One band to rule them all and play Wacken Open Air! Wacken Metal Battle Canada is proud to announce this year's national champion from the 2023 battles that were hosted across the country is Trois-Rivières, QC's Strigampire, who performed alongside Western Canadian finalist Necht (Calgary, AB) and Ontario finalist Eaten By Sharks (St. Catharines, ON).
The Wacken Metal Battle Canada national final was held in Toronto, ON on May 13 at Lee's Palace where the three final bands from Western, Central, and Eastern Canada were judged on various categories of professionalism and musicianship by a panel of experienced industry professionals that included Pedro Almeida (A&P Reacts), Antonio Almeida (A&P Reacts), Noel Peters (Inertia Entertainment), Tim Henderson (BraveWords), Thorsteinn Kolbeinsson (Wacken Metal Battle Iceland), Sarah Lutz (Looters), Kevin Michaud (Front Row Promotions), Luc Laine (CFLX 95.5 FM - Alerte Metallique), Rae Chatten (Rock'n Roam, Live Nation), Mark Tremblay (Metal on Metal Podcast) and JJ Tartaglia (Wacken Metal Battle Canada).
Over sixty bands from across Canada participated in 2023 Canadian battles and Strigampire will be representing the country 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 (August 4 -6), which has an attendance of over 80,000 people, and held in Wacken, Germany for now over 30 years.
"What a powerful showcase of metal this night was. We shall send off Strigampire with much pride as they represent Canada on the global stage!" adds Wacken Metal Battle Canada organizer JJ Tartaglia.
Strigampire joins the list of previous winners The Slyde (Toronto, ON - 2019), Centuries of Decay (Toronto, ON - 2018), Profaner (Hamilton, ON - 2016), Vesperia (Toronto, ON - 2015), Mutank (Montreal, QC - 2014), Crimson Shadows (Toronto, ON - 2013).
WMBC was on pause since 2019, due to the Covid pandemic, and has hosted battles across Canada from 2013 until 2019, with one skip year in 2017.
2023 battles were hosted in Vancouver, BC, Edmonton, AB, Calgary, AB, Toronto, ON, Hamilton, ON, Ottawa, ON, Montreal, QC, and Quebec City, QC.
