The band, which contested the finals with nine other local acts, formed in 2005 while members were pupils at Kaikorai Valley and Taieri Colleges.
Guitarist Daniel Shea and bass player Brendon McHattie have been "jamming" since intermediate school.
Last year, they were second in the regional finals of the national secondary school competition, Smokefreerockquest, and have since had regular performances at venues around Otago.
Shea said regular "gigs" and tertiary music study had helped band members become better musicians, and "evolve as a group".
He and guitarist Mike Mitchell study performance contemporary music at the University of Otago.
Bass player Brendon McHattie and drummer Hamish Gavin also take music papers.
They preferred "classic, clean" vocals, rather than the "heavier" style, which was often a characteristic of contemporary metal, Shea said.
"Metal" had a strong following in Dunedin, and Gavin attributed much of the music's popularity to it being "way crazier" than other genres, and encouraging high-energy audience participation.
Mitchell said the group had written many original songs in recent years, and its set list evolved as songs were dropped in favour of newer offerings.
OUSA events assistant manager Laura Cole said competition between Saturday's finalists was "tough", as they competed for $1000 cash, $500 advertising space on student radio station Radio One and appearance time at "Re-orientation 2008" and Orientation week events next year.
Judges Robert Milne (of dunedinmusic.com), Radio One host Dave Ager and Real Groovy manager Morgan Jarvis scored bands on stage presence, crowd appreciation, musical and technical ability, originality and "X-factor".