It can be difficult to stand out from the pack in music, be it rock, pop or country. Some bands resort to gimmicks, which can eventually wear thin or overshadow the music. Tacoma heavy-metal band End Theory manages to be different while being real.

The band consists of lead guitarist Shannon Sharp, rhythm guitarist Randy Bebich, bass player Kriss Blazina, drummer Erik Lofgren and singer Rosa Arias.

Sharp and Lofgren used to play in Sufferguage, a local metal band that broke up in 2002. They knew Blazina and Bebich from the local scene.

Sharp went on to play with a band called Byaxis. Rosa Arias auditioned to be their singer. She wasn't chosen, but Sharp knew his three buddies were assembling a band and recommended her.

The four-piece band formed three years ago under the moniker In Theory. Bebich was working on material that required two guitars to play live. They felt Sharp had the right style to fill out the sound, and he joined in April 2004.

The four guys are talented musicians and entertaining to watch. With a male singer, they would still be a good metal act. But Arias makes them unique. Face it - there aren't many female metal singers. Arias is a rather petite woman but can belt out aggressive metal vocals.

While surfing the Internet one day, Arias realized there were around 20 bands called In Theory in the United States, so a slight name change to End Theory occurred.

Many of the band's songs start with Sharp hammering out ideas at home, then taking them to practice. Others come from spontaneous ideas at practice. "Sometimes a song comes out of nowhere," Sharp observed.

Once a general arrangement happens, Arias writes lyrics.

Sharp said End Theory has good chemistry, with none of the attitude and infighting that often comes with the territory in rock bands.
"It's almost effortless to write a song," he remarked. "Everyone's ideas are tried out at least once."

Arias said that the good working environment is evident in the live show. "You can see on stage that we like what we're doing."

The band has built up a fan base with regular gigs around Puget Sound.

"We know we have a following in Tacoma," Bebich remarked.

"It looks like a damn war zone on stage," Sharpe said. "We feed off the audience's energy. You can't fake having a good time. There is nothing better than getting that face-to-face energy with the fans."

Arias is from Mexicali, Mexico. At age 16, she became lead singer for Limbo Zamba, a popular Latin rock outfit. She lived in Mexico City while fronting the band, which was signed to Sony Records. "We had a huge following," she said, noting they played before crowds as large as 50,000. Limbo Zamba toured the southwestern United States and throughout Mexico. Years after it broke up, the group remains quite popular in Latin America. Through the Internet, Arias' fans around the world still contact her.

End Theory wouldn't mind tapping into their singer's popularity in Mexico. "There is still a huge amount of interest in what Rosa is doing," Sharp said. "It's a whole new market to explore."

A few of their songs have Spanish lyrics, an uncommon practice, at least with American metal bands.

While End Theory is heavier than her previous band, Arias thinks fans back home are ready. "They go insane for metal in Latin America," she said.

"The Latin market is where it's at," Sharp added. "They are the most ferocious metal heads on the planet."

The band released their debut album, "End Theory," in February. They did the original recording in December 2004 and have tinkered with mixing and overdubs.

John Winters from the band Hatefist did recording, engineering and mixing. Jesse O'Donnell mastered it as The Autopsy Room. Amy Taggert of Chicknatas Design did layout and art design for the cover. The band is pleased to have people they know well so involved in the album's creation. "We got a lot of help from the scene to get it out," Sharp commented.

The band has written more material since recording the album and might release an EP this summer. They want to play some shows in Eastern Washington and perhaps do a West Coast tour. They are also interested in hitting Mexico as an opening act for bands there.

End Theory plays March 9 at Studio Seven in Seattle, March 25 at Cat Box in Tacoma, April 1 at Shipwreck in Tacoma, and April 22 at Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma.