A full slate of metal was on display at Revolution Live: (clockwise from left) Nonpoint, Dharmata, Simplekill and Beauty to the Moon. (Tony Ozegovich / Rhythm Scene) | Click here for more photos

For this holiday season, a date was set for homegrown metal to come together and throw down for one hardcore metal show, at Fort Lauderdale’s Revolution Live on Dec. 26.

The night started off with the closed curtains slowly opening and smoke pouring off the stage to reveal the West Palm Beach native Dharmata. The lead singer Jay Slim thrashed his dreads with the rest of the group and quickly got the crowd’s adrenaline flowing. Soon there after, “the mosh pit” started rumbling and proved that this night was just warming up. Formed in 2007, Dharmata is quickly rising out of the garage band scene. With performances like this, it’s easy to see that the talent pool in South Florida is ever growing.

Taking over after Dharmata was Beauty to the Moon, with front man Chris Perez strutting out on stage accompanied by his Jack Daniel’s bottle. This was reassuring to me that they were the loud and aggressive group that I had heard they were (and what I saw completely solidified that theory). Another one of South Florida’s young and talented groups, Beauty to the Moon gave the ultimate show experience. Their performance even included Perez hopping into the pit and climbing the barricade positioning himself directly on top of the crowd as he sang vocals, while fans helped with the rest. As a gift, Perez even bestowed his lucky bottle of JD to an awestruck concertgoer to share a drink.

It seemed that at this point of the night, the mosh pit was completely energized. As I stood behind the last man before the pit, I could see the steam rising off the the backs of the shirtless warriors who were resting until the next bass line was dropped. It amazed me to see so much camaraderie crammed inside the pit area. I would see someone completely obliterated by one man, have him come up and shake hands with the same guy who left him lying on the floor and say, “Yessss, let’s mosh more bro! C’monnn!”. Even when someone would get knocked to the floor they would be picked up instantly and thrown back in. I saw countless people get injured, and then go right back in for more. To my recollection, I only heard of one person who left early as a result of injuries sustained from moshing.

Tony Ozegovich is a writer for Rhythm Scene.

Adding fuel to the fire was Simplekill. The quartet came on stage to do one thing: to totally bestow alternative metal upon the crowd that had begun to urge for more. Yet another group from Fort Lauderdale, these guys brought more of the mainstream metal that most common folk know and love. While listening, it was easy to hear the influence of Sevendust and Pantera. At one point during their performance, lead singer Panjo started a battle of epic proportions in the mosh pit (a scene reminiscent of Braveheart or 300). As this wildness went on, Panjo waved the mic around his head like a helicopter, creating an amazing scene. To go along with the phenominal performance, it was amazing to see most of the band members from Dharmata and Beauty to the Moon with the crowd moshing during this performance.

Finishing off the night with a “head bang”, NonPoint was here to deliver a performance that the sold-out crowd at Revolution Live would surely remember. The band has come a long way since its first commercial release in 1999, Struggle. But since they were in such a giving mood as they had previously said, the first 500 in the door were treated to a special release of theirs. With this homegrown group came a even louder sound and amazing instrumentation that ensured that their songs would be ringing in your ears for the next week. As lead vocalist Elias Soriano thrashed his signature dreads with the intensity brought on by his fellow band mates, everyone was surely satisfied with the “on point” performance and the amazing night of music that had just happened. As the house lights came up, it seemed as though most were ready for a couple more hours. If you weren’t here, you truly missed a momentous experience of alternative metal that has been growing in our own backyard all this time.