Despite the slew of rain and bad weather this season, summer is finally upon us, bring with it the much anticipated Metal festival season, which is now in full-swing. As regular tourers of the European circuit will already know, the first weekend of July each year marks the occurrence of With Full Force festival, one of the longest standing festivals in Germany. With 20 warm-up parties having taken place throughout Germany over the last two months, fans of the With Full Force festival are eagerly counting down the days until this huge outdoor festival, located close to the city of Leipzig. In just under two weeks, and currently in its 23rd instalment, this increasingly popular festival will open its gates to tens of thousands of fans, and will take place over the weekend from 1st to 3rd July 2016.

With Full Force has always had a reputation for bringing out the big guns; whilst they may have a smaller number of bands than other large festivals which attract tens of thousands of fans, they nonetheless have just as many big names as many comparable festivals. But this year for the very first time ever, With Full Force will be introducing a third stage, allowing less well-known bands a fighting chance to show their mettle. This "Metal Hammer Stage" will provide 15 newcomer bands the chance to play a big festival and thereby garner a new fan-base. This doesn't mean a compromise on the usual number of top-class acts, with this year being no exception to the star-studded line-up seen in previous years. With Full Force festival has organised a tantalising line-up that has something for everyone, regardless of your particular predilection, and guarantees a delectable and debaucherous party for all, with the line-up this year including the likes of SLAYER, BEHEMOTH, AMON AMARTH, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, PARADISE LOST, TRIVIUM, and HATEBREED, not to mention BAD RELIGION, one of the pioneers of Punk Rock. One of my personal highlights though is RAGNAROK, one of the most underrated bands of the original Norwegian Black Metal scene, and a band that all to infrequently plays in Germany. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. For a look at the full line-up, click here.

And of course, with the current feverish pitch surrounding the UEFA Euro Cup 2016, With Full Force will be screening matches live as they always do when the festival coincides with a major soccer event. More specifically, and to the consternation of those metalheads who aren't soccer fans, if Germany make it to the quarter finals, this match will be screened on the main stage screen, whilst the bands will be postponed. Whilst this has caused a lot of controversy, with many fans saying that they are going to a festival for the sake of the bands, and not for soccer, those of you undecided about whether to watch the soccer or the festival can have the best of both worlds, and this is a good opportunity to catch the matches larger than life.

With chartered buses running to the festival (see here for details) from a whole host of cities throughout Germany, getting to the festival has also been made as easy as possible. The festival is also accessible through other forms of public transport, as well as obviously also being reachable by car. So no excuses! Metal Temple looks forward to seeing you there!