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.
