I’m pretty sure you might live under a rock or in the gloomiest of caves if you don’t know what Wacken Open Air is by 2017, but for those who have been dwelling in caves, it’s one of the largest metal festivals in the world. Hosted in Germany, it has existed since 1990 and features performances from hundreds of metal bands, ranging across the varied sub genres, sub-sub genres and so on. Since 2013, Wacken Metal Battle Canada has allowed Canadian bands to join twenty other bands from aroudn the world to participate in an international battle of the bands.
Organizer of Wacken Metal Battle Canada JJ Tartaglia says about this years contest: “We’re all very excited about the 2018 Metal Battle. After the pause from last year, we expect a good batch of quality submissions from across the country, both from existing bands that have been honing their craft, and from new bands that have emerged during the break. We’ve also made some tweaks to the round structure which will include a Western Final and Eastern Final leading up to the grand finale in Toronto. So it will be more of a hockey playoff style, which I think will work out better, with the Final being technically on neutral ground.”
The winners in the past have definitely been Eastern Canada heavy, so much so that no one west of Hamilton has ever come out on top; maybe this is the year though. There’s some details on how to enter and the cities the show’s will happen in once 2018 is underway.
Bands interested in participating can apply at the following link: http://metalbattle.ca/apply.html
Participating Areas & Cities:
– Toronto, ON
– Hamilton, ON
– Ottawa, ON
– Montreal, QC
– Quebec City, QC
– Winnipeg, MB
– Saskatoon, SK
– Calgary, AB
– Edmonton, AB
– Vancouver, BC / Lower Mainland
– Vancouver Island, BC
– BC – Interior
Here’s a video of the Canadian finals from 2014 and also a free compilation you can check out:
Follow Wacken Metal Battle Canada on Facebook and Twitter
-Scott
*************************************************************************************
You can find Scott on twitter.
Be sure to like Drunk in a Graveyard on facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter to stay up to date with our ridiculous ramblings.