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

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

They don’t waste any time, do they?

The first bands announced for Wacken 2010 are the mighty Immortal, and serious but out-there medieval metallers Corvus Corax.

I’m pretty impressed that announcements are being made already. Perhaps the organisers learnt their lesson from 2009, when they got hammered on their own forums and elsewhere for not releasing any information about the line up for such a long time – meaning the information when it did come couldn’t possibly live up to the hype and anticipation that surrounded it. Last year’s first band (Machine Head) wasn’t announced until mid September, before tickets even went on sale.

Whatever the reason, I’m excited as hell (don’t forget, any picture can be improved by adding Immortal to it) and will be eagerly awaiting further announcements, as always!

First bands confirmed for Wacken 2010 is a post from: hell bent for metal

So Wacken came, went and fucking destroyed.

My full festival diaries will be coming soon to Metal As Fuck, so I’ll link them here when they’re published. For now though, we just have the inevitable feeling of sadness that it’s over for another year

Sometime while we were recovering from the festival in Hamburg (festival recovery involves numerous hot showers, drinking beer that is actually cold, eating things containing vegetables and sleeping) special “X-mas package” tickets, limited to 10,000 and including a t-shirt, went on sale for Wacken 2010. A mere ten hours later, before we’d even noticed it had started, the X-mas package sold out. That’s nuts.

Fortunately the day we came back an Australian friend noticed that regular tickets were on sale so we snapped ours up. Wacken 2010 here we come!

Over for another year… is a post from: hell bent for metal