Lita Ford is rock history personified. As guitarist for the legendary Runaways, she broke all the rules in the 1970s and paved the way for women in heavy rock. Her solo career produced true classics such as ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ and the duet ‘Close My Eyes Forever’. For decades, she has been known for her uncompromising riffs, rebellious attitude and a voice that sounds like red-hot steel. Despite personal ups and downs, Lita has remained true to rock music and lives the lifestyle she sings about. When she takes the stage at Wacken, the hallowed ground will get its dose of pure rock power from a pioneer who still knows how to get an audience fired up.

Warkings will strike with full force at Wacken 2025, bringing their epic power metal straight from the halls of Valhalla to the festival stage. Since its inception, the band has presented itself as a warrior collective from times long past, bringing their stories of crusaders, Vikings and legends to life through music. Their current album, ‘Armageddon’, is a storm of thunderous riffs, anthemic choruses and dramatic theatricality, always accompanied by the mystical voice of Morgana le Fay. Those who enjoy monumental hooklines, combative pathos and a dash of fantasy will find Warkings’ show oscillating between headbanging ecstasy and battlefield atmosphere, loud, proud and with swords raised.

King Diamond returns to Wacken in 2025 with his trademark falsetto, coffins, spotlights and stage production that lives somewhere between horror film and heavy metal opera. For decades, the exceptional Danish singer has been considered a master of musical horror: concept albums such as ‘Abigail’ and “Them” have long since become legendary, and his shows are theatrical works of art. With the new song ‘Spider Lilly’ and a long-awaited solo album on the horizon, there is now fresh fodder for all fans of dark, dramatic storytelling. When King Diamond takes to the stage late in the evening, one thing is clear: there will be no hits to sing along to, but goosebumps, horror and metal with a truly signature character – eccentric, iconic, incomparable.

When Floor Jansen takes to the stage, a rare moment of absolute presence is created. Even before the first note is played, there is tension in the air. Known as the exceptional voice of Nightwish, she has also carved out a permanent place for herself in the music world outside of the band with her solo debut ‘Paragon’ and songs such as “Fire” and ‘Storm’. Her voice combines power and grace, opera and rock, vulnerability and determination; it is an instrument that transforms emotions into sound and then back into emotions again. At Holy Ground, she will bring this versatility to the stage solo for the first time: a performance that will be personal and intense, carried by musical class and a stage presence that leaves no one cold. Anyone who experiences her live will immediately sense that this is not just a singer, but a whole story being played out in music.

First the ground shakes, then comes the impact. No countdown, no warm-up: August Burns Red only know the direct route forward. For almost 20 years, they have stood for metalcore that not only destroys but also builds up: technically sharp, emotionally deep and, live, a collective state of emergency. Every song is like a liberating blow full of angry energy, carried by hope and solidarity. At Wacken 2025, they will ignite exactly what they do best: a show between chaos and clarity, with the force of an earthquake and the precision of a scalpel cut.

Sometimes a single note is enough to make it clear: nothing here is the same as it was before. For over four decades, Destruction have been delivering precisely this feeling with a force that has lost none of its sharpness. In 2025, they will be back in Wacken with a new album, a new line-up and their familiar heaviness. ‘Birth of Malice’ is the name of their latest work, on which the band uncompromisingly rails against human depravity and social decay. Frontman Schmier leads the band through a set that leaves no room for frills. Pure thrash, fast, hard and straight to the bone. Anyone who thinks veterans are resting on their laurels hasn’t seen Destruction live in a long time. Nothing burns out here, everything burns down.

When Dimmu Borgir take to the stage, shadows and symphony descend upon the audience in a masterful inferno. Since 1993, they have shaped symphonic black metal with their blend of dark atmosphere and orchestral pathos. Albums such as ‘Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia’, ‘Death Cult Armageddon’ and ‘Eonian’ are hymns in minor keys and orchestral monumentality, where every chord storm becomes a ritual. Their rebellion against expectations, their theatrical artistry and their unbridled energy make them legends of the genre. At Wacken 2025, fans can expect a spectacle of superlatives: two decades of sound architecture in which black metal became opera, and a performance that amazes, moves and pushes relentlessly.

Fear Factory are the epitome of industrial metal – cold, precise and relentless. Since the early 90s, they have been fusing machine-like guitar riffs, electronic samples and alternating vocals into a sound that feels like a dystopian nightmare. With albums such as Demanufacture and Obsolete, they set new standards and influenced entire generations. Despite line-up changes, conflicts and new beginnings, most recently with new singer Milo Silvestro, their music remains uncompromising: the eternal struggle between man and machine. Live, Fear Factory are a thunderous vision of the future. Metallic, powerful, unforgettable. In Wacken, the gears will start turning again.

Brothers of Metal are the epic warriors of power metal straight from Falun, Sweden, armed with guitars, myths and a huge dose of self-irony. With three singers, bombastic choirs and anthems such as ‘The Other Son of Odin’ and ‘Berserkir’, they celebrate Norse gods, battles and legends in such an exaggerated way that it seems serious again. Since their debut ‘Prophecy of Ragnarök’, the band has been thrilling audiences with their rousing sound and theatrical show, in which fantasy and metal merge in a thunderous alliance. When Brothers of Metal take to the stage, the audience goes wild between horned helmets and devil horns – epic, loud and guaranteed to be unforgettable.