WACKEN WORLD WIDE goes webtastic with ANTHRAX, IN FLAMES and MOTÖRHEAD.

WACKEN-WORLD-WIDE.COM/MAGNETA MUSIK 360 Motörhead, Maiden and Priest bring the memories as metal’s biggest festival goes virtual

WEDNESDAY

A slightly glitchy service doesn’t detract from a well-curated online bill of music, discussion and clinics to placate fans who are missing the world’s biggest metal festival. A feature showing how the Wacken Battle Metal competitions that take place in every corner of the globe are crucial in growing and sustaining metal’s lifeblood is augmented by songs from Spanish thrashers CRISIX, the melodic choruses of Israel’s

WALKWAYS and folky pandemonium of Romania’s E-AN-NA.

Power metal legends RAGE are an even longer German institution than Wacken, and mark their umpteenth appearance on the festival’s behalf by playing a sturdy nine-song set in the magnificent Balve Cave. ANTHRAX’S living room set of Time, Madhouse and

I Am The Law is a chirpy appetiser for

BODY COUNT’S first ever show at Whisky a Go Go after being banned from Hollywood Boulevard 30 years ago. Starting with fists held aloft, the likes of Point The Finger, Black Hoodie and No Lives Matter are particularly poignant, while a slapdash cover of Raining Blood and Voodoo’s silliness add a bit of light relief.

DORO’S recent drive-in show may be the norm for a while, and clips from the set offer one of the weekend’s most authentic experiences, with an actual crowd singing back the likes of All For Metal. TRIVIUM offer up two tracks from their superb A Light Or A Distant Mirror stream, but it’s LONG DISTANCE CALLING who are the band of day.

The immaculate sound and beautiful visuals for each track offer a sublime peek at new album How Do We Want To Live?. THERAPY?’S 30-year celebration plans may be temporarily on hold but the band are on hand to remind everyone what a damn fine tune

Screamager is.

THURSDAY

ALICE COOPER’S short lockdown set kicks off with School’s Out, but it’s new tune Don’t Give Up, with its resonating speeches, that really gives two fingers to the current predicament. It’s followed by some choice cuts from the band’s 2013 Wacken set, with Alice’s trademark theatricality backed by the impossibly immortal Welcome To My Nightmare and Poison. NIGHTWISH’S 2018 set relives the likes of Nero being belted out as the sun sets in rather spectacular fashion, while highlights of IN FLAMES’ 2012 appearance are a reminder of what a great band they really can be.

The special XR Stage – a multicamera shot studio stage with pyro, lights and a computer-generated ‘crowd’ straight out of a 1980s Atari football game – offers bands and fans alike the full show experience with ‘mixed reality’ substituting for the obvious limitations. While the crowd and some of the pyro might be bogus, HEAVEN SHALL BURN’S intensity cannot be faked, with sweat pouring as the riffs of Endezit and Protector

are delivered with savage aplomb. Medieval folksters IN EXTREMO,

meanwhile, are clearly having a blast in front of the imaginary circlepit that seems to revel in their bagpipes and pugnacious stomp.

FRIDAY

Following a thrilling afternoon studio set from hard-rocking Swedes THUNDER MOTHER, spooky shredder JOHN5 offers a tour of his crib, before we’re treated to Wacken 2016’s earthshattering ARCH ENEMY show, with the rip-roaring Yesterday Is Dead And Gone setting their fiery tone. That year’s headliners, IRON MAIDEN, then allow us to relive the spectacle that saw the conclusion of their Book Of Souls

tour, complete with panto-rific antics and a gigantic Eddie tearing across the stage. Headed up by ex-teen pop icon Jennifer Haben, BEYOND THE BLACK

storm the virtual XR stage with Horizons

before slowing down mid-set with an acoustic rendition of Through The Mirror.

Fellow Germans BLIND GUARDIAN

go virtual, too. The power metallers blast through classics such as Banished From Sanctuary, Valhalla and Mirror Mirror and even treat us to a new tune, the ardently thrashy Violent Shadows.

To see the night out with more legendary archived footage, we’re transported back to 2017 and VOLBEAT’S

retro-tinged, anthemic demonstration of the devil’s rock’n’roll. There’s a healthy dose of some of their biggest hitters, along with heartfelt ballads and country covers, and fans at home will no doubt be singing along.

SATURDAY

The final day of commences with POWERWOLF and last year’s show pulled from the archive to get us revved up for the day ahead. With their 50th anniversary show postponed to 2021, JUDAS PRIEST air their 2015 Wacken

performance – a set chock full of classics from Metal Gods to Living After Midnight. The lack of screaming crowds won’t stop KREATOR from harnessing the energy of a festival atmosphere. They rip through a razor-sharp set of old and new songs in front of a huge flaming skeleton – a pyro-heavy spectacular displaying the true power of Xr-technology.

Next up on the virtual stage is Swedish war machine SABATON. Standing before a war-torn boulevard, with rows of tanks and fighter planes, they rattle through a career-spanning setlist highlighting the best of their historic anthems. Closing their performance on a high, let’s hope To Hell And Back is more than just a metaphor. In the war against the pandemic, we are gonna need more tanks.

LORDI beckon in the night, kicking off with a comic-fuelled documentary, Scream Stream, of their hometown before launching into a set that includes, of course, the Finns’ Eurovision-winning anthem, Hard

Rock Hallelujah.

One perk of having a purely digital event – not taking into account real beds, cheap booze and bathroom breaks – is the ability to resurrect the mighty and relive the good ol’ days when MOTÖRHEAD were a mainstay of the festival circuit. It’s a nostalgic treat to see Lemmy and co’s 2011 Wacken performance in amongst the exclusive live performances, and one that leaves you with a warm but heavy heart aching to get back out in that muddy field surrounded by fellow metallers. ADAM REES/ALICE PATTILLO