Kick Out the Jams: Atreyu at House of Blues, Feb. 10

Four solid metalcore bands invaded the House of Blues last Thursday night, and while most of the teenage kids that accounted for a sellout crowd were there to see Orange County's Atreyu, the opening bands presented a much more brutal example of how heavy music can get.

Southern California thrash outfit Scars of Tomorrow opened the show with a pummeling double kick-drum assault, buzzing guitar riffs and the overdramatic screams of vocalist Mike Milford. The next band, Atlanta's Norma Jean, sounded only slightly different as they moved through a few songs from next month's record O' God, the Aftermath, thanks to some innovative guitar work from axemen Scottie Henry and Chris Day.

But the carnage really began with a demon-summoning scream from the mouth of Trevor Phipps, vocalist of Unearth. The Boston quintet quickly established itself as the heaviest and most mosh-inducing band on the bill with its speedy metal. Decked out all in black and occasionally resorting to cliché tactics such as the throwing of the horns and the hair-whipping headbang, Unearth seemed a bit out of place; perhaps the men among boys. But they expressed their gratitude to the fans and other bands in between each stomach-churning tune, even as House of Blues security men were tossing battered 16-year-old girls with goth mascara over their shoulders, rescuing them from the vicious pits in front of the stage.

What kind of metal band wears button-down white shirts on stage? Atreyu, of Orange County, prompted the biggest screams of the night with the dimming of the house lights before they took the stage. Maybe the kids like them best because they're the most melodic, mixing the screams of Alex Varkatzas with the singing of drummer Brandon Saller, or because you can actually hear lyrics like, "I feel it welling up inside and Robert Smith lied/ Boys do cry."

There may only be minute variations in the metalcore scene, but those differences were well-represented at this brutal, sweaty show.--Brock Radke