Search - Various Artists :: Armageddon Over Wacken Live 2004

Worldwide legends, the European stars, and the up-and-comers

George Dionne | Cape Cod, MA | 10/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Good

One of the great things that the label did when they put this together was they separated the acts by genre. Disc 1 covers black, death, and thrash metal with thrash veterans Anthrax kicking things off with two of their biggest hits from the Belladonna and Bush eras. John Bush is the vocalist for these particular performances of "Indians" and "Only". If it's more classic thrash you want, it's more classic thrash you get with Death Angel's "Thicker Than Blood". On the black/death metal side of things you get the monster tones of Cannibal Corpse's "Gallery of Suicide" and hauntingly grim rantings of Mayhem's "Pagan Fears". I've never heard of the band Ektomorf, but they must be fairly popular overseas because they have two tracks; "I Know Them" and "Destroy". The group blends a little bit of thrash with death and black metal.



Disc 2 focuses on traditional and power metal. Who better to highlight first than the holy king of power metal, Ronnie James Dio. No matter how many times I hear "Holy Diver" and "Don't Talk to Strangers" live, they get better and better (and take on new and exciting interpretations). Damn, the guitarist from Nevermore plays mind-numbingly fast on "Enemies of Reality". Doro Pesch brings the emotional metal ballad "Fur Immer" to the stage. It seems where ever Doro is playing in Europe, Lemmy and Motorhead are not far behind. The group's performances of "We Are Motorhead" and "Life's a Bitch" sound better than the original recordings.



Weinhold is a female fronted band that really impressed me with their heavy yet melodic "Strike". I thought it was a bit strange that ex-Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bailey chose to perform an orchestral version of "Fear of the Dark" since he's been trying to make a name for himself with his current band Blaze. Fortunately, Bailey's vocal stylings on this song is saved by guest musicians (including the audience). Sorry Blaze, Bruce is the only one can accept on this one.



Disc 3 covers all of the new and underground rock acts. You can hear a bit of the metal god's influence in each band. Vanguard's "Forgive" combines melodic female vocals with death metal snarls. Reckless Tide's "Death Train" and "Equality" recalls that classic Anthrax thrash metal sound. Griffin's "The Sentence" summons the twin guitar attacks of Metallica and Megadeth. Dr. Rock lay down the riffs, vocals, and drum patterns that are reminiscent of a Helloween/Iron Maiden hybrid. Gutbucket's "82 Hours Bus Ride" and "You Never Know" have a Danzig influence written all over them.



The Bad

Too perfect to be "live". Who let the polka band into the gig (Elakelaiset - "Humppa (Jump)"?



The Verdict

The whole point behind music festivals like this is to deliver your favorite artists and expose you to ones that you may have not heard of (just like Rock Is Life). This 3CD set of the 2004 Wacken Open Air Festival does just that. You get the worldwide legends, the European stars, and the up-and-comers of the hard rock/metal universe. There were plenty of bands on this collection that I had never heard of, but after hearing how impressive some of them were, I'm going to check out more of their work. I can't wait to see the DVD of this awesome show."