One band to conquer them all and play Wacken Open Air! Wacken Metal Battle USA is proud to announce this year’s national champion from the 2023 battles that were hosted across the country is San Diego, CA’s Fadrait who performed alongside other finalists Deathblow (Salt Lake City, UT), Steellake (El Paso, TX), Final Girls (New Jersey), Anubis (Los Angeles, CA), Villains In Vain (Eugene, OR), and Autumn Lies Buried (Clarksville, TN).
The 2023 National Final was held in San Diego, CA on May 13th at the Brick By Brick where the seven finalists were on various categories of professionalism and musicianship by experienced industry professionals that included Rod Kukla (Silver Lining Music/Wacken), Mark Vieira (Parts Unknown Management), and Dylan Marks (Atheist, White Wizzard).
Fadrait will be representing the USA at the international battle that hosts 29 other participating countries at one of the world’s most prestigious stages and the largest metal festival Wacken Open Air (Aug 4 -6), which has an attendance of over 80,000 people, and held in Wacken, Germany for now over 30 years.
“Every year this competition gets fiercer and more exciting to watch. This was the first year we held the National Final in San Diego and the amazing metal community there did not disappoint. Moving the National Final to San Diego also allowed us to add another band to the National Final which resulted in 7 of the most talented unsigned bands from across the country absolutely destroying the stage. It was a delight to witness and I feel sorry for the judges who had to pick only one band to represent the U.S. in the Wacken Metal Battle in Germany. I want to thank everyone involved and I hope we can keep growing this battle!
Congrats to Fadrait for winning the Wacken Metal Battle USA. They are a progressive death metal band with amazing talent everywhere you look on that stage. I know they will go to Germany and represent the USA with pride!” adds WMBU Promoter and Artist Relations Eric Dow.
Fadrait joins the list of previous bands to perform on metal‘s most prestigious stage, San Diego’s Mythraeum (2022), San Diego’s Monarch (2019), Anaheim’s Voices of Ruin (2018) and Philadelphia’s Corpse Hoarder (2017).
This year’s 2023 WMBU national finalists were the following:
DEATHBLOW – Salt Lake City, UT – SALT LAKE CITY – WINNER – www.facebook.com/
FADRAIT – San Diego, CA – SAN DIEGO WINNER – www.facebook.com/
STEELLAKE – El Paso, TX – TEXAS WINNER – www.facebook.com/
FINAL GIRLS – New Jersey – NEW JERSEY WINNER – www.facebook.com/
ANUBIS – Los Angeles, CA – WEST COAST WINNER – www.facebook.com/
VILLIANS IN VAIN – Eugene, OR – PACIFIC NORTHWEST FINAL – www.facebook.com/
AUTUMN LIES BURIED – Clarksville, TN – OHIO FINAL – www.facebook.com/
For the last 4 years of battles (2017-2019, 2022), Wacken Metal Battle USA has hosted battles across the country to send one independent metal band to perform at the world’s largest metal festival Wacken Open Air in Wacken, Germany. 2019 saw the festival celebrate its 30th anniversary, but due to Covid, the 2020 and 2021 editions were both canceled. As the metal community regains its strength, Wacken Open Air 2023 will be the 32nd edition of the festival and will be held from August 2nd to 5th. The 2023 event is already sold out with a line-up that includes Iron Maiden, Megadeth, The Dropkick Murphys, Wardruna, Jinjer, Beartooth, Trivium, Kataklysm and many more. Details here.
Wacken Battle Trailer Video – youtu.be/fjMugRXEc5g
Wacken Metal Battle USA is part of an international competition that sees bands from across the country battle each other for the chance of winning their spot among 29 other countries’ champions, and represent the USA in an international battle of the bands at the world’s largest outdoor metal festival: Wacken Open Air. The battles have been hosted at the festival for over a decade giving independent bands the opportunity to showcase their talents to an international audience along with the chance to win multiple prizes.
How it works:
Participating cities will host qualifying rounds plus a city final organized by a local city concert promoter where one band will move forward to the American national final (date and city to be determined). The winner of the national final will move on to perform at the Wacken Open Air 2023 and compete against the winners of 29 other countries in a final global battle. All bands will be judged during battle rounds by respected local music industry representatives.
Rules for participation: metalbattleusa.com/
Links:
Metal–Battle.com
MetalBattleUSA.com
Facebook.com/metalbattleusa
Twitter.com/MetalBattleUSA
Instagram.com/metalbattleusa
