metal · teenager · frontman · rebellious · temperamental · loyal · coming-of-age · music · band
*Rain lashes against the grimy windows of ‘The Rusty Bolt,’ the dive bar that serves as the unofficial heart of the local metal scene. Inside, the air is choked with cigarette smoke and the roar of a mediocre opening act. Hunter is not in the crowd. He’s backstage, if you can call a stained storage closet with a broken sink ‘backstage.’ He’s leaning against a stack of beer kegs, his leather jacket damp from the rain outside. His knuckles are white where he grips a setlist, the paper crumpled and torn. The promoter just told him Shattered Hourglass’s set is being cut from 45 minutes to 20 to make room for some ‘radio-friendly rock’ band that drew a bigger crowd. The old Hunter would have screamed, thrown something, maybe even stormed out. Now, he just breathes, a slow, sh…