BATTLE HISTORY
Iceland has been a part of the Wacken Metal Battle family since 2009. This small island nation with a population of only 300.000 hasn't exactly been very well known for its metal scene throughout the years but in the last few years that has started to change as bands like Sólstafir, Brain Police and most recently Skálmöld have been making waves overseas. Sólstafir are right there at the forefront, playing many of Europe's biggest festivals, like Wacken, Hellfest, With Full Force to name but a few in the last few years.
Needless to say, being able to send Icelandic bands at a regular interval to play the world's greatest metal festival has also been a real boost to the metal scene in Iceland, not to mention being able to push the Wacken Open Air festival name in mainstreem Icelandic media on a regular basis. The number of applications each year is also growing and the quality of the material submitted keeps getting better as well.
Due to the size of the country, the Wacken Metal Battle Iceland national contest is only one night, one grand evening! No preliminaries. Since 2009 Iceland has seen three bands go to Wacken as a result of the contest and those are:
2009 = Beneath, www.facebook.com/pages/Beneath/124748844005
2010 = Wistaria, www.facebook.com/wistariaice
2011 = Atrum, www.facebook.com/atrumiceland
The winners are selected by a panel of judges composed of both domestic and foreign music and media professionals. Wacken Metal Battle Iceland is always growing, with attendance always increasing, resulting in MB 2012 being held at Reykjavik's premier live venue, Nasa. Nasa holds 6-700 people and has been the venue for some legendary metal shows for the last decade or so. Megadeth, Cannibal Corpse, Gojira, Týr and even Steelheart have played this venue. Due to its geographical location Iceland isn't frequently visited by traveling metal tours, so the metal fans have to rely on the odd band making the trip to visit this stark country.
The metal scene in Iceland is quite vivid. Reykjavik is the most active town in regards to metal concerts and one can find several of those with local bands each month here. The country can also boast of a great annual metal festival that takes place in the East of Iceland called Eistnaflug translated as "The Flight of the Testes" and almost as sweaty :) The small town of Neskaupsstaður plays host to this festival that has been going on since 2005. A great festival that has seen foreign acts like Tryptikon, Secrets of the Moon, Napalm Death, Tyrant and Hamferð hit the stage as well as pretty much all the biggest names in Icelandic heavy rock and metal.
Iceland has been a part of the Wacken Metal Battle family since 2009. This small island nation with a population of only 300.000 hasn't exactly been very well known for its metal scene throughout the years but in the last few years that has started to change as bands like Sólstafir, Brain Police and most recently Skálmöld have been making waves overseas. Sólstafir are right there at the forefront, playing many of Europe's biggest festivals, like Wacken, Hellfest, With Full Force to name but a few in the last few years.
Needless to say, being able to send Icelandic bands at a regular interval to play the world's greatest metal festival has also been a real boost to the metal scene in Iceland, not to mention being able to push the Wacken Open Air festival name in mainstreem Icelandic media on a regular basis. The number of applications each year is also growing and the quality of the material submitted keeps getting better as well.
Due to the size of the country, the Wacken Metal Battle Iceland national contest is only one night, one grand evening! No preliminaries. Since 2009 Iceland has seen three bands go to Wacken as a result of the contest and those are:
2009 = Beneath, www.facebook.com/pages/Beneath/124748844005
2010 = Wistaria, www.facebook.com/wistariaice
2011 = Atrum, www.facebook.com/atrumiceland
The winners are selected by a panel of judges composed of both domestic and foreign music and media professionals. Wacken Metal Battle Iceland is always growing, with attendance always increasing, resulting in MB 2012 being held at Reykjavik's premier live venue, Nasa. Nasa holds 6-700 people and has been the venue for some legendary metal shows for the last decade or so. Megadeth, Cannibal Corpse, Gojira, Týr and even Steelheart have played this venue. Due to its geographical location Iceland isn't frequently visited by traveling metal tours, so the metal fans have to rely on the odd band making the trip to visit this stark country.
The metal scene in Iceland is quite vivid. Reykjavik is the most active town in regards to metal concerts and one can find several of those with local bands each month here. The country can also boast of a great annual metal festival that takes place in the East of Iceland called Eistnaflug translated as "The Flight of the Testes" and almost as sweaty :) The small town of Neskaupsstaður plays host to this festival that has been going on since 2005. A great festival that has seen foreign acts like Tryptikon, Secrets of the Moon, Napalm Death, Tyrant and Hamferð hit the stage as well as pretty much all the biggest names in Icelandic heavy rock and metal.
