Festival report: Wacken Metal Battle 2026 – Wednesday, Part 1 [English Version]

8. August 2026 Matthias Englischer Content 0

The Wacken Metal Battle

Even before the infield opened its gates, the Wacken Open Air music programme kicked off at 11 am on Wednesday. Until 8 pm, the Bullhead City stages – the Headbangers Stage and the W:E:T Stage – were entirely dedicated to the final of the Wacken Metal Battle. The programme continued on Thursday and ran until 4 pm. The shows were tightly scheduled: each band had 20 minutes’ playing time, followed by just a five-minute changeover, whilst performances took place alternately on both stages. The performances were hosted by Machine and Doctor Mosh, who introduced each band and guided the audience through the programme.

The Metal Battle is no longer just a ‘warm-up’, but the moment when the Holy Ground is filled with real excitement for the first time. Before the main stages come to life, all eyes are on those bands who still have to fight for their place. All participants had previously come through local qualifying rounds and are therefore among the most promising up-and-coming bands in their respective scenes – a sort of global ‘best of’ the underground scene. In 2026, 31 bands from five continents competed against one another: a programme regarded as the world’s largest metal band competition. Audience members right in front of the stage were able to vote via a QR code, whilst those watching via live stream could also cast their votes. In addition, a panel of experts assessed the individual performances to determine who would ultimately be crowned Metal Battle Champion 2026.

In this article, we’ll take you along to the performances of the first participants in the Wacken Metal Battle, who graced the stage on Wednesday. The second part, covering the remaining bands from Thursday as well as Friday’s awards ceremony, will be published in the next few days. We therefore won’t be revealing the bands’ final rankings here just yet.

 

 

 

Seers of Light – Hungary

This year’s edition of Metal Battle kicked off with the Hungarian melodic progressive metal band Seers Of Light. Driven by the female frontwoman’s charisma – who impressed both with her stage presence and her voice – the band took the audience on a harmonious musical journey.
A number of metalheads had already gathered in front of the W:E:T Stage for this set, cheering on the Budapest-based opener by waving their hands, amongst other things. The powerful stage performance was accompanied by catchy keyboard melodies, which were repeatedly picked up and amplified by the accompanying guitars. Following this successful start, Machine announced the second Metal Battle band on the Headbangers Stage.

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Gannondorf – USA

It wasn’t just the stage that changed, but the musical style as well. Gannondorf from the USA presented themselves as a raw and warlike act. Fully hooded, in costume and wearing Venetian masks, they took to the stage to a melodic keyboard intro. But appearances were deceptive: deep growls and raspy vocals alternated and ran throughout the entire performance by the five lads from California; the rough voice of the singer, masked as a horned warrior, directly urged the audience to interact. Meanwhile, the drums, keyboard and rapid lighting effects created a menacing, warlike atmosphere that echoed the themes of the lyrics. Metal horns were raised high, and Gannondorf’s faster tracks in particular went down well with the crowd. The first clouds of dust were whipped up by the action in front of the stage – an early sign that this year’s festival wouldn’t be a ‘Mud-Wacken’. As it turned out, the band members’ masks proved extremely practical.

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Speak in Whispers – Cyprus

The progressive groove metal band Speak in Whispers were the third act to take to the stage. With a wide variety of vocal styles, a bass-heavy sound and driving guitar tracks, the band made a good first impression, with no two songs sounding alike. However, the audience was still somewhat sparse at this early stage, though this was probably also down to the performance by the Wacken Fire Fighters, who were playing at the same time on the Wackinger Stage. That didn’t stop the band from giving it their all, though. Stylistically, Speak in Whispers worked their way through their impressive musical range, bringing the essence of their distinctive sound to the stage and winning over the audience at their gig. A resounding success.

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Born Broken – Canada

With a friendly “Whats up motherf*ckers? Are you ready?”, the band Born Broken took to the stage. The Montreal-based band play groove metal and are a fixture on the underground scene back home. On the Wacken stage, they certainly displayed the right attitude: energetic, raw and direct. The announcements at the start were, for the most part, more like shouting, which conveyed the energy but not always the actual content. What could be understood, however, came across as likeable: singer Michael Decker, for example, urged the audience to look around, take a look at the people next to them and, if they didn’t know them, to shake their hands and make new friends. He said the world lacks empathy and the audience knows it. The announcement was followed by another song, which got a few more heads bobbing.

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I See Red – Greece

Next up was I See Red, a melodic death metal band from Athens. The band blends influences from hardcore and black metal into their sound, resulting in a distinctive style. Whilst they bring the typical warm tonal nuances of their homeland to their music, unlike quite a few other Greek extreme metal projects, they do not sound like a Rotting Christ tribute band. With fairly long songs and smooth transitions, their set at Wacken felt like a seamless whole. The audience clearly took to this musically exciting set-list: a circle pit and, later, a mosh pit broke out spontaneously. The crowd certainly had a good time, and the band gave it their all during their 20-minute set.

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Human Nebula – South Africa

Next up was Human Nebula from Pretoria, one of the first deathcore/death metal bands to take to the stage at Metal Battle. The band immediately got the crowd to shout “F*ck Yeah” on cue. Although the musicians, apart from the singer, remained relatively static on stage, the same could not be said for the audience, who plunged straight into a mosh pit right from the start. Musically, the band were clearly impressive, particularly with their almost progressive guitar passages. Overall, the band went down quite well and managed to kick up a bit of a stir.

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Goodnight Greatness – Sweden

Goodnight Greatness from Stockholm were then the band for anyone who enjoys being properly shouted at in a melodic way. Musically, the band sits somewhere between modern metal and metalcore, and singer Astrid not only has a good, clear vocal range but also delivers some proper guttural vocals. At times, guitarist Hanna also contributed vocals, as did bassist Andreas, although his microphone track was barely audible. There was definitely a sense of connection with the audience and a good sense of humour; as Astrid explained during the set: “We don’t just come from the land of IKEA, we also come from a land where the sun doesn’t shine and we stay at home, alone in the dark, writing metal songs. “That’s why we need more friends, so if you see us out here on the holy ground after the show, please come and say hi – we’d love to meet you guys! Don’t be a stranger.” The show then continued with plenty of oomph, and even though it became a little more melodic towards the end and the band gave off slight Evanescence vibes, the music still had plenty of power behind it. Goodnight Greatness certainly won over a lot of people!

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Dead Memories – Ireland

Next up were Dead Memories, a slam/deathcore band from Dublin. The band hit the ground running and, without further ado, had the crowd kicking up a storm in front of the stage. With their mix of growls and pig squeals, their music came across as even rawer than that of many other acts in the genre. But what could possibly be better than some proper guttural vocals? Two singers with proper power in their voices! During the second song, the band was joined on stage by a singer friend of theirs. This band clearly demonstrated that it’s not just light-hearted tunes that can come from the Emerald Isle.

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The Crescent’s Call – Austria

The Crescent’s Call hail from Austria. The band describes its own sound as symphonic folk metal, although the clear death metal influences in lead singer Christina’s vocals are undeniable. The alternation between guttural and clean vocals, blended with folk instruments and a solid metal sound, creates an exciting dynamic. In terms of content, the band tells its own ongoing story through its music about inner conflicts, which is reflected both in the musical performance and visually on stage. At times, singer Christina also picked up the violin, which adds to this dynamic. What might seem overly theatrical out of context felt entirely appropriate here within the overall presentation. This multifaceted yet cohesive performance made the band stand out for me in the competition.

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This was followed by a break in the Metal Battle, during which last year’s winners, Expellow, took to the stage. The Swiss band had won the competition the previous year and were therefore delighted to have been awarded a one-hour slot at this year’s festival. You can read more about their performance in our detailed Wednesday report in the coming days.

Due to the number of bands and the length of the text, we have split this article into two parts; you can find the second part here:

Festival report: Wacken Metal Battle 2026 – Wednesday, Part 2 [English Version] – Dark-Art

Text: Roksana & Anne
Pictures: Matthias & Patrick

 

You can find out more about Wacken Open Air 2026 here:

You can find previous posts about Wacken Open Air here:

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