Wacken Metal Battle Canada has announced that PANZERFAUST and SLYDE have advanced from their qualifying rounds in Toronto. In additional news, Toronto's skrap metal innovators FINAL TRIGGER have been announced as the special guest band to perform at this year's Wacken Metal Battle Canada final.

Wacken Open Air, known for its elite lineup of the globe's best metal bands, is bringing the largest metal contest on the planet to Canada. Recruiting 37 independent Canadian bands after hundreds of submissions to compete, Wacken Metal Battle Canada will select one true champion to represent the nation and perform at this year's highly celebrated gathering of metal heads in Wacken, Germany.

Being held in Toronto, ON and Montreal, QC during the months of May and June, Canadian metal bands from across the country will challenge one another to join a list of Canadian heavyweights such as VOIVOD, EXCITER, RAZOR, ANNIHILATOR, ANVIL, KATAKLYSM, CRYPTOPSY, 3 INCHES OF BLOODS, DESPISED ICON and DANKO JONES who have performed at the festival in years past.

The Wacken Metal Battle Canada lineup for the qualifying rounds in Toronto and Montreal is as follows and will be judged by a panel of local music industry representatives.

Qualifying Rounds, Montreal:

May

31 - Katacombes - Montreal, QC (VALFREYA, SANGUINE GLACIALIS, KARKAOS, HOLLOW)

Semi-Finals, Toronto:

May

31 - Hard Luck Bar - Toronto, ON

June

7 - Rivoli - Toronto, ON

Semi-Finals, Montreal:

June

7 - Katacombes – Montreal, QC*

* 2 Montreal bands move to finals, June 22nd at Opera House, Toronto, ON

Finals - Wacken Metal Battle Canada

June

22 - Opera House, Toronto, ON

The W:O:A Metal Battle was founded by in Wacken Open Air 2004 to encourage future generations of heavy metal and rock as the festival believes in supporting the future of metal music and its musicians.

Check out a Wacken Metal Battle Canada promo video below:

Complete details at this location.

Wacken Metal Battle Canada recently unleashed a free download compilation to promote some of the top Canadian metal talents competing in this year's largest metal contest, for one true champion to represent the nation with the highest honor at this summer's 2013 edition of Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany.

Wacken Metal Battle Canada Compilation Vol. 1 tracklisting:

ADRENECHROME - 'Led Elephant'

ANSWER WITH METAL - 'Two Wrongs (Don't Make A Right)'

CECILE MONIQUE - 'Never Over'

CRIMSON SHADOWS - 'Beyond The Mountain Wasteland'

CRYPTIK HOWLING - 'Ulysses Death'

DISSENSION - 'Of Time And Chronic Disease'

DREAMERS - 'No Place To Hide'

ECLIPSE ETERNAL - 'Deathbound'

EMBRACING SOUL - 'Luna'

FALLSTAF - 'The Cost'

LAUGH AT THE FAKES - 'Blinded'

MASTERY - 'Step Up'

MURTENSCYTHE - '(Smoking weed) Through The Horn of Satan'

PANZERFAUST - 'The Apple of Infinite Knowledge'

POWERED BY DEATH - 'Hit The Surface'

PYRAMID THEOREM - 'Another Day Slips Away'

SANGUINE GLACIALIS - 'Into The Heart of Chaos'

SLYDE - 'New World Sympathy'

SPEWGORE - 'The Ride'

THROUGH DEATH - 'Orphaned'

TRAINWRECK ARCHITECT - 'The Door Slam Shut'

VENOMENOM - 'Temple of Lies'

VESPERIA - 'O' Hail The Northlander'

VIRULYS - 'Endless World'

WARCALL - 'Faces of Death'

WARMACHINE - 'Moving On'

Get your free download at this location. Stream the compilation below: