Wacken Open Air announces a bag full of new bands

German festival WACKEN OPEN AIR announces a bag full of new names, includding Rectal Smegma, Mister Misery, Implore, Nothgard and Stratovarius.

The complete list of the December 6th (also St Niklas day, a suitable day to give presents) of the Wacken announcement includes English punk poets NEW MODEL ARMY, Finland’s power metal legend STRATOVARIUS, and German “medieval” rockers SALTATIO MORTIS. For those who prefer darker sweets, Iceland’s black metal pioneers SVARTIDAUÐI are also in the bag now, while the iconic L.A. GUNS are adding glitter and glam to our programme. Furthermore, the heavy chocolate box contains RUSSKAJA, RECTAL SMEGMA, SURGICAL STRIKE, IMPLORE, NOTHGARD, BUTCHER BABIES, LUCIFER, and MISTER MISERY.

Thomas Jensen comments:
“We are glad to be able to announce such musical highlights as NEW MODEL ARMY, SALTATIO MORTIS and STRATOVARIUS to celebrate this day,” says the festival co-founder. “We are doing our very best to offer treats for friends of all the different styles of hard and heavy music, but just in case that someone might feel left out today: no worries, there will be more great bands annonced during Advent and on Christmas Eve.“

There has been a change to the traditional Wacken Open Air Advent Calendar (xmas.wacken.com) as they are not announcing new bands on each day this year. Of course, on some days new bands are still being revealed, but on other days they are instead offering high-quality prizes from merchandise to vouchers and entertainment technology. Since December 1st, the following new bands have been confirmed for the 31st edition of the Wacken Open Air (in alphabetical order) ATTIC, AVATARIUM, BOKASSA, DEVIN TOWNSEND, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM, GRAVE DIGGER (40th Anniversary Show), MICHAEL MONROE, NYTT LAND, THE OTHER, SUICIDAL ANGELS, UNLEASH THE ARCHERS, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, and WORMROT.