#5 DECEMBER 2024 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 Interview with Tarja Turunen Credit: imagoYou can find all five is- sues of The Bullhead that were published this year on the W:O:A homepage. Read the timeless inter- views with Johan Hegg from Amon Amarth, Rudi Schenker from the Scor- pions or the wonderful Anneke van Giersbergen. Take a look at the pro- duction of the festival shirts or how we sustain- ably produce new T-shirt blanks from unsold mer- chandising - and of course what happened at the best of all festivals last sum- mer. The Bullhead is pub- lished in two languages and is completely free of charge for fans. Just click and read. www.wacken.com The Bullhead ist ein Produkt der WOA Festival GmbH, Schenefelder Straße 17, 25596 Wacken Geschäftsführer: Holger Hübner, Thomas Jensen Redaktionelle Leitung: Andrea Leim Projektkoordination: Peter Klapproth Gestaltung: arne__creates Mitarbeit: Timon Menge, Victoria Schaffrath, Celia Woitas Lektorat: Christof Leim Korrektorat: Michael Svetchine #3 JULI 2024 Kick-Off-Gespräch mit den Festivalchefs Eine Dauerwelle für die Headbanger Wer spuckt die größten Töne? Metal Zeitreise mit Blind Guardian Powered by ith this issue, the first year of The Bullhead is coming to an end. Five editions were pub- lished in 2024, packed with reading material designed to bring you closer to the Wacken universe. Now 2025 is already banging loudly on the door, promising to be a fantastic year for metal fans and especially W:O:A enthusiasts. The Bull- head will, of course, continue to deliver the familiar mix of re- ports, interviews, and insights you won’t find everywhere else – still free of charge and bilin- gual. The final words of the year come from the two men who set everything in motion near- ly 34 years ago: Holger Hübner and Thomas Jensen share their thoughts with you—the fans, the metalheads, the “family”— without whom nothing that happens each year on the Holy Ground would be possible. Enjoy reading, have a won- derful time, and happy holi- days! “Same procedure as every year” applies to our favorite fes- tival, too. So: see you at W:O:A! Andrea Leim Editor in Chief #4 AUGUST 2024 bringen Metallica auf den Acker Ein Gespräch unter Freunden feiern 25. Jubiläum beim W:O:A 2025 Sonne geile Woche! Nach dem W:O:A ist vor dem W:O:A. Rückblick und Ausblick aufs schönste Festival der Welt Dear Metalheads, dear partners, dear friends A successful and wonderful year is coming to an end. We were fortunate to share a relaxed and sunny 33rd Wacken Open Air with all of you. After so many years of festival history, we are always amazed, proud, and deeply grateful for how harmoniously our family gatherings of the global metalhead community unfold year after year. We wish you peaceful and restful holidays with your families and friends and look forward to another fantastic year with you as we reunite on the loudest field in the world! See you in Wacken, rain or shine! All Good Things Come in Fives!By Andrea Leim erring is usually con- sidered a regional deli- cacy in Wacken. Just a few kilo- meters away, in the Kiel Canal, herring is plentiful and eventu- ally ends up smoked, pickled, or grilled on plates. But in Germany „Hering“ is also the word for a tent peg that is made out of metal. Left behind on the camping grounds after the festival, it leaves rather a bad taste for everyone. For this reason, W:O:A has implemented numerous meas- ures over the years to ensure the land can be returned clean to lo- cal farmers after the festival. “In the worst-case scenario, aban- doned tent pegs could even dam- age the farmers’ equipment,” explains W:O:A sustainability officer Insa Trede. While that hasn’t happened yet, Trede is de- termined to keep it that way. With this in mind, a unique system developed by Bre- men-based company Procertus was used for the first time this year: a six-meter-long magnetic sweeper mounted on a tractor. A harrow shakes up the soil in front of it, allowing the magnet to attract even the smallest met- al objects like nails, screws, bat- teries, and tent pegs. Even alu- minum cans are collected thanks to their metal pull-tabs. “After the cleaning crews worked the grounds this sum- mer, two tractors operated 24/7 for four days, covering nearly all the festival areas,” reports Insa Trede. “We managed to clean ap- proximately 370 hectares with the magnet!” The results are surprisingly positive: only around 240 kilo- grams of metal debris, including some soil, were collected. This is comparable to the amount found at smaller festivals, whose camping area is only half the size of W:O:A’s. “We wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been three or four times as much waste,” Trede admits. Howev- er, the relatively small amount shows that, on one hand, the cleaning crews did an excellent job, and on the other hand, festi- valgoers are increasingly mind- ful of keeping their party areas clean. “Our Green Wacken cam- paign is gaining more and more support from fans, and we are very grateful for that.” The magnetic sweeper is like- ly to be used again on the Holy Ground, but this summer’s ex- perience indicates it won’t be necessary every year. Giant Magnet Cleans the Fields After the festival, a giant magnet was used for the first time to clean the Holy Ground. The results are surprising Two tractors equipped with magnetic sweepers operated 24/7 for four days across the festival grounds The Procertus system picks up cans and even tiny metal objects like nails A total of 240 kilograms of Wacken debris was collected during the operation. Credits: WOA, ProcertusOf drums and dreams From opening the Paris Olympics to touring North America with Korn and Spiritbox, Gojira have had one hell of a 2024. Another highlight: being announced as one of the headliners for W:O:A 2025! We grilled drummer Mario Duplantier on childhood idols, new music and crazy Wacken shows of the past Setting the pace for Gojira: drummer Mario DuplantierBy Andrea Leim and Victoria Schaffrath xtreme metal con- certs don’t usually take place with massive crowds. But, a good two bil- lion people watched Gojira’s performance at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. The musi- cians played on the ledges of the former royal palace and prison. A monumental show, which naturally increased the anticipation for their head- lining slot at the upcoming Wacken Open Air - Mario Duplantier’s favourite Ger- man festival, as he reveals in our interview. Alongside his brother, singer and guitarist Joe, he founded the band in 1996 and they will be play- ing the Holy Ground for the fourth time next summer. There is a special bond between brothers, especially when they are playing in a band and traveling the world. Was there a band of siblings like Pantera for example you looked up to when you first started? Mario Duplantier: The Cavaleras, back when they were both in Sepultura! When I saw Igor and Max play when I was a kid, that became my goal. Igor was probably my biggest influence overall, also because he was playing with his brother. I was visualising: I wanted to be like these guys and was thinking about them all the time. Even during our first shows, I was almost trying to be Igor. I became a fan of Pantera later, but I was all about Sepultura first. When we first started, half of our setlist consisted of songs from Arise and Chaos A.D. We didn’t grow up in a big city, so we felt we had a similar spirit. We resonated with the primitive aspects of their music and their goals. Do you feel you have fulfilled your childhood dream? Mario Duplantier: Yeah, absolutely. It was not easy. It was a long path full of problems and sacrifice, and it was also a bit dangerous to just bet on this kind of life. While all my friends in France were going to high school, I stopped studying. So it was about compromises and no guarantees. But I have zero regrets. As a drummer, I’m very disciplined, and discipline has almost become a religion to me. So even if I’m living my dream, there’s still a lot of work to do. And I never stop working, because as soon as you stop, something is failing. The world, especially the heavy metal world saw your stunning performance at the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics 2024. What kind of impact did it have on you and the band? Mario Duplantier: The impact on the band is massive, and I’m realizing it gradually. I needed to take a step back. The feedback online and in real life was mind-blowing. It’s the biggest opportunity we could have had as a band, being able to play such a mainstream ceremony. And it’s a significant moment for us and metal music in general. We’re just humbled and very happy to represent our music during events like this. We’ve been really lucky. When you were first asked to play the ceremony, were you unsure whether it was something you should do, whether the fans would be all right with it? Mario Duplantier: As Frenchmen, we are quite picky and aware of potential criticism. With the Olympics, there are aspects of politics involved. I’m living in France right now and it was all over the news: They were talking about the shortcomings of the event, and like all French citizens, I was concerned about social issues surrounding it. The organisation of the event was a bit messy for a lot of people in Paris. When we got the offer, I was aware of that, and living in France, I was a bit more hesitant than the other guys. My brother is living in the US, that’s another mentality entirely. So we said: Wait a “’ ,’ ” Mario founded the band in 1996 together with his brother, singer and guitarist Joe The Olympia song ‘Mea Culpa’ has been released as a single. On the cover you can see the impressive scene of the show in Parisminute, we should consider this, talk about it. See the good and the bad and make an informed decision. Of course, our management chimed in and said it was the biggest opportunity to play in front of two billion people. For them, it was a no-brainer. And after some more consideration, we agreed to do it. Afterwards, there was criticism of the performance being anti-Christian. Did that worry you, or are you used to it at this point? Mario Duplantier: Absolutely. After being in this band for so many years, you get used to this type of criticism. It really didn’t matter to us. Actually, it wasn’t even our idea to show a decapitated Marie Antoinette. It was an artistic direction from the committee, and the people who were working on the ceremony, so we were not responsible for the aesthetic. I would say we took care of the music. We started as a death metal band, so throughout our entire career, it was always “Oh, my God, they are Satanists!” So we were laughing a little bit, and it’s always good to have this kind of buzz. It goes viral and it’s a good thing ultimately. You’ve been known for having big shows visually, but do you feel like there’s a different set of expectations from the metal scene nowadays? Mario Duplantier: That’s a good question. I really don’t know. We’ve been a band for so long and have so many albums, that it lends us this credibility. We have a live reputation. We are very picky about all the aspects of the band, the aesthetics, the music, the performance, and the politics. I don’t know what we could add to that or do differently. At the end of the day – and it was the same for the Paris Olympics – when I get out there, I practice a lot and try to give a good impression. But we didn’t really change anything for Paris, it’s always been the same process. You are working on a new album. Can you tell us more about it and when it’s coming out? Mario Duplantier: We are the kind of band who take our time, like Deftones. We need to experience things in real life to be able to write something that matters to us. We also don’t write that fast, and the four of us have different visions. I would say the more challenging thing is just to be able to get on the same page. We want to enjoy writing together! But what I can say right now is that we wrote exactly what I was imagining after Fortitude, Gojira have already played three times in Wacken, here in 2018 with a big pyro show In addition to Joe (right) and Mario Duplantier (2nd from right), guitarist Christian Andreu (left) and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie (2nd from left) are also part of the bandgoing back to something a bit heavier, and more technically challenging than before. It’s darker, I would say. It’s a bit early to talk about it, but it is going to be a strong album, for sure. Is there a state of mind when your creativity thrives? And if so, does it have to be dark? Mario Duplantier: There are always dark times, and we’re all struggling with relationships and life in general. It’s a challenge, and when you allow yourself to be receptive to that, it always has good and bad sides. Sometimes I’m angry. I tend to be very forceful and use my anger as energy, which makes me very good at drumming. But in terms of writing, I’m a morning guy and try to work out every morning, either I run or I go out to surf. Around that time, my energy is super high and it’s the best time for me to write, collect ideas or work on a riff. So I use my phone to sing stuff into, sometimes a riff, sometimes just a feeling or a groove or tempo. That way, I can catch the moment when my energy is high by recording it. You first played Wacken in 2010. What do you remember about your first show? Mario Duplantier: Wacken is a mythical festival for metalheads across the world. The first time we got the opportunity, we couldn’t believe it. It was a big moment for us. And we have so much respect for Germany’s festivals in general and German fans. It wasn’t easy for us to get through to them – it’s hard to explain, but it took a bit more time to convince the German crowd. And then we got to Wacken in 2010. We were playing on a stage with bands representing different countries, I think. The show was amazing because the tent was kind of tiny compared to the rest of the festival, but it was packed for our show. There was so much enthusiasm and energy. Probably the craziest show we’ve had. You’ve been back since then, of course, and have played the main stages. What is it like playing to such big crowds at festivals? Mario Duplantier: There are so many bands and people aren’t necessarily there just to see you, they might be there to see other bands. I love the challenge of that: How can I present our music to people who maybe don’t know us so they’ll enjoy it? When you play a sold- out show on your own, everyone buys their ticket to see you. Festivals always mean you have to convince people. I also like to share stories with the other bands. But my process remains the same: Every time I go on stage, I just try my best to give a hundred per cent, no holding back. Whether the venue is big or small or we’re at a festival, my attitude is always the same as a drummer. But that’s true for all of us. We give one hundred per cent, and that’s it. It’s always a great time for all the bands, as it’s usually summertime. And in Wacken, the backstage is always amazing, and the crowd is great. It’s my favourite festival in Germany, for sure. Without giving away too much about next year’s show, will you make the stage burn or bleed? Mario Duplantier: Sure, we will have to come up with something! (laughs) “ , , ” Mario Duplantier started playing drums at the age of eleven and describes himself as very disciplined Credits: WOA, Aylin MartinNext >