#3 AUGUST 2025 Credit: WOA Wacken bosses at the mega gig Metal dinosaurs are the people’s headliner The best photos of fans & artists Powerwolf’s Falk Maria Schlegel Def Leppard’s Phil Collen In Flames’ Anders Fridén 85,000 metal fans celebrate a mudtastic, noisy week on the Holy GroundSTREAM LOUD. PAY LESS. Book quickly on telekom.de/wacken and save an additional 25 % 2 at MetalMerch! YOUR MOSHPIT FOR MOVIES AND TV SHOWS: WATCH MAGENTA TV WITH THE EXCLUSIVE FAN PLAN! 1) Wacken fans can use this voucher code to book MagentaTV Flex for €7/month instead of €10/month for the first 3 months, after that MagentaTV Flex costs €10/month. Promotion valid until 13.08.2025 only for new MagentaTV customers without Telekom Internet and resident in Germany. No minimum term, notice period 1 month. This promotion cannot be combined with other promotions or vouchers. MagentaTV can be received via the MagentaTV app without additional hardware. If desired, MagentaTV One can be purchased for €5/month with a minimum contract term of 12 months. An existing Inter- net connection is required for use. For the internet connection the terms and conditions of the respective Internet provider apply. When using the mobile data network, the data volume is charged by the respective mobile provider. 2) Valid only as long as stocks last. only 7 € 1 per month with the 30 % code WACKEN30ith this 8th edi- tion of The Bull- head, you may indulge in the memories of this year and look for- ward to next year’s 35th W:O:A – in a warm and dry environment, for once. As always, The Bull- head comes to you digital- ly and free of charge, in German and English. The current The Bullhead of- fers exciting background stories about the people making the festival hap- pen, as well as exclusive interviews with the next headliners like Def Lep- pard and Powerwolf. On top of that, we have the best shots of W:O:A 34 and the best conversations with the people on the Holy Ground you won’t find anywhere else. Free for our fans, just click and read. Enjoy! IMPRINT #5 DECEMBER 2024 Interview with Tarja Turunen Credit: imago ’ Holger Hübner opens up about this special announcement Mario Duplantier about the Olympics, discipline and childhood dreams Everything about the new festival in the Zillertal Alps „ “ Why the frontman of Rage is truly metal to the bone #1 MARCH 2025 Your last chance to get W:O:A-Tickets First time in Bahrain : Dimmu Borgir Floor Jansen Papa Roach Callejon Robb Flynn about his forever love for the pit, the new album and an unforgettable Wacken show The Head of a Machine Credit: Travis Shinn #2 JULY 2025 Credit: Jeremy Saffer Guns N’ Roses celebrate their tour finale Doro & The Butcher Sisters shoot their video on the Holy Ground : Within Temptation Wolfgang Niedecken Sebastian Fitzek 85,000 fans are celebrating the 34th edition of the metal festival in the loudest village in the world * - etalheads, we are speech- less! You’ve once more proven to not only be the best, but also the most committed fans. Seven days are behind us, and we don’t want to mince words: the weather had it out for us. More than 30 years ago, there was only this field to start a metal party in. Today, we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else – come what may. Because W:O:A wouldn’t be the festival it is, the festival we all know and love, if it didn’t happen at home, in Wack- en. But the fact that year after year, you all choose Wacken, but most of all the Acker and everything that comes with it, leaves us humble and thankful. Your dedication, joy and excitement towards awesome mu- sic and great people is unmatched. In 2023, we celebrated the fans who stayed home and declared them the heroes and heroines – and rightfully so, because those of us already in Wacken were still able to have a great festival. This year, hon- our belongs to all those who stayed. You even tugged at the heartstrings of Saltatio Mortis’ Alea: as the rain kept pouring, he struggled to com- prehend how you continuously showered the band in support. We’ve said it time and time again: you’re the best fans in the world, the most sludge-proof and mudtas- tic pack of metal maniacs we could hope for. There’s nobody we’d rath- er celebrate the 35th anniversary of W:O:A next summer with than all the devoted fans who return to the Holy Ground every year. See you in Wacken – Rain or shine! Holger & Thomas The Bullhead is a product of WOA Festival GmbH Schenefelder Straße 17, 25596 Wacken, Germany Management: Thomas Jensen, Holger Hübner, Andre Jürgens Editorial management: Andrea Leim Design: arne__creates Project coordination: Peter Klapproth Editorial team: Christof Leim, Timon Menge, Katharina Metag, Susanne Müller, Victoria Schaffrath, Celia Woitas Translations: Victoria Schaffrath Copy editors: Dr Sascha Gerhards (EN), Christof Leim Copy Deadline: 2 august, 8pm Foto: Pep BonetIn 2008, Powerwolf took to the Wacken stage for the first time. They’ve since returned five more times. Next year, they’re dominating the Holy Ground again. In conversation with The Bullhead, keyboarder Falk Maria Schlegel remembers W:O:A gigs from the past, pre-show rituals and the bond between crew and band by Andrea Leim “ owerwolf,“ fes- tival founder Thomas Jensen states, “are Wacken regulars. We’re a part of each other’s legacy, and it’ll be awesome to see them again in 2026!” The fans agree: the power metal outfit from Germany’s Saarland re- gion has become a fixture of the heavy metal scene. Since 2013, each of their longplay- ers has made the top 3 of Ger- many’s album charts, and this fall, they’ll once again be tour- ing the US and Canada. We recently caught up with key- boarder Falk Maria Schlegel before the band’s slot at Nor- way’s Tons of Rock festival. Falk, standing still onstage – not your thing, right? Falk Maria Schlegel: Small movements look small, larger ones look bigger. Before each show, I try to remind myself to give it my all with every fibre of my being. Or, as Attila likes to say: “Just bouncing your foot isn’t enough!” When I leave my spot behind the keyboard to fire up the audience, I sometimes think that I’m doing too much, but that’s the only way it works for me. Is Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson a blueprint for you? Falk Maria Schlegel: Absolutely! Back in the day, Powerwolf’s Falk Maria Schlegel would rather go big on stage than do too little. W:O:A fans know: whatever he’s doing, it’s workingwhen my parents were out, I would turn our old amp up to ten and play “Live After Death” and other Maiden records. I’d imitate all the individual musicians, try to sing like Bruce Dickinson, play air drums and guitar and copy all the poses. Sounds funny, but it turns out that was great practice for our shows now. And seeing Bruce still dash across the stage like that, I can only hope to do the same when I’m his age. Do you play air keyboard when you’re out and one of your songs comes on? Falk Maria Schlegel: No. It’s really awkward for me when I’m at a party and someone plays Powerwolf. People stare, which is pretty uncomfortable to me, because you can’t win. If I seem to enjoy it, it’s “look at that guy, dancing to his own tunes.” If I don’t, it’s “doesn’t he like his own stuff?” Of course I do, but it has to fit the circumstances. It will fit the circumstances in summer 2026, when you play W:O:A for the seventh time. Which of your past shows has stuck with you the most? Falk Maria Schlegel: I remember all of them pretty vividly, but most of all our headliner show. The sun was brutal that day, but when it was our time to hit the stage, the weather turned, and it got really cold. We were worried about fans leaving the festival early, actually. But the Wacken disciples proved us dead wrong. It was incredible! They stayed until the bitter end; the Acker was bursting with people. Mind-blowing. You’ve headlined festivals several times. Does it feel routine now? Falk Maria Schlegel: When you’re headlining, you don’t approach that type of show with a relaxed attitude. I can honestly admit that. You expect yourselves to deliver. Let’s compare it to a football final: Of course, you want to approach it with levity, not to overthink it and not choke. You have to relish a gig like this, and I do. But the last steps to the stage and waiting to go on feel like they take forever. It’s only when the curtain falls and you see all these maniacs – I say that with love! – that you forget about the nerves. You’re quoted as saying that from the second “’ , ’ . .” Singer Attila and keyboarder Falk Maria go all out onstagesong onward, the stage feels like your living room. Is it easy for you to tune out your worries and problems up there? Falk Maria Schlegel: I always want to perform like I’m playing my last ever show. I’m usually completely in the moment, but there are situations when I notice my mind wandering, when I think about the lights or the heavy winds or the fact that this flame is awfully close to my face. Goes to show there’s no such thing as a routine. Every show is different. On the bigger stages, is one glance enough to know what the others are thinking? Falk Maria Schlegel: Yes, we’re on the same wavelength onstage, mostly because we can so blindly trust our crew. 10 or 15 years ago, when something went wrong, I would freak out and go, “Why is that? What’s going on? I don’t get it!” These days, I don’t usually say anything, because I know my team is there to support me during the show. I’ve really calmed down. But between us guys, we do egg each other on to push the show to the max. Is there a code word for that? Falk Maria Schlegel: It’s more of a conversational thing between Attila and me, and then the audience responds. When that happens, it’s a really cool bonding moment, which I enjoy tremendously. Are shows on tour different from festival slots? Falk Maria Schlegel: I usually prefer indoor shows, because production knows exactly what conditions you’ll be playing in. Before open-air shows, I obsess over the weather for an entire day beforehand, and I really empathise when the crowd has to deal with a lot of rain or mud, especially when shows have to get cancelled. I really feel for each and every band and fan in these situations. On the other hand, festivals are a celebration of hedonism. Everything is about this one week and about making everyone there happy. I love that about festivals. Speaking of hedonism: What is a must-have on your tour riders? Falk Maria Schlegel: Just normal stuff. We usually need some dextrose and a glass of whiskey and Coke for our pre- show toast. We don’t even need a lot, but it has become a ritual. You might not look forward to it after three weeks of touring, but you do it regardless. Do you have any other rituals? Falk Maria Schlegel: We’ve been listening to the same playlist backstage since 2016. And we have a sort-of script we run through every time: “Oh, isn’t that Dream Theater?“ “No, that’s Bon Jovi.“ “Ah, right!“ And “That’s Skid Row, isn’t it?“ “I thought they were done!“ We fully commit to that every night, even if one of us is in a bad mood. It’s just a fun tradition. But when you catch a song that’s on the playlist in a different context, you almost want to start putting on your stage makeup. (laughs) What’s the first song on this playlist? Falk Maria Schlegel: “Codo (...düse im Sauseschritt)” by DÖF (editor’s note: German one- hit-wonder from the Eighties). It’s not metal, but who cares? (laughs) Some guilty pleasures make the playlist. “ ’ .”At this point, are there days when Powerwolf doesn’t play a role in your life? Falk Maria Schlegel: I was biking the other day and was wondering when the last time was that I wasn’t thinking about Powerwolf or wasn’t actively doing something for the band. That doesn’t really happen. But I don’t mind. I keep hearing about this work-life balance, but in order for that to happen, I’d need to learn how to take some time for myself. When you get back home after a long bout of touring, do you feel down at all? Falk Maria Schlegel: Brutally so! I call it the post- tour blues. I don’t like to admit it to myself, because I have a tough time admitting my weaknesses, not even jet lag. But the truth is, touring makes me really tired. My family knows to leave me be for two, three or four days when I get home. My body misses the adrenaline. You can really see that biologically, biochemically. Because of that, I allow myself some time off, even though it’s hard for me. In the past, you’ve released new albums every three years, with three of them hitting number one on the charts. Do the stakes get higher with each release? Falk Maria Schlegel: We always want to deliver an album that works perfectly within the Powerwolf cosmos. Something that’s a fan- service and makes them say, “There’s that wolf again! It’s something new, but has that typical sound.” Some say our records sound very similar, but we view that as a trademark we keep while still pushing our sound. In the end, live reception is more important than how a song performs on the charts. Are you working on new material? Falk Maria Schlegel: We write whenever we get the chance, but not usually on tour. I see so many bands set up their recording equipment on their tour buses. If someone tries to do that in our bus lounge, I’m knocking them out. I’m trying to relax here. Give it a rest! (laughs) “There’s that wolf again”: headliner Powerwolf will bring the heat to W:O:A 2026 Falk Maria (l.) and Attila try to create moments of genuine fan connection during their showsBjorn (42) from Paderborn has arrived at W:O:A, despite his shattered kneecap – it’s his tenth time here, after all. “Fuck it, we’re doing this!” Heidi broke her foot one week before the festival: “As long as I can walk, I’m going.” A record player and a doll house, a foosball table and pizza oven, a movie screen and more: David (51) has built a home away from home at W:O:A. The Brazilian has been coming to Wacken for seven years: “It’s my favourite week of the year.” Shower with a view! Chris (29, r.) and neighbour Normen (49) enjoy their view of the Infield W:O:A without the Wacken family? Unthinkable. Metal fans are what makes the Holy Ground come alive, what turns the festival site into a vibrant cityscape. These are the People of Wacken. The Bullhead would like to introduce some of them. Size doesn’t matter – just ask this crew Rain can’t kill this corpse paint Mud baths are good for the soul and the skin The parents of Wacken take their musical education seriously Lisa (35) has had her foot operated on three times, so for now, she’s using a wheelchair to get around. “Without the crew, my husband, my brother and my friends, this wouldn’t be possible.“Archangel Gré, lead singer of German band Erzengel (editor’s note: German for “archangel”), is flaunting his stage outfit on the Plaza. The wings weigh a whopping 3.5 kilos. His friend Mario is part of the infamous Rendsburger Wacken crew and has been to the festival every year since 2011 Alex (9) and his mom Claudia (40) are waiting for Alex’ older sister and dad Anton (4), Manuela (42), Lars (48) and Sarah (6) take a Wacken vacation For Ella (5), the “Oldesloer“ camp is a massive playground – and dad Thorben (34) watches proudly 500 litres of diesel, 4,000 litres of water, one jacuzzi: the “Oldesloer” gang have been regulars since 2012 Olli and his pyjamas leave no doubt: he loves his wife (r.) These fans are prepared for the next downpour This dustrider’s inspection sticker is probably expired Losing focus at the Krombacher beer pong tournament Credit: Susanne Müller, WOA, personalNext >