On a muggy summer Friday, the band Solid Giant is busy growling into the microphone at Siberia. This band composed of cousins, vocalist/guitarist Jason Meserole and drummer Mike Nick, formed a year ago. Their sound makes up for their size, with a lumbering dirge that abruptly bursts into black metal speed. Solid Giant are one of many hard rock bands in the area specializing in a slower sound often branded “sludge.”

But away from the stage, Meserole and Nick are two guys in their twenties t...