Wacken Open Air is a rock music festival, held annually since 1989 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are represented and hosted. It is now one of the largest heavy metal festivals in the world and one of the largest open-air festivals in Germany. Between 2011–2018, the number of attendees was around 85,000, 75,000 of whom were paying visitors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no 2020 and 2021 editions of Wacken Open Air.
Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air. The group consists of Martin Axenrot (ex-Opeth), Anders Nyström (Katatonia), Jonas Renkse and Nick Holmes.
1349 is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1997. The band's name is a reference to the year the Black Death reached Norway.
Kai Michael Hansen is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
Turisas is a Finnish metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, and named after an ancient Finnish god of war.
Torture Squad is a Brazilian death/thrash metal band, founded in 1990.
Anders Nyström, also known as Blakkheim, is a Swedish musician.
Crematory is a German gothic metal band formed in Mannheim in 1991.
Live at Wacken Open Air 2006 is a live DVD released by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was supposed to be released on 18 December 2007 but was delayed till 12 February 2008 for reasons undisclosed to the public.
Live at Wacken Open Air 2007 is a video by the American thrash metal band Overkill, released on February 5, 2008 through Bodog Music.
Kryptos is an Indian heavy metal band from Bangalore, India, formed in 1998 by Nolan Lewis (vocals/guitars) and Ganesh K. (bassist). They are one of the pioneers of the modern Indian heavy metal movement. Since their inception the band has released six albums: Spiral Ascent (2004), The Ark of Gemini (2008),The Coils of Apollyon (2013), Burn Up The Night (2016), Afterburner (2019) and Force of Danger (2021).
Live Inferno is the third live album by Norwegian black metal band Emperor. It was filmed during the band's sold out 2005-2007 reunion performances. It was released in Europe on 20 April with several editions available. It is available as a 2CD slipcase with 16pg booklet, a limited edition Digibook featuring 2 CDs & DVD with an enhanced 24pg booklet, a single DVD, and two limited edition double vinyl gatefold sets. The audio portion of the "Live Inferno" series features exclusive recordings from the band's headlining performances at Norway's Inferno festival and Germany's Wacken Open Air festival. The video portion, titled "Live at Wacken Open Air 2006 - A Night Of Emperial Wrath", has a running time of 70 minutes and includes footage professionally filmed at the Wacken Open Air festival with additional on-stage and exclusive backstage footage filmed and compiled by the band.
Poetry for the Poisoned is the ninth studio album by American power metal band Kamelot. It was released on the earMUSIC label, a subdivision of Edel, on September 10, 2010 in Europe, and four days later in North America by the band's own label, KMG Recordings, in conjunction with Knife Fight Media.
Classic Diamonds is the ninth studio album by the German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch. It was released worldwide in 2004 by AFM Records. The album presents new acoustic and symphonic arrangements for songs from Doro's repertoire, as well as some new compositions. The music is mostly played by the Classic Night Orchestra, an ensemble of young classical musicians that accompanied Doro in the following European tour.
Für Immer is a double DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch, released in 2003 by SPV/Steamhammer. The first DVD contains the full concert given at The Cave in Balve, Germany, during the Fight tour in 2002 and a collection of all Doro's videos. The second DVD, instead, contains three documentaries and live footage taken in various places and moments of Doro's career, including her first experience with a symphonic orchestra.
Dorothee Pesch, known professionally as Doro Pesch or simply Doro, is a German heavy metal singer and the former frontwoman of heavy metal band Warlock. Dubbed the "Metal Queen", Doro's contributions to music and culture made her a global figure in metal culture for over three decades. The name Doro has also been associated with the touring band accompanying the singer, whose members have continuously changed in more than 20 years of uninterrupted activity, the most stable presences being those of bassist Nick Douglas and drummer Johnny Dee.
Classic Diamonds – The DVD is a DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch, released in 2004 by AFM Records. The DVD contains footage from two concerts held during the European tour which followed the release of the studio album Classic Diamonds. The album was a special project for Doro Pesch, who revised and re-arranged some of her songs for the Classic Night Orchestra, a 30-elements symphonic orchestra. A smaller ensemble of the orchestra accompanied Doro and her usual touring musicians on tour, but the full orchestra was on stage in August 2004 at Wacken Open Air for a strictly acoustic set, an unusual performance for the largest European heavy metal festival. Special guests of the night were former-Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley and guitarist Chris Caffery.
Suicidal Angels are a Greek thrash metal band formed in 2001 in Athens, Greece, by guitarist/vocalist and main songwriter Nick Melissourgos. Since its inception, the band has released seven studio albums, and has gone through several line-up changes leaving Melissourgos as the only constant member.
Live in Wacken is the first live album by the hard rock/power metal band Unisonic. The album was recorded during the band's performance at Wacken Open Air Festival on August 5, 2016.
Oomph! is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Wolfsburg, formed in 1989. The band pioneered the Neue Deutsche Härte movement. Their work contains lyrics in both English and German, with a shift towards German exclusively on recent albums.
