“It is our honor to represent Indonesia and to be able to perform in the greatest metal music event in the world. It can be said that Wacken Open Air is considered the holy land for all metal music fans across the world. We won’t just carry the name of this band, but we will also carry the name of this nation,” said the band's drummer Achmad Rustandi in Jakarta on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Dozens of other world-renowned bands have graced the stage at this festival in the past, including Scorpions, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister, Saxon, Motorhead and even Dream Theater. This year, Beside will be the only Asian band showcased at this grand event.

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Before Beside was selected to perform, DCDC hosted Wacken Metal Battle Indonesia (WMBI) 2017, a competition in which over 238 metal bands from all around Indonesia took part. From these initial competitors, many were eliminated until 10 bands were left to perform for the Final Show WMBI 2017, which was held earlier this year on May 14 at state-owned railway operator PT KAI Bandung's Gudang Persediaan in West Java.

As the competition's winner, the band, which comprises of Agung Suryana as vocalist, Roy Nat Siregar and Rizky Aditya on the guitar, Tri Afrizal playing bass, and Achmad on the drums, was invited to travel to Germany to represent Indonesia.

Beside will compete against 28 other bands who will each represent their own respective countries on the Headbanger Stage on Aug. 2.

Before leaving for Europe, the band is scheduled to perform on a tour across six cities and regencies in West Java, including Garut, Tasikmalaya, Sukabumi, Cianjur, Karawang and Subang. (tha/kes)

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