The Fading. Excited
Photo: Or Alterman
Israeli metal band wins German contest
The Fading takes first place in Wacken Open Air, world's greatest metal music festival
Israeli metal band The Fading won the first place in Germany's Wacken Open Air music festival, after beating 15 other bands from various countries.
The band gave it all it had on the stage, impressing the panel of judges.
"I don’t know how to describe it," lead vocalist Ilia Badrov told Ynet. "Our excitement is huge, we're still unable to digest it."
The second place went to the band representing Poland, followed by Greece.
The Fading won a record and performance deal with international company ICS, and received musical instruments from the competition's sponsors and invitations to take part in future metal music festivals in Europe.
Photo: Or Alterman
The battle was held Friday, and the Israeli representative was declared the winner in a press conference held Saturday evening. Upon the announcement, the band was surrounded by dozens of reporters from rock and metal magazines worldwide.
This win marks a great leap forward for the Israeli metal scene, which is growing at high pace.
The Fading was the first Israeli band to ever take part in the international contest in Germany. The preliminary competition in Israel was held and produced by the OnTour company, the Ynet website and rock and metal magazine Rockpoint. The Israeli bands all applied for the competition through Ynet.
In the finals, The Fading defeated four other Israeli bands and received the winning ticket to Wacken.
Upon returning to Israel, The Fading will perform in the international Anthem metal festival, which will take place at the Hangar 11 club in Tel Aviv on August 14.
