And the 2019 Wacken Metal Battle Canada National Final Winner is... Toronto's The Slyde. They will now go on to perform at this year's International W:O:A Metal Battle at Wacken Open Air.

The Slyde has since issued the following statement: "We are extremely honoured and humbled to be chosen as the 2019 winners of the Wacken Metal Battle Canada, and the Canadian ambassadors for the W:O:A Metal Battle international final round at Wacken Open Air in Germany. We gave it our all and battled against some stiff competition since the very first round, and want to send our kudos to all the amazing bands we shared the stage with: Superchucker, Hounskull, Chainfall, Northshroud, Dumpster Mummy, BornBroken, Fjell Thyngor, The Myopia Condition, and Blackwater Burial (as well as Operus, Mokomokai, Villain and Planet Eater as guest headliners) - and to all other bands who participated in the competition.

Thanks to JJ Tartaglia, Nate Reno and Nancy Barnes at Big Nate Productions, all the sponsors behind WMBC, all our fans for your continued support, and to all the judges for believing in us, and giving us this opportunity to represent Canada at the world's largest heavy metal festival. After a decade of rockin hard in Canada, we finally get a chance to play our melodic prog metal in Europe. We are beyond stoked. We love you all." 

Bassist Alberto Campuzano further commented, "Yeah baby!! Honoured and privileged to say that The Slyde won this year's Wacken Metal Battle!!! Which means I'm going back to Europe this summer! It's been a while... Hope to see many friends \m/"

(Photo by Mike Patterson)