Arielle Kubie photo

7 Days of Grey.

Lately, there seems to be a surge in popularity of Battle of the Bands-style events. I'm guessing it has to do with the slow economy. Most venues just want to get bodies through their doors. This makes traditionally slow nights like Thursdays and Sundays ripe for farming out to small-time promoters. This has some pretty huge ramifications. It means that the glut of MySpace bands who previously never left the basement suddenly have more opportunities than ever to get out in front of a real live audience.

Another sign that the culling has begun: The bands who come out for such events are slowly but surely improving in quality. This past Sunday there was a massive all-day battle at the Webster Underground, where two unknown bands caught my attention. There was a good dose of the usual schlock as well, including screamo and piss-poor Bob Marley covers. But 7 Days of Grey and Executivitis were both proof that battles are starting to reel in actual talent.

It's probably not hard to guess from their name that 7 Days of Grey are into Staind. In fact, it was pretty obvious that Staind and Tool are the two influences that shape the band's sound. What I found interesting was the fact that, even though their original arrangements were derivative at times, they owned and inhabited their material. They were able to come off as commanding, charismatic, and deeply personal.

Their songs were bottom-heavy and bass-driven; bassist Matt Galbraith and drummer Dan Lane were in the pocket for the whole set. Vocalist and guitarist Matt Thibeault had trouble staying on key consistently, but he also showed the promise of an amazing sing-scream, one of the more difficult techniques for metal vocalists to master. And the band managed to bring out a crowd of about 20 people, which is a great start for a battle with a $10 ticket.

Even better was Executivitis. The whole band could have been cryogenically frozen some time in the mid-80's, considering their style of Misfits-inflected hardcore punk. They may have been replaying a rather dusty cultural moment, but they did it damn well. Blasts of noise followed by strategic silences; three-minute songs followed by thirty-second songs; three-chord punk followed by full-on, thrashing, teeth-gnashing hardcore. And in the crowd, a lone fan, rabidly pulling timid onlookers into his one-person mosh pit. Everything was calculated for maximum obnoxiousness. It was glorious.

Earlier in the weekend, on Saturday night, the bands may not have been battling each other, but at the WindhamARTS Annex in Willimantic, they certainly seemed hellbent on destroying part of the earth. New London's A Trillion Gallons of Gas left scorch marks with their too-loud, too-fast crust punk. Fans of His Hero is Gone will instantly recognize their ethos. Those who have never heard of that seminal Tennessee band are forgiven (they consciously avoided mass media and the Internet). Imagine a band who can go from primal, muddy tempos to full-throttle punk over the course of the same song. Now imagine that, even at the fast tempo, their guitars still sound like mudslides. Again, they may not be reinventing the wheel, but the Trillion Gallon boys are bringing home some crucial hate mosh.

Friday: the Pork Pie Hat Jazz Series presents Rene McLean & the Urban Djeliya Project (Polish National Home, 60 Charter Oak Ave., Hartford; 8 p.m.). Saturday: Indie dance night Shag Frenzy kicks up dust in its new home, Middletown's Shadow Room (170 Main St.; 9 p.m.).