BLEED Shreds the Way to National Finals for Wacken Metal Battle Canada - April 18, 2015

Dana Zuk April 20, 2015

The Pawn Shop hosted the true battle of Alberta on Saturday night, as the 2 finalists from both the Edmonton and Calgary Wacken Metal Battles came together to duke it out for a chance to represent Alberta at the national finals in Toronto, ON.
After making a huge mark on Alberta's heavy metal music scene, I can't help but send out a big thank you to BLEED, Arrival Of Autumn,AfterEarth & DETHGOD for putting on remarkable performances on Saturday night, and throughout the entire duration of the battles. Each band played their hearts out, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. Metalheads from both Calgary and Edmonton flocked to the hosting venues night after night to show their support, and cheer on their cities representatives to the provincial finals, with Edmonton's own gore-inspired death metallers, BLEED, coming out on top to represent Alberta in the Canadian national finals of this epic battle of the bands, that will send one lucky Canadian band to play at this year's Wacken Open Air in Germany. Good luck BLEED!!

Check out photos from the Alberta finals below!

Alberta Finalists

Arrival of Autumn

AfterEarth

DETHGOD

BLEED

Arrival of Autumn & BLEED Move on to Alberta Finals for Wacken Metal Battle Canada - April 2, 2015

Dana Zuk April 3, 2015

Talk about your all time epic showdown! The 4 winners from each round of the Edmonton Wacken Metal Battles, Elnora, Arrival of Autumn, BLEED and Black XIII, all came together at the Pawn Shop on Thursday, April 2nd to battle it out to see which 2 bands would move on to face Calgary's top 2 on April 18th, where only one winner will move on to represent Alberta at the national finals in Toronto.
Playing in order of which bands won each round, kicking off the night was Red Deer's Elnora. Elnora dominated the first round of the Edmonton battles, and on Thursday night, they delivered a crushing set, full of breakdowns and epicness; Jam packed with energy that had their audience raging, and cheering for more.
Hailing all the way from Grande Prairie, AB, Arrival of Autumn was up next, and ready to kick some serious ass. After hearing many great things about this band from the second round of the battles, I was anticipating their set. With a wild crowd and wicked riffage from start to finish, Arrival of Autumn left one hell of a first impression on myself, as well as many others who gathered at the front of the stage to catch their set.
Third of the night was Edmonton's own, BLEED. With the faint smell of fake blood and maple syrup in the air, BLEED boomed into their set, playing songs compiled of thundering drums and gut wrenching vocals, with gore and horror inspired stage props to tie it all together.
Last but certainly not least, round 4 winners Black XIII was ready to rumble. Unfortunately missing this band's round due to a stubborn head cold, I was once again intrigued by what I was about to hear. As this blackened death metal threesome rolled through their set, I must say, I was mildly impressed. With their drummer as a front man, Black XIII played a handful of heavy songs with comedic names; cracking smiles on their audiences faces and immediately spreading the urge to head bang.
In the end, Arrival of Autumn and BLEED were chosen as Edmonton's representatives for the ultimate battle of Alberta, where in 2 short weeks, they will be gathering at the Pawn Shop once again to face Calgary's finalists, in an epic battle to see who will move on to the Canadian national finals. One band to rule them all... I CAN'T WAIT!

BLEED & Arrival Of Autumn

Elnora

Arrival of Autumn

BLEED

Black XIII

Want to check out the ultimate battle of Alberta?! Find the event info HERE!

BLËED Claims Round 3 of Edmonton Wacken Battles - March 19, 2015

Dana Zuk March 24, 2015

When the bill for round 3 of the Edmonton Wacken Metal Battles was announced, I couldn't help but feel all sorts of excited, as Valyria, Cat the Adversary, Dieuponaday and BLËED would be going head to head with each other for a spot in the Edmonton finals, alongside round one winners Elnora, and round two winners Arrival Of Autumn.
After missing the second round of the Wacken Battles due to covering another concert, I was eager to check out round 3 after previously hearing only 2 of the 4 bands on the bill. Starting off the night was St. Albert's own Valyria. As these melodic death metallers galloped and thrashed their way through a 30 minute set, Valyria had their audience going nuts! Moshing and headbanging, and not missing a single beat. Second up was Cat the Adversary, a 3 piece experimental metal band with a very unique sound. Despite technical difficulties with guitar gear on stage, Cat the Adversary played tracks that I found to be similar to that of Animals As Leaders, and Frank Zappa, with just a touch of grunge to pull it all together. Dieuponaday was up next, after hearing many positive comments about the band, I was curious to see what these guys could do. With a sound similar to that of Killswitch Engage, Dieuponaday had made a great impression on their audience, which lead to numerous people hurrying to the merch tables to pick up on of their tee-shirts and a CD. Last, but certainly not least, Edmonton's horror kings, BLËED, was up to bat. This theatrical thrash band stands a part from any other within the Alberta music scene. With music inspired by bands such as Black Sabbath, Strapping Young Lad and the obvious GWAR, BLËED had the blood of their audience pumping like never before as they shredded their way to victory for the third round of the Edmonton Wacken Battles.

BLEED

Valyria

Cat The Adversary

Dieuponaday

BLEED

Hit up next week's battle HERE!
Want to see more photos from this show? Check them out HERE!

Elnora Dominates First Round of Edmonton's Wacken Metal Battle - March 5, 2015

Dana Zuk March 7, 2015

Well, it's that time of year again! The metal battles are here, and Edmonton is ready to rumble! Kicking off this year's Wacken Metal Battle Canada at The Pawn Shop was Dahlmer's Realm, Red Deer's Elnora, and Windy City Slaughter, who traveled all the way from Chicago to participate in the Edmonton battles.
For those who aren't exactly sure what the Canadian metal battles are: Bands who enter the competition are selected from each province are given the opportunity to battle it out once a week for the month of March. The bands are judged on numerous things, such as stage presence, crowd interaction, dynamics, and so much more. After four rounds of numerous bands going head to head, winners from each provincial round will then participate in their city finals, as only one band will be chosen to represent their province. Winners of the provincial battles will then proceed onto the national battles, which take place in Toronto, Ontario. Winning this nation-wide ultimate battle of the bands will allow one lucky band from Canada to play the 2015 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. Pretty cool, right?
With Elnora taking the cake for Edmonton's first round, I can't help but feel more and more excited as next Thursday draws nearer. The Edmonton metal community is coming together to support our talented musicians, and with so many eager bands chomping at the bit for this opportunity, the competition is only going to get faster, fiercer, and heavier!

Want to see more photos from this show? Check them out HERE!

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