Punk rock, hard rock, heavy metal and originality were all showcased at Saturday night’s “Battle of the Bands.”

Held at Otto’s (118 E. Lincoln Highway) the event was sponsored by Delta Sigma Pi and Axe-in-Hand guitar specialists. It featured talent from across Illinois.

I sat in as a judge. Here is my rundown of the evening:

Blame Twilight

Blame Twilight shows certain promise in their music. Despite attending three different colleges, the members of this foursome showed great chemistry, especially in their song “To Die, To Live, To Die.”

Maxlider

Straight out of Bloomington, Ill., Maxlider stepped onstage at Otto’s in front of a crowd of strangers and played loud music.

False Intent

Fresh off their stint on the Warped Tour, False Intent came to the “Battle of the Bands” armed with talent and experience. Lead guitarist J.J. Schwass displayed his picking prowess on his beautiful Paul Reed Smith guitar.

Million

Sycamore locals Million put on the best set of the night, showcasing smoking guitar licks in their set.

Those present witnessed a great show, with a mad headbanging session by freshman English major Jason Kolkui.

When I asked Kolkui what caused his fit of ecstasy, he said, “Not a lot of good, true musicians are in local bands, so when one flashes some true talent, you gotta get into it.”

Electric Rhino-3rd place

With a combination of humor and music, Electric Rhino really brought the crowd into their show. Sex toys, porno mags and a song called “The Mullet King” helped Electric Rhino receive third place.

Front man Dave Aldersbaes commented, “What Otto’s has going is what music needs. College towns are the best place for bands like us. College students are the backbone of music.”

Infrared-2nd place

Heavy metalheads Infrared cranked up the volume to 11 and shook the walls. Infrared played well enough to win second place.

But heavy metal leaves me with one question: Why so angry?

Madeline’s Ghost-1st place

Although I voted for Million, the hard-rocking style of Madeline’s Ghost proved to win the favor of the majority of judges.

Junior English major Alan Snider is a great talent on lead guitar, and their back-up guitarist strongly resembles Ralph Macchio (that’s right, The Karate Kid).

Madeline’s Ghost won first prize, which includes a headlining show at Otto’s. Details will be announced at a later date.