It’s being billed as “Loud as Hell” — the sixth annual heavy metal festival is officially a go for the August long weekend in Drumheller.
The three-day festival from Aug. 4-6 will feature a full slate of some 40 bands from across Western Canada, including healthy representation from Calgary and the surrounding area.
Festival organizers say it will be the largest and loudest yet. The Badlands will provide a fitting backdrop for an event organizers say will be the biggest yet. Last year it was sold out.
Tickets start at $99 and include tent camping. Extra charges for trailers and RVs apply.
“It’s been growing every year,” says Jon Asher, who is currently on tour with the band Annihilator, which will be making an appearance.
Asher, who hails from Montreal, says the three day program is a chance for local acts to to perform in front of a dedicated audience of fans from as far away as Saskatchewan and British Columbia and participate in musical workshops including guitar and drum workshops. It will also feature tattoo artists and other vendors.
Headliners include Canadian 80s thrashers Aggression along with Detroit rockers Battlecross, but Asher says the program is overwhelmingly dominated by local independent artists.
Unlike eastern festivals, which tend to be dominated by major label acts, Asher says the local “indie” scene is alive and well and supported by a local fan base. He thinks the lack of big label recognition and relative isolation has made it very much an “insider” scene. But that could be about to change.
“I see that there’s more communication between bands,” he says. “I talk to my friends out east and everyone says, ‘what’s going on in Western Canada?’ More and more people are coming out to support local independent bands.”
