When hard-core fans think of contemporary rock and roll, pretentious bands with names like Dashboard Confessional or Coheed and Cambria or some terrible nu metal group springs forth in their minds. Few fans are bothering to scope out the current scene and as an avid listener I can’t blame them.

Around a year ago, however, a friend suggested I check out a band called Fireball Ministry. At first I thought they were confusing Ministry and some other band. But I decided to give them a chance.

Out of the speakers poured a riff I had not heard since high school, when some hooligan showed me what true rock and roll sounded like. At first I wondered if it was Black Sabbath. Then I realized the music was far too polished and the production too high-quality.

Instantly I became addicted. Lead singer James Rota II’s vocals sounded like a blend between Rob Halford of Judas Priest with a shot of Ozzy Osbourne (before he sucked) and just a dash of Paul Stanley from KISS (before they became KISS, Inc.). His guitar playing, while not quite rivaling that of Chuck Schulinder or James Murphy, demands recognition. Sludgy distorted harmonies that harken back to MegaDeth’s “Rust in Peace” and the Cliff Burton-era of Metallica. Tapping your foot is mandatory.

Their music is so heavily layered one could listen to the same song six or seven times in a row before they truly heard it.

Fireball Ministry consists of lead guitar player/singer Rota II, rhythm guitar player Emily Burton (Rota’s wife), Janis T. Tanaka on bass duties and John Oreshnick providing the powerhouse drumming.

Rota looks more like a caged psychopath than the singer of a true rock band. Oreshnick resembles a Tough Man boxing contestant who eats steel girders for breakfast.

Tanaka is the stuff of legend. A girl who can rock just as hard as the boys and could probably kick the ass of every guy in the venue (watch the video for King and you’ll see what I mean).

Blonde amazonian Burton shreds up her instrument with a fervor most others would kill for. All while remaining graceful and commanding almost as much attention as Mr. Rota.

Their uphill fight to gain a decent fanbase has gone on for nearly a decade. After undergoing line-up changes and international tours with bands like Danzig, CKY and Dio, they still are not where they want to be.

Rota first began his goal for rock stardom in the sixth grade. He’s been chipping away more than 20 years. Fireball Ministry formed in 1998 after Jim and Emily’s unsatisfying results in finding a rock niche in New York. A few months after shopping their demo around, Bong Load Records signed FM. After an excursion to Small Stone Records, the band finally landed at Nuclear Blast, arguably one of the few labels pumping out any metal of substantive quality.

Their debut on Nuclear, The Second Great Awakening, received a typhoon of glowing reviews hailing the band as saviors of rock and roll.

But they aren’t merely trying to reproduce your grandpa’s rock band. While they do believe in the ‘70s rock mentality that it’s just about having a good time, Rota has a strong faith that they are doing the right thing.

“I’ve been in a bunch of bands before, but never anything worthy of chasing people down to put out a record. It really wasn’t until I hooked up with Emily and started writing songs with her seven years ago that this band came together. This could be something. These are songs people could get into,” Rota said.

He summed up the current state of rock music in saying overstimulation at all times has definitely caused people to look into things way too much. Looking for a deeper meaning especially in things where there is no deeper meaning, he noted.

“That thrash metal stuff was all happening when I was growing up,” said Rota, 32. “To me, that was the genre of music I witnessed happen. I have a place in my heart for it. As far as it being an influence on us musically, you can definitely hear that in there. Especially with the harmony stuff. We were all big fans of the Cliff Burton-era of Metallica. It filters in.”

Rota believes Cliff Burton’s death at age 24 in 1986 was a crippling blow to thrash music.

“The death of Cliff Burton is more significant than people let on. I think that when he died a lot of the fire and the most important part of that scene in music died. It’s kind of like the Pandora’s box. Sacrificing what made [Metallica] great. They could get as big as they did without the radio play, without the support of MTV or any of that stuff.

Back in the ‘80s (or now) there was (or is) a common misconception that once a band got its video on MTV, it had hit the big time. After the video for “King” premiered under the coveted You Hear It First slot, Rota commented on how funny the experience was: Seeing his band on national television and getting up to go to work the next day. “A bittersweet success,” he described it.

Rota found a fan of his own at MTV in VJ Iann Robinson who championed Fireball Ministry but was fired for mocking artists such as Usher and Limp Bizkit.

“Any time you dance that close to the fire, you gotta be prepared for that kind of response. Entities like MTV can only take it for so long because artists and people with influence are constantly badmouthing them,” he said. “Whether it’s right or wrong definitely causes issues. [Robinson] was a breath of fresh air. He gave the channel some credibility, which it had been lacking for so long. All good things must come to an end. It really is a shame that he isn’t around right now, especially with all the stuff that’s going on,” Rota added.

The band continues to do things the old-fashioned way, with a down to earth attitude. “Don’t take this stuff too seriously folks. We’re just doing it because, a) We love music and b) We don’t want to work for a living,” Rota said. “It’s on the get-rich-quick scheme. It’s taken us almost 10 years to get to the level that we’re at and by no means is that a level of any kind of stability. We have been really lucky. People do seem to like the band and that’s all I’ve ever really wanted.”

Fireball Ministry will play an all-ages show Aug. 9 at the Marquee Theater in Phoenix. Their new album is slated for a fall release.