altri cantanti prevalentemente dal mondo Pop (vi lascio immaginare uno di loro che saltellava per il palco (s)vestito da Britney Spears mentre il resto del gruppo intonava una sua canzone in chiave metal... :D). Divertenti!
Come gruppo italiano, al Wacken abbiamo visto solo i Rhapsody diversi anni fa, me li ricordo verso l'ora di pranzo con un oceano di persone ad attenderli (era un momentone per loro... se non erro subito dopo l'uscita del secondo album) e, appena usciti, sono rimasti spiazzati da tutta la gente che era lì per loro. L'esibizione è stata molto tesa da parte loro, e il chitarrista prese un paio di stecche. Al contrario, i Lacuna Coil sono stati molto naturali sul palco: Cristina e Andrea hanno subito catturato l'attenzione dei milioni di persone che erano lì a sentirli, aiutati dal resto del gruppo, che ci è parso in gran forma. Non me ne voglia Andrea (se mai leggerà sto papier...) ma Cristina fa una gran figura sul palco, si fa fatica a starle dietro visto come saltella e la sua voce spacca veramente, oltre naturalmente ad essere molto bella. Evidentemente sono molto seguiti perchè la folla ha cantato a squarciagola tutte le canzoni. Ottima esibizione!!
E dopo i Lacuna ecco arrivare il momento dei Blind Guardian, uno dei miei e nostri gruppi preferiti. Naturalmente, essendo tedeschi, hanno un seguito spaventoso in quel di Wacken, ed infatti, dopo essere stato vicinissimi durante i LC, abbiamo perso l'opportunità di stare davanti ai BG, e non di poco!! Complice la fanga creatasi, eravamo decisamente a distanza, tanto che l'audio non era dei migliori: si sentivano poco la voce e le chitarre.
I Blind Guardian hanno fatto un concerto veramente spettacolare, un'ora e mezza sfruttata appieno, con incursioni nell'arcaico (l'immensa Valhalla) e prendendo a piene mani da Imaginations From The Other Side (visto che probabilmente li ha consacrati...) e da Nightfall in Middle Earth. I tedeschi che avevo attorno probabilmente erano quasi tutti fan dell'ultima ora, visto che non conoscevano a memoria canzoni come Born in a Mourning Hall e Imaginations From the Other Side, che io ho cantato a squarciagola assieme ad un crucco taglia XL con cui avevo "trovato una sintonia". :) Peccato che si senta molto l'assenza di Thomen... non che il nuovo batterista non sia bravo, ma Thom riempiva tutto il suono creando un "tappeto" di piatti... :(
Bon, dopo i Blind siamo rimasti in fila per gli Iced (altro nostro gruppo preferito...) e fortunatamente i Dimmu Borgir ci hanno dato una mano, spostando un casino di persone, il che ci ha permesso di sceglierci un gran posto per vedere e sentire.
Avevamo già visto gli IE al nostro primo WOA, nel 2000, e ci erano strapiaciuti, con un'esibizione fantastica e grazie anche alla supervoce di Barlow (torna, cazzo!!). Eravamo più che fomentati al pensiero di rivederli!!
La folla è esplosa quando sono saliti sul palco, gli Iced Earth sono amatissimi al Wacken, e anche stavolta hanno fatto uno show spettacolare, fra musica (riarrangiata alla grande per adattarsi alla voce di Tim Owens), luci, effetti speciali e Schaffer, che ha una presenza scenica imponente. Grande performance, arricchita dal singolo appena uscito (Ten Thousand Strong... niente male, lo devo risentire) e dalla Trilogy of the Wicked fatta così all'improvviso che siamo tutti scoppiati quando è iniziata: fantastica dal vivo!! (anche se continuo ad immaginarmela con la voce di Barlow...:|) Schaffer ci ha poi deliziati pretendendo di cantare Iced Earth (e Tim ha giustamente lasciato il palco al chitarrista...).
Con l'adrenalina a 2000 siamo usciti dall'area concerti (gli Apokalyptischen avevamo già avuto modo di capire che non ci piacevano... così come i Samael...) e ce ne siamo andati a fare le ninne.
:D
Ed eccoci al secondo ed ultimo giorno, anche questo per noi gonfio di gruppi da seguire, anche se la mattinata era piuttosto libera. Entriamo poco prima dei Moonspell (bello l'ultimo singolo Luna ma niente di che, il resto non mi piace) e ci mettiamo tranquillamente in fila per gli Stratovarius. Non siamo particolarmente fomentati per questo gruppo, che seguivamo assiduamente qualche tempo fa (ai tempi di Visions). Li abbiamo visti altre 3 volte dal vivo (2 a Roma e 1 a Wacken dove Kotipelto si bruciò una mano con gli effetti speciali...), trovo le canzoni piuttosto ripetitive (anche se orecchiabili e carine) ed il fatto che sfornino un album l'anno mi fa pensare che non ci sia un grande sforzo dietro... cmq sono in scaletta e ce li sentiamo. E infatti ci fanno una gran bella impressione: Tolkki è diventato un mastodonte dalla manina fatata, e l'ispirazione di tutto il gruppo ci scioglie e mi ritrovo a cantare a squarciagola roba vecchina come Visions, Speed of Light, Father Time e l'immancabile cavallo di battaglia Black Diamond!! Bravi, bravi... ma state bene così!!! :D
Per i Rage riusciamo a metterci piuttosto davanti (altro gruppone, poi stavolta si presentano con la Lingua Mortis Orchestra, anche se orfani di Mike Terrana!!!) e ci sorbiamo i pessimi Dir en grey: raramente ho visto o sentito un gruppo che mi piaceva meno (anche se, se mi ci impegno, qualche nome salterà sicuramente fuori...), ed il fatto che il cantante dava l'impressione di fare uno show solo per sè (oltre naturalmente al fatto di autoinfliggersi ferite con le unghie, certo...) non ha aiutato minimamente. Via alla svelta, che c'è un signor Gruppo!!!
Ed ecco, l'Orchestra inizia a prendere posto, i musicanti sono stralunati dalla gente che c'è a vederli, siamo tantissimi (i Rage sono adorati qui...) e finalmente ecco Peavey e Charlie Sheen (ergo Victor Smolski travestito...) salire sul palco. Noi e tutte le migliaia di persone esplodiamo per tutta l'ora abbondante di concerto, Peavey ci fomenta e tiene le redini dello spettacolo, l'Orchestra fa faville e ottimi passaggi tra cui spiccano (secondo me) Alive but Dead, un Medley e l'immortale Higher Than the Sky, durata come al solito un casino mentre alcuni componenti dell'Orchestra ci fotografavano e guardavano stupiti seguire Peavey ripetere all'infinito "Higheeeeeeeeeer than the Skyyyyyyyyyyy we're higheeeeeeeer than the sky-sky-sky!!!". Spettacolo allo stato brado!!
:D
Gran finale: bivacchiamo un po' in attesa degli Stormwarrior (feat. Kai Hansen, non dimentichiamolo...) che poi ci porteranno agli attesissimi (per noi...) Haggard!!
Tralasciamo i Norther (...) gli Stormwarrior hanno fatto un bel concertino per una mezz'ora, con canzoni power semplici ma carine, abbellite da buona tecnica da parte loro. Poi è salito sul palco Kai Hansen, uno degli idoli del Wacken, con mia grande sorpresa senza chitarra: è salito col microfono e la folla è esplosa: sacrifici umani, scene di panico, masse isteriche... il caos!!!
:p
Supportato dai ragazzi degli Stormwarrior ci ha regalato delle perle arcaiche (dai tempi di Walls of Jericho) tipo
Of Sins and Shadows
