Our side-trip to Switzerland this year is largely homage to my love of two Swiss icons: H.R. Giger and Celtic Frost. While I haven’t had any luck trying to line up purchase of one of Tom Gabriel Warrior’s death masks, the tie-in just got a little cooler with the announcement that the ex-Celtic Frost front man will be performing on stage at Wacken with Norwegian black metal supergroup Sarke.
It’s like they knew I was coming!
So all along, we’ve know that this year we were going to Wacken, and spending more time in Poland. But how we would spend our time in between these two locations was still up in the air.
Last year, we went (far too briefly) to Slovenia, then spent a week in Italy. We were thinking of spending time this year in Norway and Sweden, but in the end we’ve decided to go to Switzerland instead.
Why Switzerland, you may ask? Well, not for Toblerone, mountains, cheese, clocks or Swiss bank accounts – but for art and black metal. From Hamburg, we’re going to fly to Zurich, then take the train to Gruyères to visit the HR Giger Museum. We have four nights all up and will divide our time between these two places, although exactly how we have not yet decided.
If possible, I’m also going to try and get my hands on a death mask made by Tom Gabriel Warrior, of Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Triptykon fame. These masks are gorgeous works of slightly unsettling art and while I’m not sure I’d trust delivery to the regular postal system, in-person pick up is apparently sometimes possible. Fingers crossed.
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