OXFORD – In two short years, with the help of loyal fans, Dead Season has risen to the top of Maine’s metal heap.

Matt Truman, 27, of Oxford, and his brother Ian, 25, of Otisfield, are half of a high-energy, intense metal band formed in November 2002.

“We’re out there to smash people with our music,” said Matt, the lead guitarist. He loves “explosive” riffs and hates phonies and “posers.”

Ian, the singer, said when they’re “slamming” a song and the fans are going wild, “it’s the best feeling in the world because I know down in my soul that that is awesome.”

They call the fans their Dead Season “army.”

In a region dominated by country music, the band has achieved its own metal sound.

And they’ve achieved this while juggling professional careers. By day, Matt works as a mechanical engineer at Dielectric in Raymond. Ian teaches English at Poland Regional High School.

With drummer Martin Nadeau of Biddeford and bassist John Patenaude of Portland, the band captured top honors in this summer’s Battle of the Bands put on by Maine’s major hard rock radio station, WTOS-FM 105.1.

Dead Season beat three other Maine-based bands, all selected based on listener call-ins, by playing Aug. 15 to a head-banging crowd of more than 1,000 at the Skowhegan fairgrounds. The win earned them $1,000.

Even better, they’re getting regular air play on the station alongside national acts.

“That’s huge,” said Matt, who hopes to catch the ear of some important people in the music industry.

Listeners have been calling in regularly to the radio station, requesting songs from their new CD, “Down Again,” which recently hit No. 4 on a list of top-selling local CDs at Bull Moose Music outlets statewide.

“Kudos to Dead Season for pushing their way to No. 4. Their WTOS Battle victory has clearly given them some serious momentum. We haven’t seen a metal band get that high, ever,” the Portland Phoenix said in printing the list.

“I just know Maine would love to be represented by their own band” in the world of big heavy-metal bands, said Ian. “There are a lot of people in Maine that like heavy music.”

As the driving force behind the band, Matt acts as the band’s manager. He created and maintains their Web site, www.deadseasonmusic.com, and keeps fans informed of the band’s progress. He charters buses to bring along Dead Season fans to some of their bigger live shows out of state, to ratchet up the energy level. Their next gig will be the Oct. 30 WTOS Halloween Bash at Russell’s in Bangor.

No strangers to success

Matt and Ian were raised by their parents, Ed and Peggy Truman, to go after goals and achieve them. They excelled academically and athletically at Oxford Hills High School, and later at college.

Matt was named “Mr. Baseball,” the best senior high school baseball player in the state, and pitched for the University of Maine’s Division 1 team. Ian, while holding down a double major at Springfield College, ruled the football team as an Academic All-American offensive lineman.

While in college, Matt picked up a guitar, and taught himself how to play the music of his heavy metal favorite bands – Tool, the Deftones, Pantera, to name a few.

“I found my true love and I just couldn’t wait. When I got out of college I was more excited about getting the band together” than anything else, he said.

Ian, also a heavy metal fan, said he’s always looked up to his big brother. So when Matt talked about his dream, he was in for the ride.

“It’s real special to have success like this,” said Ian. Unlike their other achievements, it’s not something that was expected of them, but something they are creating on their own.

“The limits seem endless to this,” added Matt, who hopes the band’s success in Maine will lead to gigs in Boston and possibly a record contract.

Would they ever consider giving up their day jobs, if a record contract comes?

“You have to,” Ian said, emphatically. “How many people get that opportunity?”

Matt agrees, and said the band, playing only on weekends, isn’t even close to reaching its full potential. “You grow up, you do well in everything, you get out in the world, and you say, Now, I can discover who I am.'”