Danish dynamite at GMM 2016 with Volbeat!

Many were sceptical when Danish heavy metal band Volbeat first headlined GMM two years ago. It’s unusual to have such a young band top the bill at a metal festival but a blistering show in the pouring rain convinced even the biggest critics. Michael Poulsen’s signature vocals and the band’s trademark mix of classic rock, punk, rockabilly and metal set the arena ablaze. We are pleased to announce that Denmark’s favourite heavy rock gangsters are coming back next year to add another notch to their GMM belt.

Volbeat fits in nicely with the rest of our impressive list of headliners. Black Sabbath and King Diamond are the main acts on Friday 17 June, Volbeat is our first headliner for Saturday 18 June, and Iron Maiden and Twisted Sister will close the 21st edition of Graspop Metal Meeting on Sunday 19 June.

Skully wants to win an award!

In what is a first for Graspop Metal Meeting, the festival has been nominated for two European Festival Awards in the categories ‘Best Major Festival’ and ‘Best European Festival Line-Up’. We’d like to call on all you loyal Graspop fans out there to help us bag these awards. Cast your vote before 12 November on eu.festivalawards.com/vote-now. Skully will be forever in your debt.

Twisted Sister! King Diamond! And more names!

From 17 through 19 June, the Dessel plains will once again form the backdrop for three days of metal mania. It gives us great pleasure to announce the legendary King Diamond. The Danish heavy metal outfit around the eponymous eccentric frontman is releasing a long-awaited new album next year. Brace yourself for pure and unadulterated heavy metal horror, vocal acrobatics and a satanic experience of the highest order. King Diamond is co-headlining with Black Sabbath on Friday 17 June.

Also confirmed for this 21st edition is Twisted Sister! After more than four decades, the American heavy metal band around the flamboyant Dee Snider is bowing out with a blistering farewell tour: ‘Forty and Fuck It’! Twisted Sister will close the 21st edition of Graspop Metal Meeting on Sunday 19 June on Mainstage 2.

The line-up is shaping up nicely with another 28 household names! Confirmed acts in alphabetical order: Abbath, Amon Amarth, Arcturus, August Burns Red, Black Sabbath, Borknagar, Bullet For My Valentine, Bury Tomorrow, Dirkschneider, Dark Funeral, Delain, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Grand Magus, Iron Maiden, King diamond, La Muerte, Legion of the Damned, Loudness, Monuments, Moonspell, Myrkur, Oomph!, Overkill, Sacred Reich, Satyricon, Slaves, Testament, The Algorithm, The Midnight Ghost Train, Trivium, Twisted sister, Virgin Steele

Iron Maiden to headline Graspop 2016!

It gives us great pleasure to confirm Iron Maiden as our top of the bill to close the Graspop Metal Meeting on Sunday 19 June. Heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN will be flying in to Dessel on board their 747-400 Jumbo Jet Ed Force One on The Book of Souls World Tour. Tickets go on sale on 15 October. This follows the recent announcement of BLACK SABBATH as the headliner for the first festival day.

With over 90 million albums sold worldwide since the band’s inception in 1975, Iron Maiden can rightfully be called a heavy metal supergroup. In sold-out stadiums and arenas all over the world, millions of fans scream genre classics such as The Number of the Beast, Fear Of The Dark and The Trooper at the top of their lungs. Every self-respecting metal fan is aware of the impact this British band has had on the heavy metal scene as a whole and with seven Graspop shows to their credit, IRON MAIDEN’s popularity in Belgium is beyond dispute. The September release of their brand-new album, The Book of Souls, which debuted at #1 in Belgium and over 40 countries around the globe, seemed like the perfect excuse to invite them for the 8th time and they were happy to accept.

Frontman Bruce Dickinson will once again navigate the globe on the flight deck, this time aboard an enormous Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet. The new “Ed Force One” will carry the band, crew, stage production and equipment over 55,000 miles around the world visiting around 35 countries.

Bruce comments: “It’s been some time since our last show and we cannot wait to get back out on tour. Maiden thrive on touring and playing to our fans, it’s what we enjoy the most. We look forward to returning to Graspop, we always enjoy playing here. We haven't decided on the set list as yet and won’t until we start rehearsing but we really look forward to playing a number of new songs live, especially as the recording of The Book of Souls was so much live. However, as it’s been a while since we saw you all, I am sure we will include plenty of older fan favourites too. I think the fans will be delighted by what we have in mind. We are also in the middle of creating the new show and rest assured we are working hard to bring you all something spectacular, something with a lot of heart!!! You certainly deserve it for your patience. We very much look forward to seeing you all at Graspop Metal Meeting next year“.

Black Sabbath to headline Graspop 2016

© Gathered Weiss

It’s time to end the speculation and reveal the first headliner for the 2016 edition of Graspop Metal Meeting (#GMM16). We are very proud to announce that heavy metal legends Black Sabbath will be making their final stand in Belgium on Friday 17 June 2016 for an exclusive Benelux show. GMM is very honoured to host the founding fathers of heavy metal on their farewell tour. Tickets go on sale on 15 October.

When Black Sabbath announced their retirement in early 2015, the farewell tour initially included dates in North America, Australia and New Zealand. With their appearance at GMM2016 now confirmed, the band’s European fans can rest easy: frontman Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Iommi and Geezer Butler are headlining Graspop Metal Meeting on Friday 17 June 2016.

It started nearly five decades ago with a crack of thunder, a distant bell ringing and then that monstrous riff that shook the earth. The heaviest rock sound ever heard! In that moment heavy metal was born! Since the release of their self-titled 1970 debut, Sabbath have been at the forefront of the heavy metal genre with seminal tracks such as Paranoid, War Pigs and Iron Man to name but a few.

Now it ENDS, the final tour by the greatest metal band of all time, Black Sabbath close the final chapter in the final volume of the incredible story. Black Sabbath’s farewell tour, THE END, begins in Europe on June 01, 2016 and it promises to surpass all previous tours with their most mesmerizing production ever. When this tour concludes, it will truly be THE END, THE END of one of most legendary bands in Rock ’n Roll history...

Graspop Metal Meeting 2016 17 to 19 June

The dates for next year’s Graspop Metal Meeting have been confirmed. The 21st edition of the Low Countries’ premier metal festival is scheduled for Friday 17 through Sunday 19 June 2016. Last year’s edition proved the penultimate weekend of June is ideal to snare some of the hottest heavy rock and metal bands on the planet so we’re repeating the formula this year. The place to be is still festival park De Stenehei, the spawning ground of our mascot Skully. Meanwhile, we haven’t exactly been twiddling our thumbs because we’ll be announcing the first batch of names in just a few weeks’ time.

Here’s a little reminder of last year’s festivities…

Just 277 days to go till Graspop Metal Meeting 2016