The sounds of rocking drum beats, heavy bass riffs, mind blowing guitar breakdowns and strong vocals filled the air last Friday night at Knights of Columbus in Downtown Rutland. This concert was one of many popping up around Vermont these days featuring a variety of local unsigned bands who know how to rock out.

The first band, “Nigh is the Hour,” is a Christian metal band from Northville, N.Y. whose members have been playing together for two years. The band consists of five members. Eric Turner, 22, of Northville, is the lead vocalist and he has been singing for seven years now. John Ostrander, 21, is Nigh’s guitar player and he has been playing since he was 16. Then there is the local member, Brit Davis, from Clarendon, Vt., who has been playing drums since she was 15.

“John wanted to start a Christian band so we did,” Turner said. Their faith is major inspiration for them and other famous Christian Metal bands like “The Devil Wears Prada,” “In the Mist of Lions,” and “Band for Today.” Band members said they want to share their faith with others and they respect others thoughts and beliefs. For now they just play for fun, but they truly want to get signed by a record label and go on tour.

Also featured on Friday night was the local Castleton band “Morning Comes Early.” This Pop Punk band has been playing since the summer of 2009. “Morning Comes Early” is made up of five bands members. Patrick Infurna, 20, of Castleton, who is also a Castleton State College student, is the lead vocalist and he has been singing since junior high. Jeff Bruce, 19, of Orwell, Vt. is also a Castleton State College student and is MEC’s drummer and he has been playing since he was in fifth grade. Next up from MEC are the guitarist David Atkins and Harry Schroeder. Both of these guys are from Bomoseen. Atkins is 21 years old and he has been playing guitar since he was in seventh grade. Schroeder forgot to tell his age but he has been playing guitar for a couple of years now. MCE’s bass player, Jay Carleton, is 18-years old from Clarendon and has been playing since middle school.

“We all are interested in music and no one else really was and there were really no other bands in our high school. It’s something we’re really into, we like playing shows and we like music, it was something we wanted to emulate,” Infurna said.

“The reason I got into a band was because I like creating my own music,” Schroeder said.

“I guess for me, my dad always played music in the house and he always wanted to start a band. Maybe I’m just manifesting what he really wanted to do, I don’t know but I really like it,” Bruce said.

Also just listening to punk and pop punk really inspired the band, they said. They said they chose pop punk because it’s fun, youthful, has lots and energy, is fast and reflects who they are as people. They play for fun and a little gas money, but say being on tour would great. They said they just want to play  music and make their fans happy.

Last up was the New England Hardcore band Conflicted. Conflicted is made up of five band members who have been playing together for about a year and a half. Jacob Worm and Joshua Lacroiy are the guitar players for Conflicted. Bass player Joe Bradshaw has only been playing for only a couple of months but is already is playing like a pro. Jake Watkins is the lead vocalist and he has only been singing for a year or so. Dan “Spider” Holway has been playing the drums for 10 years. They started the band because they said they were sick of the New England “BS” music, and it was also an outlet for their emotions and their problems. They do it for fun, but if they had the chance to tour they would but they would do it on their own.

There are many other of these local and unlabeled bands around us. Check them out.