The curtain’s only just come down on this year’s edition of Wacken, but the first wave of bands for next year were announced via an epic multimedia display last night (August 1). Electric Callboy will be making their Wacken debut proper next year after playing an Electric Bassboy set at this year’s festival, while they’ll also be joined by Five Finger Death Punch, Helloween and Wacken regulars Heaven Shall Burn, while Dragonforce are also joining the line-up as a European exclusive. Newly installed vocalist Alissa White-Gluz is pulling double duty this year as Blue Medusa will also be playing. Chances are, there might be some clues here in this line-up as to who might be announced for Bloodstock 2027, given there’s often overlap between Wacken’s and Bloodstock’s bills. The first 27 bands - including all three headliners - will be revealed, as per tradition, during the festival next week.