Stabwound wins Shillong Open Air metal battle, heads to Bengaluru finals
Stabwound clinched the Shillong Open Air metal battle title, securing a place in the Bengaluru finals. Their impressive performance has set high expectations for the upcoming competition.
- Feb 04, 2026,
- Updated Feb 04, 2026, 7:20 PM IST
Death metal band Stabwound has won the Shillong Open Air – Wacken Metal Battle, earning the right to represent the North East and eastern India at the Indian Subcontinent Finals in Bengaluru.
The competition was held earlier this week, at the SRGT Parking Lot in Polo as part of the annual Shillong Open Air metal festival. More than 30 bands from across the country, including entries from New Delhi, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, participated in the national selection process. Five acts made it to the final round — Necroscope (Shillong), Pole Shift (Assam), Annihilation X (Shillong), Stabwound (Shillong) and Crimson Gates (Jowai).
Stabwound topped the final after a series of high-intensity performances, with Annihilation X finishing second. The jury comprised Nangsan Lyngsan and Abbas Razvi of Godless, along with Kaushik Baruah of Speedtrip.
With this win, Stabwound will advance to the Wacken Metal Battle – Indian Subcontinent Finals in Bengaluru, where bands from Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand will also compete. The overall winner will secure a performance slot at Wacken Open Air, the world’s largest heavy metal festival, scheduled for the first week of August.
The Shillong Open Air concert also drew metal fans from across the region, featuring performances by seven bands. Veteran Indian heavy metal outfit Kryptos headlined the event.
Shillong Open Air remains Meghalaya’s only dedicated open-air metal festival and continues to serve as a key platform for both emerging and established metal acts from the region.