Heading towards the cafeteria after school, you can hear the birds chirping in the deserted quad. In the midst of silence there is a roaring sound of clammering instruments and a low rumbling voice bellowing throughout the cafeteria.

“Got any jokes?” Band leader Pablo Gomez asked into the microphone as the band, Artificial Disaster, started their rehearsal. This is routine for the Thrash metal band Artificial Disaster. Gomez begins every rehearsal with the same question as if to show that they are ready to begin,though they never tell a joke.

The local band, consisting of four members, primarily from Spring Valley High School, was originally formed in June of 2015. The band started out as a cover band and recently began to start writing their own lyrics and songs.

Gomez and lead guitarist, Daniel Hernendez, left a previous band to create their own and unleash their creative potential.     Drummer, Carlos Herrero, joined the band in the summer of 2015 as Gomez and Hernendez were walking around the neighborhood and heard him through his garage. Despite his lack of confidence in his drumming skills, his fellow band members built him up and convinced him of his greatness.

Angela Gapuz, a bassist from another school, was introduced to the band when the original bass player decided to leave.

With all the key band members in place, Artificial Disaster cemented itself as Spring Valley High School’s premiere rock band.

The group came from humble beginnings, initially covering songs from the bands that they idolized such as Metallica, Megadeath and Havoc.

The band performed their first ever debut, of a Metallica song, during lunch and it was a huge success. As they  gain publicity, they began to perform more frequently. They showed off their skills again by doing an acoustic set in this years Poetry Slam on December 1, 2016 by performing  “Symphony of Destruction” and “She Wolf” by Megadeath. Gradually, they began to write their own music.

Recently Artificial Disaster has been working on some new songs to go on their new Extended Play (EP), including a new song titled “Truth Unspoken.” The song explores the pharmaceutical industry in an attempt to expose them and how they give occupants drugs or allow them to access certain drugs without a care.

“I love music; music is my life,” said lead singer Gomez. “I wanted to share it with more people, like people who like the band and are willing to share news about music and that’s what’s inspired me to be in a band.”

They have realistic themes in their music, such as self destruction and how drugs affect today’s society, especially in teenagers.

“When you’re in a band you have the power to express an idea to a large group of people and the goal is to, with the music and lyrics, to open people’s eyes to realize what’s going on nowadays instead of just going with the flow and ignoring it,” Gomez explained passionately.

“There’s no limit to how much you can learn and you can’t learn everything so it keeps you motivated to learn as much as you can while you still can,” said Hernandez.

Being in a band helps him express his emotions in a way that others will understand and listen to. He practices everyday in an attempt to learn new things about guitar.

Herrero had always aspired to be in a band and when he was asked to join Artificial Disaster he finally had his chance. The other members in his band inspire him to want to write music and get others to understand the meaning of their songs. To him, the best thing about being in a band is being able to express his feelings in the music and share the music all over.

“I’ve always wanted to be in a rock band because I’ve always loved music and I love performing live and so being in a band sounded perfect,” said Herrero.

As a band, their goal is to go global, spreading their message to people all over the country and eventually all over the world.The band is currently selling T-shirts, for $12 to help support their aspiring visions for the future.