It is striking how the latter-mentioned sounds just as fresh as the new material. Am I saying that Grave hasn't developed one bit over their now fairly long career? Yeah, I suppose so, but, nevertheless, today's gig is still a solid affair that warms up the neck muscles.

Rating: 80/100

Attending: Thomas

Next up is the thrash metal veterans Mortal Sin. Apart from a slightly muddled sound (and this is a general problem at Wacken this year: the sound engineer clearly likes drums a lot - which doesn't necessarily have a positive effect on audibility of the rest of the instruments) the amicable Aussies play a set consisting of both old and new stuff. Blood, Death, Hatred, Dead Man Walking, Out of the Darkness, Tears of Redemption followed by 'part one', the classic track Lebanon.

One of my favourites, I Am Immortal, is luckily also aired during the much too short 45 minutes allotted to Mortal Sin, and so is the likewise classic title track from their debut album.

How Mat Maurer manages to sing and headbang at the same time is still a mystery to me, but, hey, it works, and I'm happy.

Rating: 80/100

Attending: Thomas, Claus, Jørgen

The experiment for me now is to go and see Cynic. The US avant-garde metallers of old have not managed to do much for me other than stress me out.

I admit that I have to leave before the gig ends...alright, I admit that I have to leave after around four minutes because the sound is utter shite where I stand (right in front of the sound booth?!?) and I can already feel my heart rate rising in a way it shouldn't. Off I go.

No rating.

Attending for a very short while: Thomas

Well, to begin with I was more or less forced to listen to Cynic by an acquaintance from an earlier Wacken festival, and like Thomas I have had some difficulties with the quite complex music of Cynic, but I thought I ought to give it a shot live - it's in itself impressive that a band can create so much attention by releasing just one album.

True, the sound isn't that great to begin with, the guitars and the (harmonic) vocals are way too low, but after the first couple of tracks it is OK, at least fairly close to the stage where I stand.

The band seems to be enjoying themselves, being very relaxed and making small comments for different stuff and they play awesomely tight.

I enjoy the mixture of progressive metal and jazz-fusion (I'm a sucker for both), and though I'm not into growling grunts, that makes the mix also consist of some death metal influence, the overall impression for me is very positive. I think I have to give the album another shot when I get back home…and the two new tracks they play from their forthcoming album makes me want to hear that too.

Rating:93/100

Attending (for the entire show): Claus

Round about this time the weather changes dramatically. The rain starts pouring down. Only an hour ago this would seem unlikely, but there you go, it's raining dragons and bats and almost everyone is running for cover.

Sadly, for Job For A Cowboy, this comes during their set on the Black Stage. Otherwise things seem to be working out nicely for the US deathcore combo, with a massive mosh pit happening in there and a fine, brutal output from the band. I don't get a real impression because I hear the show from the shelter of a parasol in the Beergarden, so

No Rating.

Not really attending, but still listening: Thomas

The rain will prove to come and go during the rest of the day, creating mud pits here and there, but luckily it doesn't influence the concerts much.

Next on my list is the German powermetalthrashers Head Hunter around Destruction front man Schmier. I'm not into the Destruction style, but this should be 'the other side of Schmier', and the participation of drummer Jörg Michael sounds promising. The third and last member of this revived 'beginning of the 90s band' - Uwe Schmuddel Hoffmann is supposed to be a guitar-wiz, so I gotta check it out.

But after hearing three numbers I decide I've heard something very similar many times before, and move on to a record shop tent nearby from where I hear the rest of the show as background, scooping for a find in the CD racks; therefore…

No Rating

(Not very) attending: Claus

My next experience today is British The Rotted (the band formerly known as Gorerotted). I reviewed their first CD under the name The Rotted recently and was quite happy with it. Still, I hadn't expected the band to be such an intense and tight live experience!

The five-piece is a brutal force, and although they claim they are no longer grindcore, their energy and intensity is extreme. How they can be so tight and at the same time so intense is amazing. See this band live if you get the opportunity!

Rating: 89/100

Attending: Thomas

The rain has created a considerable puddle of mud in front of the Black Stage, and a small group of punters have taken the opportunity to slide through the lovely pool of dirt. Wonderful sight, that. This is also going to be shared with everyone around them during Soilwork's gig - yours truly included who will soon try to get the mud stains off an otherwise fresh and clean Sabbat t-shirt (grrrrr...).

Soilwork have moved borders, no doubt about that, and they are an experienced live band, too. This is clear from the first moment of their one-hour set on this afternoon. Bjorn 'Speed' Strid doesn't seem to be, err, as much up to speed as one could wish for. It is difficult for him to reach the higher notes (although they're actually not that high) and somehow lacks that magic spark today. It's a solid gig, but not at all top-notch.

Rating: 75/100

Attending: Thomas, Claus

But I can't help being a bit annoyed by the ongoing chatter from the front man (and judging by the look on Terry Butler's face, he's not too pleased either).

Rating: 79/100

Attending: Thomas

Meanwhile, Opeth have climbed the Black Stage, and they seem as if they don't really want to be there, or as if they're just in it for the money. A hard accusation I know, but still, that is the feeling I get from the beginning of the show. They go on stage with a short wave to the audience and just start playing - nothing wrong with that, but it isn't until after the third number that singer Mikael Äkerfeldt addresses the audience in a sort of moody, abrupt way, and generally not very much at all, and when he says: 'If you don't know this one you're a fuckin' cunt' it settles it for me - this is a concert only intended for the hard core fans at the most.

Thomas calls the music of 'the Gary Moore of Death Metal', and I understand what he means, but I actually like their melodic parts very much and so to speak 'live with the death-growl parts'. I don't know all their numbers by heart, so I guess I'm not really one of their hard core fans. That makes me a f***** c***, I suppose?

The concert is very hard for me to rate, 'cause the sound is good and they play well, so actually this should give a quite high rating, but their attitude bothers me a lot - I haven't seen them live before, maybe that's just the way they are?

Rating: 62-86/100

Attending: Claus

I have some spare time to spend between my planned shows, and I drop by the WET stage to hear what PsychoPunch has to offer.

The Swedes play punk rock'n'roll according to themselves - I get to think of Cowpunk (very early D.A.D.) meets the Ramones, and maybe that’s not that far away from their own description.

An entertaining band, styled and dressed up for the occasion, that sets full throttle ahead on three chords (approx). After about half the show (20 minutes) I've heard enough, it seems to get a bit repetitious, and me being alone, and not in the 'all-party mood', I leave.

Rating: 75/100

Attending (some): Claus

From being 'just' a medieval metal band, Corvus Corax has turned into a bit of a phenomenon. This evening, the Germans offer the Wacken audience a very special experience with the first live appearance with the full 'Cantus Burana II' production - complete with orchestra, conductor, choir, bag pipes, flutes and an opera diva! My guess is that there's around 60 people on stage!

With strong ties to Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana', 'Cantus Burana II' is a powerful fusion of classical and medieval music. It is impressive and pompous, haunting and inciting. Visually, the many people on stage, dressed in robes and medieval garments, the diva with her feathers, the flags, the fire and flames and the weird instruments, the show is plain marvellous.

Rating: 95/100

Attending: Thomas

At the same time Gothenburg based The Haunted is playing at the Party Stage, and the Swedish Prog-Thrashers (with for me also some Metalcore and melo-death influence, or is it just the Gothenburg-sound?), has a very solid crowd control and initiates a Wall of Death.

Their show is scheduled to be five quarters long, but unfortunately, I have to leave after about half an hour, to get to the Van Canto show on time. Pity about the time overlap, I'd like to have seen if they kept up the pace for the whole set - I expect they did!

Rating: 83/100 (of what I saw)

Attending (some): Claus

The German experiment Van Canto which consists of one female and four male vocalists and a drummer (and nothing else) is something I have been looking forward to.

I don't recall having heard heavy metal done (almost) acapella, but it works, and the crowd loves it, especially when they do The Bard's Song (Blind Guardian), their own The Mission, Fear Of The Dark (Iron Maiden), and for the encore Battery (Metallica).

The sound on the WET Stage is better than I've heard before earlier today, and it's a very special experience! The set of 40 minutes seems too short - I'm kept wanting to hear more, but it's a nice way to round off my day.

Rating: 89/100

Attending: Claus

More German music is in store for me at the Party Stage where the Subway to Sally clones Saltatio Mortis entertain an excited and funnily enough predominantly German crowd. And they do it very well, indeed. A good and entertaining show with a solid bout of medieval metal from them that makes the packed tent dance.

Rating: 80/100

Attending: Thomas

The madness/genius dilemma again. German Excrementory Grindfuckers have decided to mix grindcore with tacky dance music and utter silliness. Some of this is brutal, some of it very silly, well, most of it is very silly. Especially when they play the intro riff from The Final Countdown on trumpet.

Hard one to rate, but it was so much fun that I have to rate it 80/100

Attending: Thomas

On the way back to the backstage area, I get the three remaining songs of Norwegian black metallers Gorgoroth's set. Weird thing; between the noise of their songs, there is massive silence from the around 10.000 people in front of the stage (my best guess). No cheers, no clapping, just silence.

Not that there is much to cheer about, anyway. The two women and two men on the crucifixes and the flayed sheep sculls lined up on sticks on the stage had little to cheer about, that's for sure. Musically, I'm not there at all. Off to the bar and then bed - must be ready for a busy busy Saturday.

Attending: Claus

It is with some disappointment that I have noticed that the number of Danish bands this year is limited to one. How measly is that?! Anyway, Mercenary is a capable representative to send on our tiny nation's behalf.

I have by now figured out the Party Stage; do NOT move more than 20 metres away from the stage! If you do, the sound is by definition poor, especially if you're dealing with bands that use more than two instruments!

Focusing mainly on their latest release, 'Architect of Lies', the Danes play a great set, the combination of Mikkel Sandager's high-pitched vocal and René Pedersen's growl working excellently in the progressive death metal setting laid out by the rest of the band.

The new material is good, but there’s no way around the fact that the title track of the seminal '11 Dreams' is a real hit and met by great cheers by the Wacken audience.

Rating: 82/100

Attending: Thomas

US thrash veterans Exodus start off with Bonded By Blood, and continue through most of the set in almost the same style and pace: fast and aggressive.

Iconoclasm, A Lesson In Violence, Children Of A Worthless God, Piranha, Deathamphetamine, Blacklist, Fabulous Disaster and War Is My Shepherd are most of the tracks that roll from the stage (I might have forgotten a track or two). A quite wild and fast set - personally I miss some of the slower moshier tracks - what the f**k happened to e.g. Toxic Waltz or Braindead?!?

Singer Rob Dukes does his best to create a big mosh pit and he succeeds to a certain extent: there's several circle pits (the biggest I've seen in Wacken) and a great Wall of Death (quote: 'I want everybody over there to kill everybody over there!'). Unlike last weekend's appearance at Headbangers Open Air, he seemed satisfied with the crowd's effort to bash some bodies.

The sound was a bit messy or muddy (especially the guitars), better than some of the other bands I've heard on True Metal Stage this weekend, but not great at all. It ought to have been possible to do that better.

Rating: 86/100
Attending: Jørgen, Claus, Thomas

On the Party Stage, Obituary set out to air some of the material from the splendid 'Xecutioners Return' as well as old material. There's nothing wrong with the choice of songs as we get Find the Arise, Evil Ways, Insane, On the Floor and Slowly We Rot among other great death tunes from the Florida Five. A cover of the Celtic Frost  track Dethroned Emperor from the forthcoming 'Left to Die' EP is also aired to make things even better.

What is a bit odd, though, is the slightly hesitant behaviour of the band. Throughout the set, it is as if Obituary is holding back and between songs, the other four members confer with Donald Tardy as if they’re unsure about the set list or how long time they have. Oddly unfocused, but, as I said, nothing wrong with the music!

Rating: 80/100

Attending: Thomas 

Due to an acute need of filling my stomache, I miss most of the short Before the Dawn set in the Headbanger's Ball tent. Sadly, because what I do hear from the Finns sounds convincingly strong and focused. I like the two BTD releases I have heard, but live the material is even stronger.

Rating: 80/100

Attending: Thomas

Now the big moment arises; I never managed to catch Carcass live before they dissolved in the wake of grunge, internal grudges and lack of inspiration, but now, now is the time to finally see the legendary British/Swedish combo.

Over twenty years after release of their debut, they are back, and what a f**king ball it is!

The four-piece throw classics like Incarnate Solvent Abuse, No Love Lost, Carnal Forge, Keep On Rotting in The Free World, Generation Hexed, the divine intro to Ruptured in Purulence and the imminent Exhume to Consume in our expecting faces and it's a joy beyond belief.

Jeff Walker is his usual dry self, for example is the only comment after Angela Gossow's guest appearance on Incarnate Insolvent Abuse: 'That doesn't change the fact that I still hate Arch Enemy'. Ha!

In a moving gesture, original drummer Ken Owens is given room to play a drum solo. After two brain operations and a coma, the former drum machine and backbone of the band is only a shadow of himself, but much respect for having the guts to sit there in front of 60.000 people.

Rating: 98/100

Attending: Thomas

Another much anticipated death metal reunion comes from Gothenborg in Sweden. At the Gates are hailed as some of the guiding lights of the Swedish death metal sound, primarily with their 'Slaughter of the Soul' from 1995.

I see why some of the tracks on said release captivated many, but it wasn't really the tightest album in the world, and the reason why some of the those songs worked was because of the feel and atmosphere.

And the same can be said of tonight's concert. Adrian Erlandsson is not particularly tight and for me it marks the gig, although tracks like Blinded by Fear, Need and Slaughter of the Soul naturally make way for much joy.

Rating: 78/100

Attending: Thomas

Now for the in my opinion most unusual and exciting experiment at this year's W:O:A: Dream of an Opium Eater.

Like in the old movie theatres where a pianist would create the right mood for the silent movies by playing something that supported the pictures on the screen, this project plays underlying music for film.

The stage is set with a big projection of several weird and/or scary little pieces of film to replace a singer, each telling a short story or creating a mood or image. There's no talking throughout the whole concert the pictures/films have a headline/name at the beginning, but apart from that it's just the music that does the talking.

The band consists of two guitarists, a bassist (on one side of the screen) and a drummer (on the other side), and the style I would describe as slightly progressive PowerDoom or very slow PowerMetal.

There's a very good sound compared to the rest I've heard here on WET today.

This is really an experience out of the ordinary! Some leave when they can't cope with the pictures or the concept, but most of the audience stays;  impressed, shocked, amazed - at least I and some of the people around me stay - it's a strong experience!

(I had planned to see the last of the Nightwish concert when DoaOE finished, and I try for a few tracks, but after what I've just witnessed, Nightwish seems like hollow pop music (not normally my opinion) - so I let this high point be the last musical impression from this year's festival  in just a few days I'll be looking forward to next year's billing, celebrating the 20^th W:O:A - gotta be a monster bash!)

Rating: 98/100

Attending: Claus

The swansong of my W:O:A 2008 is sung by Nightwish. The Finns have gone through the much published change of front woman and the conclusion is that it has not damaged the band at all. On the contrary. Tonight's show is imminent.

Perfect sound (apart from the for this festival customary problem with the double bass drum parts), perfect lightshow and a new singer who can do nothing but captivate the sceptics with her sweet, funny appearance and her excellent voice. More so than Tarja, Anette Olzon's voice complements bassist Marko's rough voice, and she moves a lot more around than her predecessor.

It is of course no coincidence that the band shoots of the ball with Bye Bye Beautiful - let there be no doubt in the minds of the German crowd that Tarja is gone. Got the symbolism, thanks very much, Toumas.

The old songs sound like entirely new songs, and in a way the music lives more clearly in its own right because you actually notice it more now when Tarja's dominating voice is not plastered all over it. Olzon is the perfect choice for Nightwish, there is no doubt in my mind about that.

Rating: 95/100

Attending: Thomas

Thus fulfilled with the last grand experiences of sound and light, we journey home to Denmark in the darkness of this August night - next year, it is the 20-year anniversary of Wacken Open Air, and one is already now wondering what kind of a blast that will be! The rumours have already begun floating about...