Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, CA held their first ever Battle of the Metal Bands as part of Trooper Fest on August 29th. Trooper Fest was their celebration of the recently released Lagunitas Trooper West Coast IPA released in June 2026 as a special collaboration between the Lagunitas and the legendary Iron Maiden.
Five bands were carefully selected to take part in the Battle of the Bands…
A Life of Exile
The Great Other
Fiend From Above
Alchemic Transmutation
Blind Illusion
BLIND ILLUSION the Winners of the LAGUNITAS BREWING BATTLE of the METAL BANDS
BLIND ILLUSION Performing New Song Sunbreaker at LAGUNITAS BREWING BATTLE of the METAL BANDS
A great crowd turned out in force for the all day event and enjoyed some headbanging and Trooper IPA.
I was there the entire day representing BraveWords Records and BraveWords.com, along with the distinguished honor of being a guest judge.
A Life of Exile kicked things off. A really tight band that had some cool, unique riffs.
Up next was The Great Other who visually might not look metal, but their music spoke loud and heavy!
Fiend From Above followed, again another really tight band whose lead singer also happened to be a high school teacher, proving yet again that metal fans and musicians are found in all walks of life.
Alchemic Transmutation hit the stage next and wow what a unique band. A two piece husband/wife band. Husband on guitar and wife singing lead. They played to bass and drum tracks. The lead vocals, wow some really deep guttural vocals. They even were able to get a small moshpit going.
Wrapping things up were Blind Illusion. Yep, the Blind Illusion you have heard of for decades. Everything just clicked for them… very tight, great stage presence and crowd involvement. They even premiered a brand new song called “Sunbreaker” from their upcoming new studio album.
It was tough on the judges to pick a winner, but Blind Illusion walked away as the winners with a $1000 prize, a return performance in the future at Lagunitas Brewing and the opportunity to be included in the future BraveWords Records KnuckleTracks compilation album.
Follow each of the bands and show them show support!
On behalf of BraveWords Records and BraveWords.com we wish to thank everyone a Lagunitas Brewing for the amazing job putting on Trooper Fest!
Visit: lagunitas.com/trooper/
