Fear Factory have been announced for Wacken. I’d be doing a little happy dance right now, except that wouldn’t be very metal. Metalbeast can confirm that I ripped off my headset and threw the horns before I could even vocalise the news.

So first Gojira, now Fear Factory… would it be cheeky to suggest a third must-see band, Triptykon? They’ll be touring in Europe at the time, surely it wouldn’t be too much a stretch. Wacken, Party.San, Summer Breeze? Anyone?

I did my very first video interview in January, with Burton and Dino from Fear Factory. You can laugh at me here: Soul of an old machine.

You just try and wipe this smile off my face is a post from: hell bent for metal

Last year, the all-new Fear Factory lineup announced headlining club dates in Hamburg (the day after we left) and Australia including Perth (two days after we arrived back home). But then those dates were cancelled due to their ongoing legal issues and the band went and recorded a new album instead.

They were then added to the Big Day Out festival in Australia, but after most of the dates had already sold out and we weren’t about to pay to go when there was only one band we wanted to see on the bill anyway. So our chances of seeing them live were snatched away again.

Now the new album, Mechanize, is out (it’s a ripper) and a set list from a recent show in Amsterdam has a few of the new songs in it. Fear Factory have been announced for the following European festival dates:

• Hellfest (France), June 18–20
• Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium), June 25–27
• With Full Force (Germany), July 2–4
• FortaRock (Holland), July 3
• Sonisphere (United Kingdom), July 31
• Brutal Assault (Czech Republic), August 12–14

Now, to me that looks like there’s some big gaps in there, particularly in July and the beginning of August. My bet is that there will be some more Festival gigs announced and maybe even some sideshows. Party.San is on at the same time as Brutal Assault so that’s probably out, but Wacken at the beginning of August and Summer Breeze on August 19–21 leave me with hope.

I’ll be keeping a keen eye out! Wacken organisers, you finally listened to me a booked Gojira… here’s another tip for you!

Wanted: Festival Factory is a post from: hell bent for metal

Either the Wacken organisers started listening to what I’ve been saying for the last three years, or they got sick of my whining – either way, I’m pleased to note that my favourite French environmentalists Gojira were added to the lineup in January. (The thought that I had nothing to do with this announcement has, of course, not crossed my mind).

I’ve been a huge fan of this band for a couple of years now, and while I have all their releases (including the ridiculously hard to find debut, Terra Incognita), my favourite by far is their second album, The Link, partly because of the amazing percussion (including mallet percussion) parts. I’m fairly sure that these days we won’t be hearing many (if any) tracks off The Link but never mind, it’s all killer stuff.

I’m also a bit of a sucker for accents, and once listened to the beginning of an interview where the Gojira frontman said “’ello, my name is Jo-seeeeph Du-plant-i-aaaaaair” about 20 times in a row. So cute. Ahem.

Success: Gojira added to Wacken is a post from: hell bent for metal

In the leadup to Christmas, both Wacken and Summer Breeze announced one band every day – in the case of Summer Breeze, sometimes more than one – so their lineups, while not complete, are pretty well padded. Party.San didn’t get in on the advent trend, but they’ve made a few announcements in recent weeks that make us very happy metalheads indeed.

The biggest one for me is Sarke. This Norwegian black metal collaboration between Sarke himself and Darthrone’s Nocturno Culto played Wacken last year and I made sure I saw it because Tom G Warrior was making a guest appearance for a Celtic Frost cover. While I was expecting that to be awesome – and fuck, it really was – what I wasn’t expecting was to be blown away by the rest of their set. But they were great, and I’ve got the album now, and I think it’s going to be really fun to see them play at Party.San especially because it’s going to  be a much smaller and more intimate festival.

Other announcements that are pretty cool include Suffocation, Milkingthegoatmachine (check em out, hilarious stuff) and Dying Fetus. The full lineup so far is:

AURA NOIR
CANNIBAL CORPSE
DEMONICAL
DEVOURMENT
DYING FETUS
KETZER
MÅNEGARM
MERRIMACK
MILKING THE GOATMACHINE
MONSTROSITY
NECROPHAGIST
OFERMOD
SARKE
SUFFOCATION
SUICIDAL ANGELS
THE CROWN
THE DEVIL’S BLOOD
TRIBULATION
UNDER THAT SPELL
VARG
WATAIN

Party.San heating up is a post from: hell bent for metal

Well, we decided to harden the fuck up and our 2010 metal extravaganza tour will now have three stops: Wacken, Party.San and Summer Breeze.

Co-incidentally, this is the same route that Soundworks Metal Festival Travel will be taking – but we’re not going with them (although it’s a good deal they’re offering) as we have our own plans before and after.

In the lead up to Anti-Christmas this year, both Wacken and Summer Breeze have been announcing a new band every day (in the case of Summer Breeze, quite often two bands are announced). It’s a far cry from last year where Wacken didn’t announce anything at all for bloody ages and disappointed the hell out of everyone.

We now have an absolutely insane list of bands that we could potentially see. Several of then we will have the opportunity to see multiple times. It’s absolutely brutal.

Wacken

• 1349
• Arch Enemy
• Cannibal Corpse
• Crucified Barbara
• Despised Icon
• Endstille
• Grave Digger
• Immortal
• Motley Crue
• Slayer
• U.D.O.

And also Alice Cooper, Amorphis, Caliban, Corvus Corax, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Edguy, Ektomorf, Ghost Brigade, Iron Maiden, Kampfar, Lake of Tears, Orden Ogan, Primal Fear, Stratovarius, The Devil’s Blood, Torfrock, W.A.S.P.

Party.San

• Cannibal Corpse
• Suffocation
• Watain

And also The Devil’s Blood, Demonical, Aura Noir, Manegarm, Tribulation.

Summer Breeze

• 1349
• Ahab
• Behemoth
• Cannibal Corpse
• Dark Tranquillity
• Despised Icon
• Gorgoroth
• Hypocrisy
• Kylesa
• My Dying Bride
• Obituary
• Origin
• Sepultura
• War From a Harlot’s Mouth

And also Anathema, Asphyx, Barren Earth, Callisto, Cumulo Nimbus, Dark Funeral, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Dying Fetus, Eisbrecher, Eisregen, Ensiferum, Feuerschwanz, Fiddler’s Green, Freiwild, Gwar, Hail of Bullets, Ill Nino, Insomnium, Korpiklaani, Leaves Eyes, Letzte Instanz, Long Distance Calling, Maroon, Mono Inc, Necrophagist, Orphaned Land, Pantheon I, Poisonblack, Rebellion, Solstafir, Subway to Sally, Swallow the Sun, The Crown, The Devils Blood, Tracedawn, We Butter The Bread With Butter.

Tooo… much… metal!

New plans: three festivals is a post from: hell bent for metal

As a warm up for everyone, tonight’s clue was pretty simple – which artists current album is called Dominator. And the survey says – UDO, the awesomely angry little man (of Accept fame) with a kick ass voice. What a great start to proceedings!

Balls to the Wall is a post from: hell bent for metal

In 2008, we went to Slovenia to stay with a friend – sadly, it was only for three days. It took less than one day to fall in love with the place – the breathtaking natural scenery, the history that is all around you, the friendliness of the people, the pivo – oh yes, the beer. Lasko, I miss you.

In Slovenia, not far from where we stayed, they have a five day metal festival, Metal Camp. It looks fucking awesome but five days is a very long slog. However, I just read a report from Metal Rules about Metal Camp 2009 and from their (14 page!) account, it actually sounds really good, much more laid back than Wacken or some of the other big festivals. (If you can’t be bothered reading all of it, skip to page 14 for the summary).

Notably, bands don’t start until early evening, which means that there’s time to relax and if you feel like it, visit some of the local attractions during the day. Much more civilised than trying to simultaneously deal with a hangover, excessive light, queue for breakfast food and watch black metal bands at 11am!

Unfortunately the dates for 2010 are in early July, which means it’s a bit too early for us to consider trekking to. But it’s worth considering for future years I think!

Has anyone been? What did you think?

Anyone been to Metal Camp in Slovenia? is a post from: hell bent for metal

Wacken is set in stone. Party.San is looking good.

Would adding Summer Breeze, the week after Party.San, be too ambitious?

Pros: Obituary are playing.

Cons: After two festivals we’re likely to be a bit worn out and ever-so-slightly meh. Not to mention probably broke.

What do you reckon? Over-ambitious or are we being emo?

Is three festivals too many for one trip? is a post from: hell bent for metal

Dave and I were fortunate enough to win “meet and greet” passes with Arch Enemy at their show in Perth last week… which was heaps of fun! We got to meet most of the band but the person who was really cool to talk to was Sharlee D’Angelo, their bass player. Sharlee mentioned that while it wasn’t 100% final yet, the band were in negotiations to play Wacken 2010. Cool!

While there haven’t been any more official announcements for Wacken, Party.San, frontrunner for “additional festival in 2010” has had Cannibal Corpse, The Devil’s Blood and Demonical added to their existing list which includes Aura Noir, Manegarm, Suffocation, Tribulation and Watain. We missed CC due to a date clash when they played Perth last, so it would be awesome to see them – and even more so in a festival setting.

Summer Breeze has also had some announcements, including my favourite band Obituary. That one is the week after Party.San – so when we were planning to be in Poland — but it’s worth keeping in mind.

Anyone else making early plans for the 2010 European festival circuit?

More 2010 festival announcements is a post from: hell bent for metal

The Metalbeast and I have been now to two Wacken festivals. We are of course in possession already of tickets for 2010 – but are thinking it’s time to expand the festival itinerary and take in another event while we’re in Europe.

There’s so many to choose from that it’s going to be a hard decision. Obviously stuff that is close to Wacken – both in distance and timing – is one of the key factors. We might be able to extend our trip to four weeks this time around, and whatever else happens we definitely want to spend time in Poland at the end.

Top contender for our second festival in 2010 is, at the moment, Party.San. It’s only a few hours from Wacken and is a week after. They have announced a handful of bands already and as their lineups are typically all black and death metal, it’s looking very appealing indeed. We could hire a car after Wacken, drive down there in half a day, and use the vehicle as a place to store all the crap we will have accumulated by then. We will probably have at least three other Aussies with us so hiring a van might be an economical and cool option.

Because we have mates in the UK, there’s also the possibility of Bloodstock. It’s also the week after, although it’s slightly more complicated to get there. The only thing going against it are the fact that it’s quite expensive to eat and drink there, even more so as the Aussie dollar is not as strong against the pound as it is against the euro. On the plus side, they’ve already announced Behemoth (Dave’s favourite band) and Obituary (my favourite band) for 2010. Given that both those bands are touring in 2010 it’s likely they’ll end up on other bills too, so that’s not too compelling a factor just now.

A certain person also would like us to go to Headbanger’s Open Air. It’s the week before Wacken, and also in Germany, but it’s all thrash and as such, not our cup of tea, so to speak.

Where to go, where to go? Ideas anyone?

Expanding the festival itinerary is a post from: hell bent for metal