Sound the trumpets, if you’re a fan of marching bands in Alabama. Three bands from the state have been named as finalists in the Metallica Marching Band Competition, vying for $180,000 in prizes.

They are the Auburn University Marching Band, the Cleveland High School Golden Force Band and the Pell City High School Marching Band of Gold.

More than 450 marching bands at colleges and high schools throughout the country signed up for the contest, according to a Metallica publicist. Finalists in five categories were announced this week, selected by a team of seven judges who are professional musicians with experience as band directors and teachers.

To enter the contest, marching bands submitted YouTube videos of their ensembles playing one of 13 Metallica songs. The list of available songs included “Enter Sandman,” “Master of Puppets,” “Fade to Black,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Creeping Death” and “Seek & Destroy.” (See the full contest rules here.)

The members of Metallica — singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo — will choose the winners, to be announced during the first week of January. Winners will receive musical instruments and equipment for their school programs, provided by the thrash metal pioneers and other sponsors of the contest.

Here’s the full list of finalists, with Alabama schools highlighted in bold type:

COLLEGIATE: DIVISION 1 ($75,000 in prizes)

• Auburn University (Watch the performance submitted by Auburn in the video below.)
• Fresno State University
• Iowa State University
• University of Iowa
• University of Texas at Austin

COLLEGIATE: DIVISION 2, 3 ($40,000 in prizes)

• Blinn College
• Eastern New Mexico University
• Manchester University
• West Texas A&M University
• Western Illinois University

HIGH SCHOOL: SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE ($15,000 each in prizes)

Small High School:

• Cleveland High School – Cleveland, Alabama (Watch the performance submitted by Cleveland High School in the video below.)
• Edinburg High School – Edinburg, Texas
• Oakton High School – Vienna, Virginia
• Oologah High School – Oologah, Oklahoma
• Valhalla High School – El Cajon, California

Medium High School:

• Boerne High School – Boerne, Texas
• Desert Mountain High School – Scottsdale, Arizona
• DeWitt High School – DeWitt, Michigan
• Kell High School – Kennesaw, Georgia
• Malverne High School – Malverne, New York

Large High School:

• Austin High School – Sugarland, Texas
• Dobyns-Bennett High School – Kingsport, Tennessee
• Lambert High School – Suwanee, Georgia
• Lorena High School – Lorena, Texas
• Pell City High School – Pell City, Alabama (Watch the performance submitted by Pell City High School in the video below.)

Two fan favorite winners will be determined by online voting: one for colleges and one for high schools. Prizes for fan favorites will be $10,000 in each category. (Watch videos submitted by the finalists via YouTube and vote for your favorites here.)

This is the first year for the Metallica Marching Band Contest, but it promises to be an annual event, according to a press release.

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