Auburn-area group delivers plenty

of punch with own heavy metal sound

On stage the boys from Open Rebuke are clearing off for the next metal band.

Their gear finds its way out the back door of the venue to their bus, a school surplus short bus recently purchased to transport the Auburn-area band’s gear and their fans to gigs.

On the emptying dance floor Terri Berry is all smiles.

“You can’t wipe the smile off my face for a week after a show,” she says.

For Terri, mom and band manager, it’s not just the music that makes her smile. It’s the fact that Open Rebuke is family – literally. They have been playing together for many years, with Terri’s husband, Tim Sr., holding down the low end on bass, Zac, 18, rippin’ in on drums and vocals and Tim, 20, filling out the trio with guitar and lead vocals.

It all started with dad, who latched on to heavy metal as it emerged in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

“When I was 16, I heard ‘Diamonds and Rust’ by Judas Priest,” Tim Sr. says.

It wasn’t long before he picked up a guitar and began to learn to play.

By the time the kids came along, the music was just a regular part of family life around the Berry household.

“I remember them doing cartwheels to Anthrax,” Terri says.

Raised on a steady diet of progressive heavy metal and bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rush and Black Sabbath, it wasn’t long before Tim and Zac heeded the call of the music and decided to pick up instruments themselves and make music.

As the older sibling, Tim was first to get the bug, starting out on guitar as a toddler and moving on to the drums. Then Zac followed, taking over the skins, while Tim switched to guitar and lead vocals, learning Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” as his first song.

Vocally, the siblings honed their skills in a very un-metal way, according to Terri.

“They were both in chamber choir throughout their high school years,” she says. “My boys profess to learning a lot from Auburn High choir teacher Kandy Gilbert.”

The Berry boys also grew up singing along with everything from metal to contemporary Christian music.

“The only thing they could never tolerate was country music,” Tim, Sr. said.

Close-knit family

The trio plays together in their basement lair and has for years, polishing their skills and laying down their all original music and lyrics. The old adage, the family that plays together stays together, has proved out for the Berrys. They are tight and true to family.

“We’ve tried out different people in the band,” Tim says. “But it always goes back to the three of us. We are always just rock solid together.”

About seven years ago the trio began playing out, first under the name Unchosen, then switching to Open Rebuke. Quickly, the band has built a devoted following of metal heads, a cadre of Auburn music fans dedicated to the band.

It’s the music that keeps them coming back – music that’s a mixture of the band’s old school progressive heavy metal influence, as well as a touch of bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed and Iced Earth.

The music itself is fast and brutal, an aural pummeling, but not without melody, thanks to Tim and Zac’s vocal harmonies.

“They may not all know the lyrics to our songs,” Tim says of his approach to songwriting. “But we’ll make sure they can bang their heads to it.”

Currently, the band is looking to augment their lineup with a another guitarist/drummer who will allow Zac, who also plays guitar, to step out from behind the kit, Tim said.

“The focus of the family right now,” Terri says, “is a phenomenal opportunity offered to them by XIL Records to play the grand reopening of the King Cat Theatre in Seattle on (Friday).”The same theatre many fans came to see famous bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Sound Garden rock Seattle. Open Rebuke and the four opening bands plan to pack the 900-plus capacity venue for this show. They hope to see some of the grunge alumni show up to revel in the reopening of the venue where they all got their start.

No matter where the band ends up, for the trio it’s all about being together as a family and the music.

“I’ll do this until I die,” Tim said.

And for Terri, it’s all about the pride she takes away from seeing her family, on stage and having fun, all in the name of heavy metal.

Reach Shawn Skager at

253-826-3260 ext. 5050 or

sskager@sumnerreporter.com.