The chanting should have given it away.

At 11:35 p.m., 10 minutes before Zombie Shaker Box's scheduled start time, restless, metal-loving fans crowded the stage and began chanting for the band to start playing. As "Zombie! Zombie! Zombie!" filled the Cheyenne Saloon Saturday night, the band's competitors in Duel in the Desert surely took notice. Two and a half hours later, few seemed surprised when the foursome was announced as the winners of the battle of the bands.

Coordinated by Vegas Star Booking and held at Cheyenne Saloon, Duel in the Desert began in May with 36 local bands. Months of preliminary, secondary and semi-final rounds chizzled the bunch to nine finalists, who played over two nights, Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12 to determine the winner.

Shattered Empire lead vocalist Greg Williams demands you get on your knees and bow to the god of metal. Photo by: April Corbin

Perched at the edge of the stage and donning sunglasses and an open vest to show off his hairless and tanned torso, Zombie Shaker Box vocalist Kirk Hulshoff was a natural rockstar on stage. But he wasn't the only one.

With 221 points to Zombie Shaker Box's 225 points, Shattered Empire placed a close second by impressing the crowd with a clean, classic rock sound and engaging live performance. Lead Greg Williams asked the audience to pray to the metal gods, and later walked into the crowd and got on his knees, perhaps praying to the said deities to power his falsetto for 30 whole minutes. Shattered Empire even dedicated a song to the metal gods. Actually, they dedicated almost every song in their set so someone, including a song for "everyone who loves drinking" and one for their friend Mark Slaughter ("You wouldn't understand," said Williams, opting not to explain further).

One finalist, Missing Blind, were no-shows to the finals Saturday night. No announcement was given as to why the alt-rockers bailed. Whether because of emergency or sheer fear of not being able to hold their own against some of the loudest and energetic bands in the local scene, Missing Blind missed their chance to win $7,500 in cash and prizes. This left Zombie Shaker Box, Dymentya, Shattered Empire, diM, Alleyways, In The Flesh, Substance and Guerilla Pimp Project to pick up their electric guitars, set their amps to 11 and duel it out.

diM is scary. Photo by: April Corbin

The winners were determined through a combination of ticket sales, audience votes and scores calculated by a panel of judges consisting of members of the local music industry. The chants alone proved that Zombie Shaker Box effectively rocked their vote and brought fans out en masse for support. Luckily, they backed up their strong fan showing with an energetic performance of some infectious rock that impressed the judges as well.

As champions of the competition, Zombie Shaker Box won $2,000 cash and a slew of prizes, including studio time at MDV Studios. The band might not need it, though, as they announced they're already near completion on their first album.

Praising of rock deities aside, diM effectively gave the best shout-outs of the Duel in the Desert finals. The hardcore metal band paid quick tribute to Wade Aldy (a local promoter who died in March 2009), pointed out several non-performing bands present at the concert and even gave props to the sound guy, Tony. Lead vocalist BeAsT also praised his Duel opponents.

"We're not about music as competition," he told the crowd. "We're about supporting all local music. Without you, none of us would be here. So keep coming out and supporting all local bands." BeAsT added, "The Cheyenne Saloon will always be our home." Sweet words before pummeling the audience with the heavy, mosh-inducing sound that scored them third place in the competition.

Metal band Dymentya performs at Cheyenne Saloon as part of the Duel in the Desert. Photo by: April Corbin

Only one point differences separated diM from fourth place band Substance. Another point back was In The Flesh, who paced fifth. Dymentya, Alleyways (the only non-metal band) and Guerrilla Pimp Radio placed sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

According to Debra Rocha of Vegas Star Bookings, another battle of the bands is tentatively scheduled for February 2010. Hopefully our ears will have recovered by then.