NY''s reputation as a hot bed for metal had definitely preceded itself when the semifinals of the Emergenza festival showed up at Boomerz Boiler Room, a venue also rather well known for its compunction for the hard stuff. I found that reputation to be only partly true, though, as their were some very talented bands that weren''t exactly metal. We had some good blues, we had acoustic pop, some young kids playing rock in the classic style and a couple of excellent indie rock groups. Oh yeah, and we had lots of metal too. Speed metal, death metal, hair metal, rap metal, you name it, Tampa does it metal. When you are playing one style and competing against a lot of the same, then you really need to do it well which is what two groups did on Thursday night. SOBRIETY and SOCIETY''''S END both put their own stamp on the night with SOBRIETY stealing most of the votes in the house. Playing fast, playing loud, and playing tight helped them beat out the some of the softer stuff like the talented Cuban Sandwich Crisis.