The buzz started last year. Have you seen this band Nobis? They’re incredible. Heavy, tight, great stage show. You’ve got to check them out.

Who? Turns out a band named Melee, out of Bangor, simply flipped a switch last year, donned a new name, and started really focusing on the Southern Maine scene. It paid off in a big way — they’re the same band, but armed with new songs, new focus, and a new intensity that caught musicians and metal fans all over Portland by surprise.

The focus has to be on frontman Tim Sereyko, whose soaring operatic vocals have drawn obvious comparisons to System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, but who clearly has an approach all his own. Combined with a menacing guitarist in Josh Torrey, Nobis are left with an assaulting sound fans of the heaviest music can get down with, but a musicianship that any music fan can appreciate and respect, even if the heaviness ain’t exactly their cup of poison. It’s a rare combination, and one that led the relative Portland outsiders to something of an upset victory. Unscarred may have had the inside track with a Portland fanbase, but their recent breakup likely stripped fans of their passion for voting. Vertigod had a bit of a down period when they were without a singer, and they never quite built enough momentum in 2004.

And there must have been a lot of money on Dead Season, they of the successful debut EP and WTOS Battle victory, but they too hail from the north and east, and haven’t quite developed the southern base.

Nobis may not have been able to make the trek down to Portland from Bangor to pick up their Bimpy, but they’ve surely spent enough time down here to wow a few hundred voters – looks like they’ve got their priorities in order (though they missed out on some tasty snacks from Meritage, Uffa!, and Browne Trading Co.).

Runners up: Unscarred, End of Everything