The folks at Raven Banner sure came up with an interesting documentary. I’ve never really experienced many documentaries in 3D or any about a genre of music. Wacken – Louder Than Hell talks about how a large number of metal heads and metal bands come from different countries to the heavy metal concert show known as Wacken happening all the way out in a farmland area of Northern Germany. There are people from Germany, the United States, China, Romania, and many more places.
Concert goers discuss their experience at Wacken. While it may be a noisy place full of loud music, they are all united. Alice Cooper himself explains he felt at home in Wacken due to how he and many other musicians, play the only way they should, with attitude. Aside from the unity and experience that everyone feels, they also talk about how metal heads are friendly and interesting and not labeled as the alcoholic satan worshippers that most people mistake them for. As shown in one early morning before concerts started, a parade of metal heads went straight to a public pool for some crazy fun. The entire documentary consists of events as well as bands at Wacken: Deep Purple, Anvil, Rammstein, Anthrax, Nine Treasures, Dr. Death, Ragnarok.
But it’s not as much about the bands as it is about the fans that come to these events to join in the intensity and have the greatest time of their lives because that’s what Wacken is all about. Even though I’m not a metalhead myself, I quite enjoyed this documentary. How it showcased the unity of metal heads throughout the world was educational and interesting. Even competing bands show respect for each other. While the sound of the songs may have been a bit fuzzy on camera, it’s expected at an event like this. Music was still pretty cool though. Rock on. \m/