Zach surveyed the crowd. Never had he played for an audience this big. Tonight was a special night: it was go big or go home. They were playing in Vegas for the Royal Vendetta Tour, a tour composed of many metal acts. Bands playing were those such as Five Finger Death Punch, Job For A Cowboy, OT3P, Born Of Osiris, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, and Zach's favorite: Shadows Fall.
Retribution was opening the show. If they screwed up, it was back to their home town to face humiliation and ridicule. Not to mention they would be the laughing stock of metal to all these big bands. Zach was nervous. He had warmed up about twenty times already, but still couldn't shake the feeling of angst.
His heart raced, and every second that ticked away seemed like an eternity. The sounds of thousands of fans was anihilating to the will, causing Zach to hyperventilate. He finally got his breathing under control, just in time for his band to be announced to the stage.
Zach went out first. "Good luck", he heard. He turned. Brian from Shadows Fall was telling him good luck. Zach thought he would puke. He looked forward and stepped out onto the stage. He got behind the mic and looked at all the faces in the audience.
They were ready to be destroyed.
Zach leaned towards the mic. "Hi. We're Retribution". Minor cheers erupted from the crowd. Zach stepped back, making sure every one was ready. He took a deep breath and let it out.
"GO!" he screamed, starting their opening song, "The Sorrow of This World".
The lyrics came to him like they did when he first wrote them down. He didn't miss a word, and was right on time with the rest of his band. "It's the pity that I feel, from the sorrow of this world!"
He was really feeling it. The crowd was already going wild. Zach took notice of the insane mosh pit up front. It made him smile. "So take this life and tear it to pieces! With the hands of bitter regrets!"
He fucking loved it, they fucking loved it. It was great.

Five Years Ago...

Travis finished up the song for his band's last song. The vocalist said to the small crowd in the bar. "Thank you, we are Electric Pulse. Good night!"

Travis got off the set and immediately popped open a root beer. Travis enjoyed drinking alcoholic beverages, but could not STAND commercial cheap beer. It was almost as if someone just added alcohol to regular tap water and expected to make a drink out of it. Travis added some rum, and began to enjoy his little drink.

The rest of the band joined him. Travis was still underage, but it didn't matter to him. The guitarist took a swig of his Coors. "Well, we done good again if you ask me."
"Whatever." Travis said. Truthfully, he wasn't that happy in this band. He had been trying to start his own, but to no avail. This band loved death and screamo metal, and Travis was not a big fan of Death Metal, and was not a screamo fan either. He respected both genres, but it just lacked the soul he saw in other Metal or Rock genres.

A man approached the table. Pointed to Travis. "Hey, I'd like to speak with you for a minute."
"If it's about the drink, you can go ahead and book me. I don't really care right now."
"It's not that, I have an offer for you."
Travis looked at his band then stood up.

Travis followed the man into another room and sat down.

"I saw the show and I do say, your skills with the sticks are unlike anything I've seen before."
Travis sipped his drink. "Well I appreciate the compliment, but it's nothing I've not heard before."
"No, I mean, you may be as good as your idols in drumming."
"Please...you're making me blush. Am I free to go?"
"I have an offer for you."
"I'm not doing any solo work. I work strictly with bands alone."
"I guessed. And that's why I'm here. By the look on your face a few minutes back, you look like you could use a new band."
Travis sighed. "And what would this band be called?"
"The name's still up in the mix, leaning to something called Retribution, but we're still taking votes."
Travis almost scoffed. "They better be taking votes..." he mumbled...
"We already got everyone we need except you man. We need a guy who's good behind he drums, and you my good friend, are better than good."

Travis looked at his drink. "Suppose I do join. I mean what genre do you do? I'm a metal man. The least I'll do is Rock."
"It's Metal. That's why I'm here."
"What KIND of Metal?" Travis said rather sternly. "You must understand I take music life very seriously."
"We it's kind of everything. The frontman loves bands like Shadows Fall and Five Finger Death Punch and other bands like that."
Travis sighed. So it's not quite screamo, but it's not quite what I'm looking for...
Travis looked at the man. "I'll give the band a try...but I better be surprised at the skill. I have rather high expectations in music..."

With that Travis left the room to tell his bandmates they'd need a new drummer. Not like they would care or anything. The band was about to fall apart anyway...

*************************************

Five Years Later...

Travis ignored the good lucks from the Shadows Fall members. Travis in his mind was better than anyone of them and you had to think that. He could be staring James Hetfield in the face and he'd still have to think, he was better, or he'd suck ass. He just took the sticks out of his back pocket, and climbed onto his throne. He counted off the song and immediately began the beats h e needed to do...

This to Travis was just another performance, just another gig. He'd do his thing, kick the audience's ass, then go back for his drink afterward...

This was Metallix. He reminded people of drummers like Vinnie Paul or Sam "Samus" Paulicelli. His beats were unique and his drums were aggressive.

Travis had enough discipline to know that drumming was not a thing you could fail at and get away with. He was the heart and pulse of the band. Without him, the band was as good as dead.

Sam sucked in a quick breath before launching into her killer set of chords.
Seeing her favorite bands in person had sent her in a daze, where the world was spinning so insanely she felt like passing out. And this crowd...this fucking huge crowd of heavy metal fans...set her falling off the darkest cliff...
Yet she played like a maniac, like someone high, like a freak. Like a killer.
She loved it.
The music was heaven to Sam's ears. She let her eyes roam through the crowd, to her bandmates, to the crowd again.
She freaking loved it.
She shut her eyes and let a huge smile cross her face as she lifted her guitar a bit, her hands feeling numb but energized at the same time.
The crowd was going insane.
God DAMN! she laughed in her head.
Sam didn't know what she would do without the band.

Phoenix Marie Black didn't really look like the kind of girl that would kick your ass if you said the wrong thing. She had long black hair, and 'eyes you could get lost in' (So said many men that tried to get with her). She wore dresses, high heels, tights, nailpolish, make-up. But, the girl, only nineteen years old, could take on the biggest man in a group and never back down. She flirted, and she teased, but if someone said something, or touched her when she didn't want to be touched, they would end up on the floor. Her brothers had raised her well enough.

The daughter of a drug-addict, the sister or a murderer and a drug-dealer, Phoenix had been on the wrong side of the tracks since birth. Still, she pulled off being a lady. She didn't touch drugs, the alcohol was no problem for her. It was always a good thing to be able to share a drink with some of the members of the band after a gig.

She'd learned to play the bass guitar at a young age, finding that she had a natural talent at a young age. Still, that didn't stop her from practicing her fingers off. She loved her guitar and worked hard to get new ones, and to practice. It wasn't long ago that she'd joined Retribution, though she hadn't been the last person to join. She enjoyed playing the music, though she was a bigger fan of bands like Nightwish and Epica.

So, when she saw the bands they were playing around, she was impressed that she was meeting them, but she wasn't falling all over herself with excitement. She was going to be a big name soon, anyway. She had enjoyed flirting with the big names, but when it was time to go onto stage, she hadn't had a problem pulling herself away.

On stage she was exhilarated. She loved playing in front of people. Dressed in a black mini-dress, with white thigh high tights, black stiletto heels, and a white headband, she was dancing, enjoying the gig.

Dax saw his band in extreme excitement and realised he was to. He also saw the very famous bands that enspired him to to pick up a guitar and start playing. While he was thinking he noticed that "Retribution" was called on to the stage. He realized he was nervous as he stareted to attach his strap to his guitar. He walked behind Sam on to the stage. He then quickly set up his amp and plugged it in to his guitar.

He wiped his hands on his jeans to remove the sweat from his palms. He looked into the crowed of screaming fans, he was very excited and gave a brief smile as he waited for the words that started the song."GO!" then his fingers moved the fastest they ever haved as he played the main riff of the song. Everything went quiet as he focused in on his playing. He couldnt wait untill his solo came he wanted it to be the best. He watched his finger placement very carefully and after he realised the chorus was coming he started to headbang as he listened to the crowd.

Zach was amazed at his band's caliber. They were fucking destroying the place. The crowd was going totally insane for their song. It was almost solo time. This was Zach's moment before Dax took control. This is where the song slowed down, edging into the slow, choppy riffs and Zach's dragged out growls.
"There's......no more.......hope! Left.....to fucking.....feel! I'll.........take your.........soul! And drag it.......drag it TO HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLL!"
The crowd was pumped. Screams and shouts and attempted sing-alongs erupted, which some of them were good and accurate and spot on with the lyrics.
Solo time.
Dax was fucking shredding, Sam was slamming her chords, Phoenix was slapping the piss out of her bass, and Travis was abusing his drum set like a disobediant child.
This was Zach's moment of reprieve. He took a minute to collect some air.