Ozzy Osbourne is reuniting with Black Sabbath to headline an all-star UK stadium concert Back to the Beginning, celebrating the creators of heavy metal.

Billed as “the greatest heavy metal show ever”, the charity event will take place at Villa Park in the band’s native Birmingham on Saturday 5 July. It will also feature sets from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon.

Black Sabbath’s original lineup – Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – will top the bill, marking Osbourne’s final performance and the first time the quartet have played together in 20 years.

Formed in Birmingham in 1968, the metal legends have sold more than 75 million albums worldwide. The group called it a day following their 2016/17 The End Tour, which featured Osbourne, Iommi and Butler and grossed $US85 million at the box office from 81 concerts across North America, Europe, Oceania and Latin America.

“It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning….time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” says Osbourne, who announced his retirement from touring in 2023. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”

“This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever”

The all-day Back to the Beginning will also feature a supergroup of musicians, with acts so far including Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns ‘n Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), KK Downing and Lzzy Hale (Halestorm).

Also confirmed are Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Sleep Token ii (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen and Zakk Wylde, with more names to be announced shortly.

“This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever,” says music director Tom Morello.

Tickets go on sale on Friday 14 February. All profits will go to Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.

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The ups and downs of the metal sector – and the lessons the genre can offer the mainstream scene – were pored over in a candid discussion at the International Festival Forum (IFF) in London.

Jan Quiel of Wacken Open Air chaired the Metal: Keeping in time, shredding old rules panel, which brought together Jouni Markkanen, promoter of Finland’s Tuska Festival, K2 Agency’s Sharon Richardson and Merle Doering, owner and MD of Catch 22 agency.

A key question centred on the lessons other events could learn from metal’s enduring ability to nurture a dedicated fanbase.

“Metal festivals are not focused on such a tiny pool of super-hot bands,” said Markkanen. “I don’t focus only on the headliners, but on the balance. You need to have a very strong start to the day; the party needs to start when the gate opens and it needs to last until the gate closes.

“At Tuska, we never made the mistake of just putting on one massive band because then it is like a park concert with a few support bands. Of course, somebody is closing the night, but it’s the collection of art for the weekend. You are trying to serve the wider audience; we are not just looking at modern metal bands, there is a twist of all genres here and there. Communication with the audience is super-important.”

“The pool of available bands was diminishing and we were like, ‘Okay, we need to find a new batch – a new style – to get the audience average age down.'”

Quiel added the metal “community” had bred fan loyalty through the years, although Doering pointed out that happened organically.

“I don’t think that can be learned,” she advised. “In pop music, you can have a one-hit wonder, but nobody cares about them the next year because they’re on to the next trend. I grew up very close to Wacken, and we went to Wacken on the first weekend of August. It didn’t matter who played; that was just what we did. And that’s a thing with metal culture – people identify very strongly with the festivals.”

The panellists also shared how they had succeeded in attracting a younger demographic in recent years, with Markkanen explaining he had changed his booking strategy “quite drastically” over the last few years, leading to fresh headliners such as Ghost, Electric Callboy and Lorna Shore.

“The audience was getting older and older,” he said. “The pool of available bands was diminishing and we were like, ‘Okay, we need to find a new batch of bands – a new style – to get the audience average age down.’ We didn’t do it in one stroke, but added more modern stuff here and there.”

Markkanen noted that this year’s booking of electronic rock band Pendulum was greeted with a frosty response on social media, yet their set attracted the festival’s third biggest crowd ever.

“Festival booking has become a fight for smaller to medium-sized bands, because so many bands want to tour and there are so few slots”

“Trying to find new ways of shocking the audience is nothing bad,” he added. “Of course, the old audience says that, ‘Markkanen has ruined the festival, Tuska has nothing to see anymore.’ But we grew from 15,000-cap to 23,000 and we’re selling out.”

On a similar theme, Richardson noted that K2 achieved a “phenomenal” result after securing a slot for Canadian metal band Spiritbox on the Reading & Leeds bill.

“Your job as an agent is to build that artist profile, but to get longevity out of an artist, so the slots for festivals are really important,” she said. “Reading & Leeds nowadays is more of a pop-indie festival, so for Spiritbox to play on the main stage was really difficult for them. But they won the crowd around, and it was a really good result in the fact that we put Alexandra Palace on sale around [their performances] – that’s 10,500-capacity – and it sold out in two and a half weeks, which was a phenomenal result from taking a risk.”

Wrapping up the session, Doering stressed that the metal scene was not without its struggles.

“A lot of changes need to happen because we are facing a lot of challenges,” she cautioned. “I don’t think the scene is necessarily handling the challenges very well overall, but generally it is adapting. Festival booking has become a fight for smaller to medium-sized bands, because so many bands want to tour and there are so few slots.

“At least for me, there’s a bigger threshold to taking on bands from North America because the cost of bringing them over are so much higher… Building a smaller act, especially from abroad – and you probably all know what flight costs are like nowadays – is so much more challenging. The financial situation of the band is something that comes up very early on, which was probably not the case to the same degree 10 years ago.”

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Organisers of legendary German heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) say they are “overwhelmed” that next year’s edition is already close to a sellout.

Machine Head, Saltatio Mortis, Papa Roach, Gojira, Apocalyptica, Saxon, Within Temptation, Dimmu Borgir, Ministry, Michael Schenker, Peyton Parrish, Beyond The Black and Clawfinger have been confirmed for the 85,000-cap event, set for 30 July to 2 August 2025.

The first batch of 10,000 “Faster” tickets, which included a limited edition T-shirt, swiftly sold out, while all but a few of the remaining “Harder” tickets, priced €333, have also now been snapped up.

“We are overwhelmed that the 85,000 tickets for W:O:A 2025 are almost completely sold after such a short time,” co-founder and promoter Thomas Jensen tells IQ. “We do not take the metalheads’ trust for granted. On the contrary, our motivation is to organise the best possible metal festival – not to be able to announce a ‘sold out’ as quickly as possible.”

The 2024 festival, which took place last week in Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, was headlined by Scorpions, Korn, Amon Amarth and Blind Guardian.

“We are very happy and thankful,” says Jensen. “It was a fantastic get together of the international metal community – our family, having a great time, amazing concerts and a very peaceful week with loads of new metal memories.”

“Fans could experience a whole week of W:O:A for the very first time”

He continues: “At the moment we are overjoyed that we can look back on a great week and are already counting down the days until we can meet fans, friends and family on the Holy Ground again next year – for that we are giving everything.”

It marked a return to full-strength for the Superstruct-backed, International Concert Service (ICS)-promoted metal institution, which went ahead at reduced capacity last year after the site was hit by rain and thunderstorms in the days leading up to it, leaving the camping areas “impassable”.

In an effort to help avoid similar scenes this time around, W:O:A introduced an extra arrival day and new arrival system with access passes for cars. For the first time, a limited number of access passes, priced €66.60 per vehicle, were made available for the Sunday before the festival – meaning areas of the campsite were open for a whole week.

“The fans fully accepted it, so everything went very smoothly and they were able to access the festival site without any delays and traffic jams,” reports Jensen. “Who doesn’t love having more time for a cold beer? It was a successful decision and implementation. Fans could experience a whole week of W:O:A for the very first time.

“In addition to arriving earlier, there were some special treats for them, like a very well received DJ set by my co-founder Holger Hübner aka ‘DJ Hüby’ and bands from the 1990 edition playing at the Landgasthof, where the idea of Wacken Open Air was originally born.”

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Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting has activated its emergency weather plan after the festival site was hit by torrential rain ahead of the event.

Taking place in Dessel, the 55,000-cap heavy metal festival is scheduled to start tomorrow (20 June) and run until Sunday. The four-day festival will be headlined by Tool, Alice Cooper, Five Finger Death Punch, Judas Priest, Bring Me The Horizon, Avenged Sevenfold, Scorpions and Machine Head.

However, organisers have cancelled their entire Wednesday evening programme, including the pre-party, and closed the onsite car parks. They say they are continuing to “closely monitoring the situation”, but are confident the festival proper will go ahead as planned.

“Fortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is better, so let’s stay positive,” says a statement. “The programming of the other festival days is not at risk. The organisation of Graspop Metal Meeting is ready to give it all for four days. We thank everyone for their understanding in this unpredictable situation.”

For people who are absolutely required to stay overnight on Wednesday, emergency accommodation will be provided

Car parking will not be available today (19 June), with those who need to spend the night at the campsite advised to travel to the venue via public transport.

“For people who are absolutely required to stay overnight on Wednesday, emergency accommodation will be provided,” adds a message from promoters.

Held over five stages, other acts on the bill include Deep Purple, Megadeth, Babymetal, Limp Bizkit, Architects, Turnstile, Bruce Dickinson, Electric Callboy, Pendulum and Corey Taylor.

Past headliners at Graspop, which launched in 1996, include Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, KISS, Black Sabbath, Rammstein, Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Korn and System Of A Down.

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Touring heavy metal festival Mayhem is to return this year as a one-off event, prior to a full-scale comeback in 2025.

The festival was last held in 2015, with a planned 2020 return ultimately shelved due to Covid, but has now been confirmed for 12 October at the 65,000-cap Glen Helen Amphitheatre in San Bernardino, California, US.

Presented by Hit Parader in partnership with Live Nation, it will be headlined by Bad Omens and feature the likes of Parkway Drive, Architects, Jinjer, Poppy Kittie, August Burns Red, Seven Hours After Violet, We Came As Romans, Suicide Silence, After The Burial and Throwdown.

Also announced are Born Of Osiris, Mothica, Hanabie, Peyton Parrish, Darkest Hour, Unearth, Brutus, It Dies Today, EscuelaGrind, Holy Wars and Roman Candle.

“Thank you to all of the artists who have brought this back to life with us”

“Thank you to all of the artists who have brought this back to life with us,” says a social media post from organisers, who plan to resurrect the event as a touring festival from summer 2025.

Mayhem, which previously comprised up to 30 tour dates at arenas and amphitheatres across the US and Canada, was created by Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman and is now being headed up by Hit Parader owner Ash Avildsen, CEO of Sumerian Records.

First staged in 2008, the festival has starred bands including Slipknot, Disturbed, Marilyn Manson, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Rob Zombie, Megadeth, Slayer, Motörhead, Avenged Sevenfold and Trivium.

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Slipknot have confirmed the return of Knotfest Brazil following the postponement of last year’s festival.

The metal icons, who held the brand’s first Brazilian edition in December 2022, are bringing Knotfest to Allianz Parque, São Paulo from 19-20 October this year.

The band will headline consecutive nights at the event and will perform two unique sets, commemorating the 25th anniversary of their self-titled debut album. Fans that attended Knotfest Brazil 2022 or have already signed up at KnotfestBrasil.com will receive a special pre-sale code for access to tickets in advance.

Prior to that, Slipknot will top the bill at US festivals Sick New World in Las Vegas, Nevada (27 April), Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, Florida (12 May) and Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus, Ohio (19 May).

They will also bring their Bring the Pain Tour to Europe in the winter, kicking off at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome in the Netherlands on 5 December and going on to visit Germany, Switzerland, France and the UK.

The Knotfest brand has expanded into multiple countries since launching in the US in 2012

The Knotfest brand has expanded into multiple countries since launching in the US in 2012, with events also held under the banner in Canada, Japan, Germany, Finland, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and Mexico. It also launched in Italy in 2023. A planned UK spin-off at Milton Keynes Bowl was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Knotfest Australia, which debuted last March, will be headlined by Pantera, Disturbed and Lamb of God in 2024, kicking off at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne on 21 March before heading to Sydney’s Centennial Park (23 March) and Brisbane Showgrounds (24 March).

Presented by Destroy All Lines, TEG Live and Finely Tuned, it will also feature performances from Halestorm, The HU, Asking Alexandria, Wage War, Escape the Fate, Skindred and Brand of Sacrifice, as well as domestic acts such as Thy Art Is Murder, SPEED, Windwaker and King Parrot.

In the run-up to the event, organisers have announced a series of side shows featuring sets from some of the festival’s biggest names.

Disturbed and Pantera will perform their only Australian headlining sets at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on 17 and 19 March, respectively, while Lamb of God will play a pair of dates with Brand of Sacrifice on 20 March in Melbourne and 25 March in Brisbane. Additional shows feature headline sets from Halestorm, The Hu and Asking Alexandria will also take place in various cities.

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Slovenia’s MetalDays will not take place in 2024 following the “unprecedented difficulties” of last year’s edition, it has been announced.

Although MetalDays 2023 was cut short due to Slovenia’s worst-ever floods, the 25,000-cap event was due to return Lake Velenje between 28 July-3 August with a lineup featuring acts such as Accept, Blind Guardian, Emperor, God is an Astronaut, The Amity Affliction, Caliban, Legion of the Damned, Tiamat, Unleashed and Rage.

However, “with a mix of emotions”, have opted to shift their focus to next year’s event, earmarked for 27 July-2 August 2025.

“After extensive discussions, we have made the difficult decision to postpone MetalDays 2024,” says a statement. “While this decision was not made lightly, we believe it is the most reasonable and in the best interest of everyone involved.

“MetalDays 2023 encountered unprecedented difficulties due to severe flooding, leading to the cancellation of the last two festival days. The aftermath, coupled with the financial setbacks, has made it challenging for us to deliver the experience you all deserve.”

“We see this as an opportunity to take a hiatus, regroup, and dedicate ourselves to ensuring the success of the next edition”

The heavy metal festival began life in 2004 as Metalcamp and has been called MetalDays since 2013 and has attracted bands including Megadeth, Slayer, Amon Amarth, Volbeat and Sabaton. Last month, it was announced the festival was partnering with the UK’s Bloodstock to offer rising bands the chance to perform at the corresponding event in 2025.

“At MetalDays, our mission from the very beginning has been to organise the best possible event,” adds the statement. “We set the bar very high… Given the circumstances, taking a break and redirecting our efforts to ensure a stellar next edition feels like the right step forward.

“Rather than rushing into another planning cycle with financial challenges, we see this as an opportunity to take a hiatus, regroup, and dedicate ourselves to ensuring the success of the next edition.”

Tickets purchased for 2024 will still be valid for 2025, and ticketholders are invited to attend Croatia’s GoatHell Festival, set for 25-27 July in Pula, Istria, Croatia, free of charge.

Last week, two of the UK’s best-loved independent festivals, Barn On The Farm and Splendour, were called off for 2024, while Scotland’s Doonhame Festival, held in Dumfries, has also been called off.

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Slovenia’s MetalDays and the UK’s Bloodstock are partnering to offer rising bands the chance to perform at the corresponding event in 2025.

The initiative will reward the winners of the festivals’ respective emerging talent contests, New Forces and Metal to the Masses.

The victors of New Forces already earn a spot at MetalDays, while Metal to the Masses winners receive a 30-minute slot on the Bloodstock Newblood Stage, along with a raft of other prizes.

“We’re delighted to announce a unique partnership between two outstanding metal festivals”

“We’re delighted to announce a unique partnership between two outstanding metal festivals, providing emerging bands with the opportunity to perform at the corresponding event in 2025,” says a MetalDays statement. “The champion of New Forces 2024 (MetalDays) and the victor of Metal to the Masses 2024 (Bloodstock) will secure a slot at the adjoining festival in 2025. Bands will be chosen by festival representatives shortly after next years event.”

MetalDays returns to Velenje, Slovenia, between 28 July and 3 August, when acts will include Accept, Blind Guardian, Emperor, God is an Astronaut, The Amity Affliction, Caliban, Legion of the Damned, Tiamat, Unleashed and Rage. The final day of MetalDays 2023 had to be cancelled due to Slovenia’s worst-ever floods.

Derbyshire’s Bloodstock, meanwhile, has announced headliners including Opeth, Architects and Amon Amarth for next year’s festival, which is set for 8-11 August. The lineup also includes acts such as Clutch, Malevolence, Carcass, Whitechapel and Flogging Molly.

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German metal festival Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) is introducing an extra arrival day for campers in 2024 in a bid to help avoid a repeat of the scenes that marred this year’s festival.

Promoter International Concert Service was forced to run the 85,000-cap event at a reduced capacity back in August after the festival site was hit by rain and thunderstorms in the days leading up to it, leaving the camping areas “impassable”.

Around 61,000 people entered the site before no further admissions were allowed, meaning close to 25,000 ticket-holders were denied entry.

“We had to leave a third of our family standing in front of the door. That was almost emotionally unbearable.” says the Superstruct-backed event’s co-founder Thomas Jensen. 

In a message to fans, W:O:A says: “In 2024, we want to do everything we can to avoid a similar situation.

“What many of you have wanted for a long time, we will implement next year: we will open some camping areas on Sunday, 28th of July 2024 from 8am, including Bauer Uwes Garten, Camper-Park and of course the heart of our camping areas, the W:O:A Campground.”

“Our team have developed a system that’ll allow us even more precise planning and can help to optimise the traffic situation for everyone”

It will mark the first time a limited number of access passes, priced €66.60 per vehicle, will be made available for the Sunday before the festival – meaning areas of the campsite will be open for a whole week.

People arriving by car must register online in advance for an exact day of arrival, with a welcome party for early arrivals to be hosted by Wacken boss Holger Hübner, aka DJ Hübi.

“In order to be best prepared for the upcoming edition, we and our team have developed a system that’ll allow us even more precise planning and can help to optimise the traffic situation for everyone,” says Jensen. “We would therefore like to thank the metalheads in advance for their support in this matter with their pre-registration – and look forward to spending a whole week on the field with some of them,”

Artists announced for next year’s event, which runs from 31 July to 3 August, include Scorpions, Amon Amorth and In Extremo. All tickets sold out in just four-and-a-half hours. Ticket-holders denied entry this year were given first refusal to buy tickets for Wacken 2024.

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Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) organisers have halted entry to the festival as a result of “persistently difficult weather conditions”, just a day before the event is due to begin.

The 32nd edition of the 80,000-cap German metal institution is set to run from 2-5 August with acts such as Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Dropkick Murphys, Wardruna, Beartooth, Ensiferum, Pentagram, Jinjer, Nervosa, Deicide, Burning Witches and Two Steps From Hell on the bill.

“Bad weather sometimes happens at festivals. Rain or shine. But rarely to this extent,” said yesterday’s (31 July) statement from promoter International Concert Service (ICS), which added that the camping areas were “impassable” and advised fans travelling to the event to stop their journeys and find a suitable waiting spot until conditions improved.

However, the restrictions remain in place a day later, with ticket-holders are asked to “refrain from further journeys to Wacken” and wait for updates amid the “extraordinary situation”.

“We are in constant, cooperative exchange with all relevant authorities and responsible persons in order to continue to ensure the safety of fans, employees and all people in the region,” says the latest message from organisers. “Due to the persistently difficult weather conditions with rainfall amounts of approximately 40 litres per square meter in the last 24 hours, and the resulting condition of the camping areas, event areas and the access roads, the areas could not be filled at a sufficient speed.

“Unfortunately, according to the meteorologists present on site, massive rain and possible thunderstorms are still to be expected at any time and on a continuing basis”

“Unfortunately, according to the meteorologists present on site, massive rain and possible thunderstorms are still to be expected at any time and on a continuing basis. Currently, we are working off the vehicles that are still temporarily parked in traffic jams or on external and private areas. We have to tow each vehicle individually to the targeted parking space with a tractor, which takes a lot of time for every single vehicle. All tractors are in continuous use day and night on all areas.

“We decide from hour to hour and ask for your understanding for this extremely difficult situation. You support us the most if you stay at home now.”

Superstruct Entertainment added W:O:A to its stable of European festivals in 2019 after investing in Germany’s ICS. The expanded four-day festival sold out in a record six hours when tickets went on sale for its 2023 event last year.

Tomorrow’s opening day is scheduled to feature a ceremony for the late Lemmy, led by Motörhead bandmates Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, which will see the rock legend’s ashes “find a new home in Wacken” as part of the “Lemmy Forever” weekend celebrations.

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