The Cape Town stop of Wacken Metal Battle Africa lands at Aandklas Stellenbosch this Saturday with three bands on the competition bill and Moondaygun appearing as special guests. As always, the format is simple: a short set, a room full of people paying attention, and a chance to move one step closer to something that can carry a South African band far beyond the city it started in.
For Ultra-Mal, Sive Mdabuli says it means a lot to be part of the event, especially after stepping in to replace Die Doodsvonnis on the competition bill. “It’s awesome to be part of it. We’re super excited and it’s always an honour for us to showcase our music. The possibility of it reaching international listeners makes it more special because, as South Africans, we have so much potential and great music to share with the world.”
TerroRaze see it in direct terms too. Hein Labuschagne and Kayd Stamer say, “It is exciting for us to try our best for a chance to take our music overseas.”
The shape of a battle set always forces decisions. There is less time, less room to drift, and every band has to decide what version of itself it wants to put in front of people. Ultra-Mal are leaning into that pressure by pushing harder into one side of their sound: “Because of the range in sound that we have, we decided to showcase more of our heaviest side for the battle, and with only 20 minutes to perform, we have to give it our all. So expect the energy to be much wilder than at a normal performance.”
TerroRaze are not treating this as a separate kind of show. Their view is that every set already means something, so the mindset stays the same. “We are preparing as normal, and we treat every show with high importance because they are all a reflection of the band.”
Their answers also point to something else: the places these bands come from still shape how they work and what it takes to keep going. Ultra-Mal come from Worcester, and that still affects the reality of building and sustaining a band. Sive says, “We’re from a town in the Western Cape called Worcester. It’s a beautiful town, but unfortunately, like most small towns, there isn’t much of a music scene there. So building from that means we always have to stay committed, and I think that’s how you make any project work. Everyone involved must be passionate about what they do.”
TerroRaze began from a different impulse. For them, it started with relocation and the need to build something new. “The band was founded when I moved to Cape Town and wanted to create something fresh and challenging in the death metal scene. Finding musicians and building it has been a journey, but one I definitely don’t regret.”
The final question is usually the one that comes closest to the point of the night itself. What is there in the music that only really becomes clear once the band is in the room?
For Ultra-Mal, the answer starts with connection: “Our music has a lot of interaction in it, as it should, because music is meant for people to relate to. It’s always dope to involve the audience in our live performances and make them part of the band. The only way to approach a metal battle is to give it your all and make it fun, and that’s what Ultra-Mal is going to bring. Alles wat mal is want mal is wat al is. We hope to see you there.”
TerroRaze bring it back to the core feeling behind the songs. “A live setting is the only time our passion for our music can really be seen.”
We also reached out to The Fallen Prophets for this feature, but were not able to get their answers in before publication.
That leaves Cape Town with a heat made up of very different backgrounds and methods. Ultra-Mal are coming in from Worcester with a set focused on the heavier side of their sound. TerroRaze were built out of a move to Cape Town and the urge to create something fresh in the local death metal scene. The Fallen Prophets arrive as an established Cape Town melodic death metal band with more than a decade behind them.
