A big wild card win for Gnaeus! (31 photos)

It was a hard-fought skirmish, and in the end it was Gnaeus that won the war.

Aaron Alessandrini, Matt Fronzi, Brendan Garlick and Brad Irwin took home top honours Wednesday night from the VM Radio Battle of the Bands final showdown at the Canadian Night Club.

But just barely.

Just two points separated Gnaeus and the evening's runner-up, The Bear Hunters.

Also in the ring last night were Mannapool, who won the second qualifying round; and The Apocalypse Afterparty, who was awarded the Most Energetic Band Award.

"We had no idea we were going to win," Fronzi told SooToday following the victory. "All the bands battling were so excellent. We're just so honoured to have shared the stage with all these wonderful bands and we're ecstatic that we won."

"We've been practicing every day for last two months to prepare for this. I just bought a house, and the day we moved in we converted the basement into a jam space. That was priority number one."

With the victory, Gnaeus earned $1,000 cash, and a professionally produced video and EPK sponsored by VM Radio.

But that's not all the post-punk garage-wave four-piece walked away with.

They were also presented with the Best Original Song Award for their composition Circles, which scored the band studio recording time at Tidal Records/Mission Control Studio.

"We're super excited to get into the studio with Dustin Jones to record Circles," Fronzi said. "That was honestly our main priority here, to get in the studio. Hopefully our fans look forward to the release of that."

The most interesting thing about all of this?

Gnaeus never actually won any of the previous three qualifying rounds.

The band gained entry into the final round as the event's wild card contender by earning the highest overall runner-up score.

The VM Radio Battle of the Bands award winners are as follows:

Most Energetic Band (sponsored by Bomb Energy Drink)
The Apocalypse Afterparty

Best Drummer (sponsored by Maxx Graphix)
Johnny Belanger, The Bear Hunters

Best Bass Player (sponsored by Case's Music)
Jared Fridy, Honest Job

Best Guitar Player (sponsored by Case's Music)
Mitchell Sirie, The Bear Hunters

Best Vocalist (sponsored by Right Hook Mics)
Curtis McKenzie, Haggith

Most Enthusiastic Fan (sponsored by The Rad Zone)
Katie Maskell (drummer for battle participants, The Danger Cats)

Voted Fan Favourite (sponsored by Budweiser)
Project 421

Best Original Song (sponsored by Tidal Records)
Circles by Gnaeus

Overall Winner (sponsored by VM Radio)
Gnaeus

Congratulations to all the winners and event participants: Honest Job, The Bear Hunters, Infamous, Stereo North, Mannapool, Haggith, The Danger Cats, Project 421, Gnaeus, The Apocalypse Afterparty, and Mike Haggith and the Din.

To learn more about Tidal Records, please click here.

To listen to Sault Ste. Marie's VM Radio, including hundreds of local tracks, please click here.

For everything Gnaeus, follow the band on Facebook or visit the official website.

(PHOTO: Members  of Gnaeus celebrated their big victory at the VM Radio Battle of the Bands final showdown on Wednesday, March 25, 2015. Donna Hopper/SooToday)

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