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Wacken Metal Battle Belgium 2023 finals

-- Wacken Metal Battle Belgium 2023 finals --

01/01/1970 - 01/01/1970
Stijn Daneels

[INTRODUCTION]

Review written by Stijn “Metal Shredder” Daneels, pictures by Marjolein “Mrs. Metal Shredder” Daneels.

A couple of weeks ago (Saturday May 27 to be exact) we went to the finals of the Wacken Metal Battle Belgium 2023. In the preceding months over 100 Belgian bands applied for this contest and after no less than 4 live events only 8 acts remained to duke it out in the finals. This was my third Wacken Metal Battle Belgium in which I was a full-time jury member and as always, I was in much anticipation to discover which of these 8 talented bands would finally represent our tricolored country this year at the official Wacken Metal Battle!

[UNRAVEL]


The band to kick-off the finals was Unravel, who managed to obtain the audience vote at the Verlichte Geest bar in Roeselare and looking back, they were quite an entertaining act that still had quite a few rough edges.

Unravel’s style was metalcore at its roots, but they did combine it with melody and progressive elements so well as having two vocalists, clean female singing combined with classic hardcore male screaming and shouting.

Add to this the diversity in terms of riffs (balancing between complex riffs and grinding breakdowns) and Unravel showcased a style that has familiarities with old-school metalcore but with additional prog sophistication. That didn’t stop some folks in front of the stage to do the typical hardcore dances like windmilling and two-stepping. I’m sure our co-writer Glenn Schrijvers will love a band like this.

All in all, Unravel showed genuine improvement compared to their semi-finals show. There was more balance between the two vocalists and the mixing was certainly better handled. In addition, they wasted less time getting things going (during their semi-finals show it took them too long to get fully started, wasting too much time on samples and opening riffs). In the end, Unravel managed to obtain the fourth spot in the overall rankings. Not a bad performance at all and I believe Unravel, like a fine wine, will only get better with time.


[HOPE ERODES]


Next up was Hope Erodes, a band I’ve been following since 2015 and who, since last year, are going to a full-on revival period after suffering years of multiple lineup changes. During a very entertaining show at the Verlichte Geest in Roeselare they won the jury over and gained a spot at the finals.

And those same entertaining vibes were also present during the finals. Hope Erodes is another metalcore act, sharing some similarities with Unravel at its core but Hope Erodes featured a more streamlined sound with a bigger focus on speed and pacing and balancing melodic old-school metal with full-frontal metalcore.

But Hope Erodes biggest strength, in my opinion, is in the way they manage to engage with the crowd and get everyone pumped. The band used very single inch of the stage to roam around and frontman Koen effortlessly jumped into the crowd to get them going. It encouraged the audience to get into relentless headbanging and moshing. And to top it all off, the band also made efficient use of smoke effects.

Eventually Hope Erodes ended up third place in the final rankings and I certainly agree with this decision. During that half an hour show Hope Erodes felt like a well-oiled metalcore machine going full throttle on vicious vocals, well-paced beats and riffs that played heavy and smoothly at the right intervals, not to mention successfully transferring their raw energy to the crowd. Let’s see if Hope Erodes can keep up their upward momentum. Time will tell.


[ASVANA]


The third band to grace the final stage of the Wacken Metal Battle Belgium 2023 contest was Asvana. During the semi-finals in the South Of Heaven bar in Bilzen they managed to get the audience vote for the finals, not the band I was excepting to go to the finals (my picks that night went to Ethereal Darkness and Cardinal). I did remember Asvana from a gig in JH Kaddish in Schoten a year earlier.

Asvana’s style felt inspired by acts like Nirvana, Linkin Park and 5 Finger Death Punch. It mainly features slow but intense and clean vocals along with melodic guitars and heavy drums. There were songs that did put the pedal to the metal and this made their 30-minute show quite varied. Frontman Mich in particular stole the show, not only using his voice but also his body language to bring over the brooding songs he was singing about.

It was clear that Asvana was the weird one in the bunch of bands who competed at the finals but still, I felt they had put on a nice show. Asvana ranked sixth at the final rankings and while I also didn’t give them a high score, it was mainly because I felt Asvana not heavy or intense enough for a stage like Wacken. That doesn’t mean I dislike the band, on the contrary, their style of alternative metal and grunge is something that was very tasty to me and I’d like to see where this band will venture into in the near future.


[ECHOES OF NIHIL]


Next up was Echoes Of Nihil, who won the audience price when they were performing at JH De Schakel. I remember back then that this particular band didn’t quite connect me that night but I was more than willing to give them another shot during the finals.

Echoes Of Nihil played metalcore with a huge focus on intensity and breakdowns. Actually, I’d say they focused a bit too much on sounding as extreme as possible while ignoring other aspects that I consider important for a metalcore act to turn from good to great. For one, I sorely missed some melodic interludes, the whole show was just constant hard pounding and riffing without any breaks for the audience to catch their breath (and to show off they can do more than just some screaming and shredding). And one of their guitarists did play a little solo during the show so I’m sure they can pull of some solo work as well.

Another thing that I noticed, which is even more important to address then the lack of melody, was how the band seemingly didn’t play in sync with each other. If felt like they were not playing together but rather alongside one another and it resulted in quite a cacophony of sound. If only they could bring structure and variety to their viciousness, then they could become something really nice.

Eventually Echoes of Nihil shared the seventh and eighth spot on the overall rankings along with Secondhand Saints (who performed immediately after them) and I agree with this score. I consider Echoes of Nihil a band with some serious rough edges but I did notice the guys had a blast being on stage and that’s something worth admiring.


[SECONDHAND SAINTS]


The fifth band to get on stage there in Kruisem was Secondhand Saints. When they were competing in Asgaard Gentbrugge for a spot at the finals they managed to win the audience price and I still have pleasant memories from that show because they came in with confidence and power and got the Asgaard crowd pumping straight away.

Secondhand Saints was a two-headed beast, having one nu-metal head and one metalcore head. And you can take that statement quite literally because this band featured two vocalists. There was Laszlo who focused on metalcore-inspired screaming and who had equally metalcore-inspired riffs backing him up while his colleague Jelle did classic nu-metal clean singing and had more melodic tunes supporting him. There were also some piano and keyboard samples to give their songs a more epic feel. Overall, I believe that musically, Secondhand Saints has an interesting mix that I believe could lead to a lot of creative possibilities.

However, their performance at the finals didn’t leave me very satisfied. While they really got their game going at the small and humble Asgaard stage at the larger Kruisem stage the band felt awkwardly out of place. They didn’t show off the same suave and energy like they had during the semi-finals and that was disappointing. I think some extra chemistry between the individual band members could make this band fare better even on a larger stage.

Eventually, Secondhand Saints ended up on the shared seventh & eighth spot on the final rankings (along with aforementioned Echoes of Nihil). Personally, I didn’t rank them at the bottom (you can check my own ranking at the conclusion chapter). All things considered, I view Secondhand Saints as  a band that, for the moment, thrives best on a small, intimate stage but I do believe that, given time and experience, they’ll be able to reach bigger stages and heights. And look, a mere two weeks after this battle they managed to get a spot for the finals of the Alcatraz Bash. I wish them good luck!


[CARDINAL]


The sixth band of the finals was Cardinal. During the semi-finals in the South Of Heaven bar in Bilzen they got the jury vote for the finals after presenting a very enjoyable show.

Cardinal’s style was fast-paced hard rock with a touch of glam and sleaze and featured multiple guitar solos, sharp bass and rhythmic drums that made me headbang spontaneously. There were fast, energetic speed rock tunes but there was also time for a sweet ballad. Cardinal left the usual glam and sleaze gimmicks behind them and let their musical performance speak for itself.

What I also noticed was the huge camaraderie between Cardinal’s band members. They played off each other beautifully and you could clearly see they were having a blast on stage, performing material they both love to listen and play. There isn’t much else I can say about Cardinal’s style except that it’s very well made and recommended if you enjoy acts like Aerosmith, Whitesnake or Def Leppard.

Personally, I’m quite a sucker for 1980s inspired hard rock and Cardinal was a very pleasant surprise that I had discovered thanks to this Metal Battle. Cardinal finished second on the final rankings and I believe its well-deserved. Cardinal is a band with genuine talent and love for the hard rock genre and I can’t wait to see them play alongside the likes of other Belgian glam rock talents like WildHeart and Mr. Myst.


[THROUGH THE VOID]


The penultimate finalist for this year’s Wacken Metal Battle Belgium was Through The Void. A month earlier I saw them perform in their hometown of Brussels at the idyllic JH De Schakel wherein they quickly convinced me of their stage energy with a beautiful performance that helped them get the jury vote.

Through The Void played classic nu-metal, particularly inspired by the likes of Linkin Park, Rage Against The Machine and Papa Roach. Their show during the finals, however, didn’t got me very engaged to be honest. In fact, their show felt repetitive. Maybe the larger venue caused the band to not fully connect with the crowd, maybe they, as a band from Brussels, felt out of place on a Flemish stage. But at least they tried, especially frontman Chakib did his outmost best to get the crowd going but it was to little avail compared to the feedback some of the other bands received (although I did notice some heads banging in the crowd).

Like Secondhand Saints who played right before them, I was expecting more from Through The Void especially after they pulled off such an entertaining gig during the semi-finals and with their “Life Is Cancelled” EP being a genuine Belgian nu-metal gem (read it here: https://www.belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/357).

 Eventually Through The Void managed to get the fifth spot. Personally, I agree with this ranking. Through The Void has real potential to become a well-established Belgian nu-metal act if they’re able to get themselves known outside of Brussels (maybe here in Flanders they can play as a support act for Mantah, I think that will put some butts in the seats). In any case, I’ll be sure to keep my eye on them.


[OBJECTOR]


The eighth and final contestant of the Wacken Metal Battle Belgium 2023 finals was Objector. A band that I’ve been following for some years now and who thoroughly entertained me ever since I had first seen them live on stage, so it was to no surprise to me that they managed to get the jury vote during the live round at Asgaard Gentbrugge.

Objector played old-school thrash metal inspired by the Bay Area thrash giants of old. Nothing more, nothing less. However, they brought it with sheer relentless power! In those short 30 minutes time Objector got the crowd to thrash themselves into constant mosh pits (quite a feat on its own given the late hour they were performing) thanks to their frantic rhythms, aggressive vocals and dual guitar solos with only some occasional cooldowns to make the faster parts feel even more impactful. Only thing missing for me, was the lack of green stage lightning, but frontman Bock did appear in his t-shirt, short pants and sandals, as if he came from a local beach party and just decided to thrash the place apart.

Eventually Objector managed to get the final win and so they’ll be representing our humble Belgian country at the Wacken Metal Battle this year and personally, I’m glad they’ve won. Sure, their style of thrash metal may not be the newest thing under the sun, but they did manage to convince me with their technique, chemistry and confidence. Now let’s hope they’ll be able to convince the folks at Wacken itself. But to be honest, I’m quite confident that they can pull that off too. Thrash & sandal metal, I love it.




[CONCLUSION]

{My personal ranking (exactly as I had given to the organization that day):
1 Objector
2 Hope Erodes
3 Secondhand Saints
4 Cardinal
5 Unravel
6 Asvana
7 Echoes of Nihil
8 Through The Void

Official final ranking:
1 Objector
2 Cardinal
3 Hope Erodes
4 Unravel
5 Asvana
6 Through The Void
7 & 8 Echoes of Nihil & Secondhand Saints

Looking back on these finals, I have mixed feelings about the whole event, not regarding the winner, but rather the overall quality of the finalists. Some bands performed better than when I had seen them during the initial live rounds, other acts performed consistently and finally there were a few acts that didn’t fare all that well during the final round.

Needless to say, I have good hopes for the futures of all eight bands who competed during the finals of the Wacken Metal Battle Belgium 2023 and I wish them all the best in their future endeavors. And as for the winners, Objector, give them hell out there at Wacken!
}