After years of tightening their performance skills, Philadelphia-based thrash metal group EYES OF THE LIVING are thrilled to announce that they have been named 2018 east coast regional champions of the official USA Wacken Open Air Metal Battle! The selection was made by a panel of judges after three live rounds beginning in March.
 
EYES OF THE LIVING may be a new name to some, but these musicians are anything but new. The band is comprised of veteran metalheads from the Philadelphia area who throughout the years have made musical accomplishments such as composing original music scores for television and cable shows like E! True Hollywood Stories, having their compositions played on The Howard Stern Show as bumper music, and even opening for legends like Iron Maidenand other international artists.
 
Now, EYES OF THE LIVING are setting their sights on West Hollywood, CA, where they will perform at the national USA Wacken Open Air Metal Battle on Saturday, May 26 (event link)! Nationals will take place at Viper Room (8852 West Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA), where a total of three bands (Withering Earth of Florida, EYES OF THE LIVING and Voices of Ruin of California) out of the original 50 applicants will fight for the ultimate prize!
 
The winner of the national competition will be selected that evening to perform at this year’s legendary Wacken Open Air festival (August 2-4) – the world’s largest outdoor metal festival – which has taken place annually in Wacken, Germany since 1990. Scheduled to perform this year at Wacken are Judas Priest, Ghost, Danzig, Sepultura, Nightwish, Gojira, Hatebreed,Fozzy and many others. This is the second year that Wacken has hosted their official Wacken Open Air Metal Battles in the USA, hosting qualifying rounds in select cities across the nation. The winner of each qualifying country will perform in front of thousands at Wacken and compete against one another to be crowned champion of the world along with winning multiple prizes (prize info).
 
Last year’s battles saw the best from the Philadelphia and Boston areas – Corpse Hoarder, Goblet, Power Theory, and Upheaval – perform in the national final. Crowned champions were Philadelphia’s Corpse Hoarder, who performed a furious set at 2017’s Wacken Open Air.
 
For more information on the battles, visit www.metalbattleusa.com. To see other international winners who will perform at Wacken Open Air, visit www.metal-battle.com/results/results.
 
Tim Swisher from EYES OF THE LIVING says, “We love to perform hard, loud and fast music for the ears of the world. Winning the 2018 east coast finals was great, but our quest is to play Wacken, Germany!”
 
Check out EYES OF THE LIVING‘s latest zombie apocalypse-inspired full-length album, War On Dead,which can be streamed via Spotify and YouTube, and purchased via Amazon, CD Baby, or iTunes/Apple Music.
 
EYES OF THE LIVING is:
Tim Swisher – Vocals and Guitar
Chris Moore – Bass and Backing Vocals
Mike Straiton – Lead Guitar
Cliff Fritts – Drums 
 
EYES OF THE LIVING online:
 
EYES OF THE LIVING on YouTube