http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipl_ZnOviFY

Nate Burket, once performing with the North Cambridge Family Opera, now sings with hard-rock trio Blackwell. (Photo: Scott Bump)

Listen to some Blackwell on iTunes and you’ll be blown away by the sheer musical muscle of this Holliston hard rock trio, especially that singer.

Fans of the North Cambridge Family Opera, though, might recognize that voice: Nate Burket, barely out of the robes of Persian King Ahashveros in “Springtime for Haman” singing “Like Iraq.”

He and two fellow high schoolers, Nate Adelman on guitar and Steve Snow on drums, are back in Cambridge at The Middle East, hitting the stage shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday and making the (short and loud) argument that rock is a young person’s game – even if the bands they’ve taken as role models include Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company and Tool.

The band is solid musically and has the right swagger, but for Opera booster Heather Hoffman, Burket’s voice has even more to recommend it.

“His impeccable diction proves you can take the boy out of the Family Opera, but you can’t take the Family Opera out of the boy,” Hoffman said.

Tickets are $10 for the multi-band show (Blackwell plays first, the band said on Facebook) at The Middle East, 472-480 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square.