Author: Web Rock Radio News Dept

One Band To Rule Them All! After another record-breaking year of submissions from independent bands across the country, Wacken Metal Battle Canada is proud to announce this year’s Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa bands and rounds along with previously announced British Columbia and Ontario battles.

One unsigned Canadian band will be crowned champion and perform at one of the world’s most prestigious and largest already sold-out metal festivals Wacken Open Air (July 30 – August 2) (Attendance of over 80,000 people in Wacken, Germany for over 30 years).

The 2025 Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa will be held in the following cities and dates with more to be announced for Canada. The national final will be held in Vancouver, BC on May 31 at The Rickshaw Theatre.

2025 Canadian Wacken Battles:

Montreal Dates: (Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa Bands)

February 7 – Montreal Round 1 – Piranha Bar
Chaotic Symbios (QC), Last Dance Among Wolves (MTL), Red Raven Chaos (MTL), Stadaconé (MTL)
Event info here

February 28 – Montreal Round 2 – Piranah Bar
Hatred Reigns (Ottawa), Wooden (MTL), Odd Times (MTL), Soulthief (Ottawa)
Event info here

March 7 – Montreal Round 3 – Piranha Bar
Demonius (MTL), Forbidden Order (MTL), CHÜZO (MTL), Sovereign Council (Ottawa)
Event info here

April 11 – Montreal Final – Piranha Bar

British Columbia Dates:

March 1 – Vancouver Round 1 @ The Cobalt – Vancouver, BC
DeathBound, NIGHTOWL, Utility Provider, Nokturna, Burnt Lung
Event info here

March 2 – BC Interior Round @ Jackknife Brewing – Kelowna, BC
Dendros, Burn It All, Gregorious, Nomad, Storm The Empire
Event info here

March 22 – Vancouver Round 2 @ The Cobalt – Vancouver, BC
Iron Kingdom, Ashen Pall, Heathanz Sinz, Killing Twins, TIVR
Event info here

March 30 – Vancouver Island Round @ Lucky Bar – Victoria, BC
YEGG, Electric Druids, Decryptor, Gate Theory, Antler
Event info here

May 3 – BC Final @ The Cobalt – Vancouver, BC
May 31 – National Final @ The Rickshaw, Vancouver, BC

Ontario Dates:

January 10 – London Round @ Rum Runners
Atria (guest headliner), Death Club, Dead Days, 4HateU8
Event info here
Winner: Dead Days

January 24 – Hamilton Round @ Main Stage Rehearsal
The Good Depression, Killotine, Zero Tolerance, Devilz By Definition, Zero End
Tickets here

January 25 – Toronto Round 1 @ Hard Luck
Pillars of Autumn, Ischemic, Purveyor of Chaos, Unkle Skurvey
Tickets here

February 1 – Toronto Round 2 @ Hard Luck
Seagrave, Nepenthe, Panic Response, The Animal Warfare Act
Tickets here

Edmonton, AB – TBA
Calgary, AB – TBA

The 2025 WMBC champion will receive the following:

– A slot at the 2025 Wacken Open Air Festival.
– Full professional backline provided.
– $1,000 CAD towards flights to Germany.
– VIP camping at the festival.

The 2024 WMBC national final was held in Edmonton, AB at The Starlite Room on May 25th and witnessed regional winners Arrow In The Quiver (Vancouver, BC), Infrastrvctvre (Calgary, AB), Age of Ashes (Edmonton, AB), Beguiler (Toronto, ON) and Red Raven Chaos (Montreal, QC) along with special guest headliners NECHT (Calgary, AB – 2023 National Finalist).

The night was MC’d by Gord Alexander (Tessitura, Tides of Kharon) and judged by an industry panel that included JJ Tartaglia (Wacken Metal Battle Canada, Boonsdale Records, Skull Fist, Thunderor – Toronto, ON), Luc Lainé (CFLX 95,5 FM – Alerte Metallique – Sherbrooke, QC), Dan Cleary (Striker), Kim Aebly (The Invisible Orange, Vancouver, BC), Dana Zuk (Dana Zuk Photography – Edmonton, AB), Jon Asher (Asher Media Relations – Montreal, QC), Nancy Barnes (Big Nate Productions – Calgary, AB), Celestia Scarlett (Owner/Artist Manager – The Celestial Agency- Calgary, AB) and Steve DC (Strigampire – 2023 National WMBC Winner – Trois-Rivières, QC).

After each band presented their furious rallying battle performance, the only one that stood out from the rest was crowned 2024 champion Toronto’s Beguiler who moved on to perform as the only independent Canadian band at the International Battle at Wacken Open Air 2024 (July 31st – August 3rd).

Live Full Video of 2024 WMBC National Final in Edmonton, AB:

List of previous WMBC national winners Beguiler (Toronto, ON – 2024), Strigampire (Trois-Rivières, QC – 2023), 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).

Info:

Since 2013, with a pause year in 2017 and 2020 due to COVID-19, Wacken Metal Battle Canada 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 2025 will be the 34th edition of the festival and will be held from July 30th – August 2nd. The 2025 event is already sold out with a line-up that includes Machine Head, Saltatio Mortis, Papa Roach, Gojira, Apocalyptica, Saxon, Within Temptation, Dimmu Borgir, Ministry, and many more. Details here.

About:

Wacken Metal Battle Canada is part of an international competition that sees bands from across the country battle each other for the chance to win their spot among 30 other countries’ champions, and represent Canada 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 Canadian national final (date and city to be determined). The winner of the national final will move on to perform at the Wacken Open Air 2025 and compete against the winners of 29 other countries in a final global battle. All battle rounds are judged by respected local music industry representatives.

Rules for participation here.

Media Partners:

BraveWords.com
Metal-Rules.com
Absolute Underground Magazine
BrokenNeckRadio.com
V13.net
MetalDevastationRadio
Rich Embury (internationally syndicated DJ)
GhostCultMag.com
Rocknroam.ca
Vox & Hops Podcast
The Metal Voice

Promoter Partners:

Boonsdale Records
Dungeonworks Productions
The Invisible Orange
Big Nate Productions
ConcertWorks
Asher Media Relations

Perfect Plan have released their new single and accompanying video, “Heart Of A Lion”, the title track from the upcoming studio album, set for release on February 28 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Lead singer Kent Hilli describes the title track by saying: “’Heart Of A Lion’ is inspired by our Swedish football hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his story and career. A magnificent football player with a very inspiring story. I can relate to the struggles he had as a youth growing up in Sweden turning his setbacks and people talking him down to fuel for development and reaching higher. The passion, ambition and drive he has is truly one of a kind. He also has the Lion as his “spirit animal” which – together with his unique drive – inspired me for the lyrics and theme of the song.”

Perfect Plan’s fourth studio album, Heart Of A Lion, marks the culmination of the band’s musical production to date. Over the course of their first trilogy of albums, All Rise, Time For A Miracle and Brace For Impact, the Swedes have quickly established themselves as a new gold standard in not only the Scandinavian melodic rock genre, but the melodic rock genre as a whole.

Talking about Heart Of A Lion, Hilli continues: “The new album is once again showcasing that we have developed and matured as a band in terms of songwriting and production. The melodies, riffs, and hooks that we have created on this album are overall the best we’ve done so far. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished. Although our main influences like Survivor, Foreigner, Europe, and Whitesnake are still shining through, there’s that unmistakable Perfect Plan sound that is the driving center of it all. And I think we have strengthened that sound and identity.

“With Brace For Impact we wanted to discover a new heavier and ‘in your face’ sound but on this album, we are back to the sound of the first two albums, with more keyboards and bigger sound taking you back to the 80’s with a modern touch and feel. On this album, we once again teamed up with Mårten Eriksson, whom we worked with on Time For A Miracle.”

Hilli adds: “Mårten brought his extreme talent to the songs both co-producing with us and also did he mixing. Mårten’s long experience as both a songwriter and producer in the pop industry brought so much to the table and the end result is simply fantastic. If you liked our previous albums, you are gonna love Heart Of A Lion!”

Kent Hilli is a one-of-a-kind singer that gained a world-class reputation almost from the start. His class, range, tone, and heartfelt expression caught the attention of his heroes Giant, who picked him to sing on their latest album Shifting Time, and saw Kent releasing two solo albums in 2021 (The Rumble) and 2023 (Nothing Left To Lose).

Completing the lineup is: Rolf Nordström, guitarist extraordinaire, Mats Byström, the music mastermind who plays bass and forms a solid, rock-hard base with drummer Fredrik Forsberg. The subtle textures, so important in AOR, come from Leif Ehlin’s keyboards.

Heart Of A Lion is a powerful statement from the band offering their absolute best songwriting and production ever: a strong offering with roots very well planted in the 80’s AOR sound. Produced in collaboration with Mårten Eriksson, the band was determined to top the musical results they had previously reached and took a few months to come out with the right musical material.

Sometimes the stars align, and the result is absolutely stunning: a perfect balance of energy and unforgettable melodies is what you are going to find in Heart Of A Lion.

Perfect Plan offers the “perfect” (pun intended) combination: a superb singer, a well-oiled band of experienced players, and a great songwriting talent with a knack for unforgettable melodies and driving rhythms.

With Heart Of A Lion, Perfect Plan has crafted an outstanding piece of work which, while paying tribute to the obvious references to the sound of the classics (think Survivor, Foreigner, The Storm, Giant, etc) and Scandinavian AOR, has a recognizable identity and personal feel.

Pre-order the album here.

Tracklisting:

“Heart Of A Lion”
“Too Tough”
“We Are Heroes”
“All Night”
“Ready To Break”
“My Unsung Hero”
“Turn Up Your Radio”
“Lady Mysterious”
“One Touch”
“Danger On The Loose”
“At Your Stone”

“We Are Heroes” video:

Perfect Plan are:

Kent Hilli – Lead Vocals
Leif Ehlin – Keyboards
Rolf Nordström – Guitar
Mats Byström – Bass
Fredrik Forsberg – Drums

(Photo – Leif Wikberg)

Finnish metal icons, Amorphis, performed the Queen Of Time album track, “The Bee”, during their set at Germany’s Rock Hard  Festival in 2024. Professionally-filmed video has been released, and can be viewed below:

Arch Enemy will ignite stages across Europe on their “Blood Dynasty” headline tour in fall/winter 2025. Joining them on their unrelenting metal crusade are the mighty Amorphis and Eluveitie as co-special guests, with the crushing force of Gatecreeper poised to blast open the gates of chaos.

Tour dates:

October
10 – Stuttgart, Germany – Schleyerhalle
11 – Frankfurt am Main, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
12 – Munich, Germany – Zenith
14 – Budapest, Hungary – Barba Negra
15 – Vienna, Austria – Gasometer
17 – Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
18 – Prague, Czech Republic – Sportovni Hala Fortuna
19 – Gliwice, Poland – PreZero Arena Gliwice
21 – Zurich, Switzerland – The Hall
22 – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
23 – Lyon, France – Radiant-Bellevue
25 – Madrid, Spain – Vistalegre
27 – Paris, France – Zenith
28 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
30 – Wolverhampton, UK – Civic Hall
31 – Manchester, UK – O2 Apollo

November
1 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo
3 – Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg – Rockhal
4 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
5 – Leipzig, Germany – Haus Auensee
7 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Partille Arena
8 – Stockholm, Sweden – Annexet
10 – Helsinki, Finland – Ice Hall
12 – Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene
13 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Poolen
14 – Hannover, Germany – Swiss Life Hall
15 – Duesseldorf, Germany – Mitsubishi Electric Hall

Tampa, Florida-based Midnight Vice have revealed new details about their self-titled debut EP, finally and for the first time ever physically available on CD and Vinyl via the band’s new label partner ROAR! “Midnight Vice” will be out in Europe on March 28 and in North America on April 4; the pre-sale has just started here.

Midnight Vice, founded in 2020, is a NWOTHM (New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal) band hailing from the depths of Tampa’s Underground metal scene. With a sound that pays homage to the legends of the 1980’s metal era, they combine crushing riffs, soaring vocals, and blazing guitar solos to create a sound that is both familiar and fresh. They are characterized by denim and leather, with a “take no prisoners” attitude. The group is heavily influenced by bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Savatage, Megadeth, Motörhead and many more. Midnight Vice brings a sense of tradition to their music, all while infusing modern energy that is sure to ignite the flame within diehard metal heads.

Grown up in Tampa, the band was surrounded by the spirit of a lot of legends. “For the band as a whole, Crimson Glory and Savatage are by far the most influential local legends. We’re also very big Death fans”, confirms singer Tyler Gray. To Savatage, the band even pays tribute with a cover version of their speed metal classic “White Witch”, from the almighty Hall Of The Mountain King album. “With us being a heavy metal band from Florida, it felt right to pay our homage to a band that put Florida on the map in regards of American heavy metal”, says the singer and adds that Midnight Vice guitar player Sam Bean grew up in Tarpon Springs, the hometown of Savatage.

Stream Midnight Vice’s killer cover version of “White Witch” here. Listen below.

Within the past few years, a new and young scene developed, discovering and sharing their love for traditional 80s metal. While the first wave came with bands like Skull Fist, Enforcer, Ram, Cauldron and White Wizzard, a second wave just kicked-off with Midnight Vice possibly becoming one of the bands on top of it. “It is absolutely a new scene. It is incredible to see all of these new bands coming out. It’s honestly gotten to the point that it’s hard to keep up with all the bands popping up these days,“ Tyler adds. “I remember the heydays of Enforcer and Skull Fist being followed by bands such as Haunt, Riot City, and Sabïre. Since then, I feel like it’s just been an overload of new bands. It’s really cool to see, and we’re happy to be part of such a flourishing movement.”

In 2023, Midnight Vice released their first EP digitally, which will be out physically in late March / early April 2025 on their new label ROAR, the home of Grave Digger, Crematory, Saber to name just a few. “We love all of our songs, and we are very confident in the material that we’ve put out so far. For the most part, the EP turned out exactly how we expected it to”, sums the vocalist up, who has Heavy Metal in his blood and running through his veins. “Heavy metal is an undying force that inspires and empowers. It’s a power cage that no true fan will ever escape. Midnight Vice embodies that, and we stay true to the spirit of what our predecessor’s created.”

Midnight Vice EP tracklisting:

“Strike In The Night”
“Spellcaster”
“Excalibur”
“Baptized By Fire”
“Mysteria”
“Deliverance Of Steel”
“White Witch”

“White Witch”:

Midnight Vice is:

Tyler Gray – Vocals
Sam Bean – Guitar, backing vocals
Dennis O’sullivan – Drums
Lakota Stafford – Bass

(Photo – Chuck Burns)

American thrash metal legends and genre originators, Exodus, are gearing up for a huge 2025, kicking things off with the announcement of two very special Bonded By Blood 40th Anniversary shows, falling upon late original vocalist Paul Baloff’s birthday weekend (April 25).

Taking place in Berkeley, CA on Friday, April 25 at UC Theatre and Anaheim, CA on Saturday, April 26 at House of Blues, the shows will feature Exodus performing Bonded By Blood in its entirety, plus more hits, and each show will feature direct support from Death Angel. Blind Illusion and Nukem will open the Berkeley date, and Hirax and Nukem will open the Anaheim date. Special edition Bonded By Blood merchandise will also be available.

Tickets will go on sale this Friday, January 24 at 10 AM local time, with individual artist and local pre-sales beginning tomorrow, January 23. Visit Exodusattack.com for tickets, and Exodus VIP information can be found here.

Exodus guitarist Gary Holt says: “Exodus could not be more excited for this show announcement! The 40th anniversary of our debut only happens once, and to fall on Paul Baloff’s birthday, on a Friday, we KNEW we had to crush the Bay Area. Bonded By Blood. Played in its entirety. Only Baloff era songs. Once in a lifetime moment for us. So killer that we added a second show in Southern California to show our appreciation to both regions. Joining us are some dear friends, especially Death Angel. Don’t miss this. Posers must die!”

Mark Osegueda of Death Angel adds: “Death Angel are so proud to have been asked to be a part of the Exodus Bonded By Blood 40th Anniversary shows in April. A record that changed and inspired the entire thrash metal scene and community! And us in the biggest way! I expect both shows to be nothing less than an extreme outpouring of violent celebratory energy from all of the bands and fans to honor an album that absolutely defined, and still does, the genre known as thrash Metal!
You don’t want to miss these shows! Forever Heavier than time!”

Death Angel Meet & Greet VIP Packages will go on sale to the public Friday, January 24 at 10 AM, PT here.

Stay tuned for more exciting Exodus news, coming soon!

Exodus recently announced that they have parted ways with frontman, Steve “Zetro” Souza. They also confirmed the return of former singer, Rob Dukes, who was previously with the band from 2005 – 2014. A message from the band follows:

“Announcement! Exodus have parted ways with Steve “Zetro” Souza. We thank Steve for his years fronting the band and all the killer music we made during that time. We wish him only the best in the future and much success with anything he does.

“And please help us welcome Rob Dukes back to Exodus! We are beyond stoked to have Rob back ripping up the stage with us and he’s looking forward to crushing everything like only he can.

“Next chapter begins, new record rolls along as planned and the beatings will continue. See you soon.”

Alex Skolnick is featured in a new interview with Metal Insider, and in addition to discussing supergroup Metal Allegiance, he also speaks about the forthcoming new album from Testament. The band’s follow-up to Titans Of Creation, which was released in 2020 via Nuclear Blast, is expected this year.

Metal Insider: Looks like you will be releasing a new album in 2025? Is there any timeframe when the album title or first single will be announced and when can we all expect the release date to be?

Alex Skolnick: “I don’t think we have decided on a title yet but the music is almost complete. There is a few tracks left to be done, in between my trips I have been plugging away at my parts, there is a couple vocal tracks left but it is very close. The album title will be decided once all the music is recorded.”

Read the complete interview at Metal Insider.

Testament bassist, Steve Di Giorgio, was recently interviewed by Impact Metal Channel. During their chat, which can be viewed below, Di Giorgio talks about the band’s upcoming album.

“It’s pretty close to being done,” said Di Giorgio. “There’s still some things here and there to finish. So there’s some bits to record still, but it’s pretty easy to say the majority of the album is done. So it feels like an album now. But we keep throwing tours in the middle of the recording process, so we just put it on hold and go play for two months and come back and turn on the system and work on it some more. So it’ll take a while, but, yeah, I think we’ll be mixing in the early part of the year, which means release probably middle of the year.”

When asked to describe the upcoming album, Di Giorgio replied: “It’s pretty evil. The last album has some cool, catchy songs mixed in with some fast stuff. And it’s one of my particularly favorite Testament records, the way it came out, Titans. So if I say anything, it’s supposedly in a good way catchy; it’s not a turn-off. But this new one, I would definitely say it is much more evil-sounding. Having the new kid [Chris Dovas] on drums has really picked things up, and [vocalist] Chuck [Billy]’s singing just as good as ever. And for being 62 now, he still sounds like Chuck.”

Catch Testament live at the following shows:

May
9 – Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival 2025 – Columbus, OH
18 – Welcome To Rockville 2025 – Daytona Beach, FL

June
18 – The Tivoli – Brisbane, Australia
20 – Metro Theatre – Sydney, Australia
21 – Northcote Theatre – Northcote, Australia
22 – The Gov – Hindmarsh, Australia
24 – Metropolis – Fremantle, Australia

Extreme metal powerhouse, Vltimas, have released a video for “Mephisto Manifesto”, a track from their latest album, Epic, released last March via Season Of Mist. Watch the clip below:

Vltimas have been legends since the dawn of metal. Rune Eriksen took hold of axe-wielding duties for the second coming of Mayhem. Flo Mounier has been drumming for Cryptopsy since their earliest exhumations of the Canadian underground. And who could forget David Vincent, the larger-than-life vocalist for Morbid Angel.        

Having already made history, some metalheads may have stroked their beard and wondered if there could possibly be any new realms for this band to conquer. But on their new album, Vltimas ascend to truly epic heights.

Order the album here, pre-save here.

Tracklisting:

“Volens Discordant”
“Epic”
“Miserere”
“Exercitus Irae”
“Mephisto Manifesto”
“Scorcher”
“Invictus”
“Nature’s Fangs”
“Spoils Of War”

Album stream:

“Scorcher” visualizer:

“Miserere” video:

Lineup:

David Vincent – Vocals
Rune Blasphemer Eriksen – Guitars
Flo Mounier – Drums
Ype TVS – Bass
João Duarte – Guitars