Local band will open Lazerfest

By ANDREW MCGINN
a.mcginn@beeherald.com

When Through the Darkness one day headlines Ozzfest Japan or steps up to collect the Grammy for best metal performance, just remember you read it here first:

“We’re not going to steal the show, but we’re going to make an impression,” predicted Tyler Gathercoal, the 23-year-old drummer and spokesman for the Grand Junction metal band.

The local band will play its biggest show to date Sunday when it opens Day 2 of Lazerfest 2015 at the Seven Flags Event Center in Clive — the group’s reward for winning this year’s Lazerfest Battle of the Bands.

Through the years, the festival has featured such nationally known acts as Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Kid Rock, Korn, Slash, Stone Sour and Stone Temple Pilots.

“We’re beyond psyched,” Gathercoal said Wednesday. “We think this could really set us off.”

This year’s Lazerfest — organized by Lazer 103.3, the Des Moines hard rock station — will be held Friday and Sunday, culminating with a set that night by Five Finger Death Punch.

Through the Darkness will open Sunday’s festivities with a set from 3 to 3:30 p.m.

The six-piece band is made up of the three Gathercoal brothers — Tyler, vocalist Andrew and guitarist Kris, all graduates of East Greene High School — along with guitarist Justin Saffell and bassist Joe Swanson, fellow East Greene grads, and vocalist Cameron Stevens, of Boone.

This year’s battle was held online, which meant that Gathercoal and his bandmates were pretty much glued to the website for days.

“It was horrible,” he joked.

But when voting ended Sunday, Through the Darkness had pulled through.

“We feel all of our hard work has finally paid off,” he said. “The fans pulled through and helped us out this time.”

Lazerfest 2015 also will feature a second Greene County connection in Parker Willis, a senior at Greene County High School who plays bass in the Des Moines thrash-metal band Green Death.

Green Death will play the festival from 5 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.