Hey everybody, as we catch up on some new stuff, I need to address the articles that got caught up in the site’s hiatus. From last summer, this was Mayhemfest 2011:
Well boys and girls, it’s summer and it’s that time again, Summer Fests time. Of course, I mainly refer to metal festivals and today we’re talking about the Rockstar Energy Mayhemfest. On July 9th, in San Bernadino the Metal and Hard Rock tour came to Southern California for an evening of Brutality and Devastation. Carrying over from the previous years, the format remained in tact with three stages, two side and one main, with the most noticeable difference being the rotating main stage openers. Three bands, Trivum, In Flames, and Machine Head have been set up to rotate on this tour, swapping positions either heading up a side stage, or kicking off the main stage.
The side-stage was packed with its most robust and diverse acts it had this year. It was a seemingly perfect blend of the previous years combined. The Death Metal styles of All Shall Perish and Suicide Silence reminisce of the 2009 Hot Topic Stage. Straight Line Stitch and Unearth are cut from the same cloth as Mayhem alumns Shadows Fall, God Forbid, and All That Remains. Hell, Jamey Jasta makes his contractual appearance with Kingdom of…. Wait, wasn’t Kingdom Of Sorrow on the bill last year? Oh, wait, Hatebreed was on Mayhemfest and Kingdom Of Sorrow was on Ozzfest last year. Naturally you can see how a guy gets confused. Actually Kingdom Of Sorrow deserves a special mention though, for it is the first, and probably only time since the band’s formation that Kirk Windstein has actually been a part of the Supergroup that was his idea in the first place (kinda). Beyond that a new influx of sounds were on display with Red Fang’s Stoner Groove metal kicking off the morning, and Testament’s old school Thrash rounding off the Revolver stage. Heading up the Jager Stage was Mayhem veterans, Trivium, bringing with them a new set list, a new album, and even a new drummer. Trivium’s new sound and the performance they bring to it was awe inspiring, and seeing new tracks like Dusk Dismantled and In Waves given new life in the live setting is a perfect sampling of what promises to be an incredible headlining set later.
I have to restate, this is one of the best lineups this tour has ever taken on the road. The best surprise the entire day came from relative newcomers Straight Line Stitch, a bold and refreshing mutation of Metalcore. Truth told, Straight Line Stitch has probably been lying on the cusp of this music for the longest time, and this is a band that needs to be immediately pushed to the front. For years, these tours commonly feature bands with female vocalist, and Alexis Brown has some of the best range I have heard out of any of them. This band should not be missed! Making their way back to the tour, Suicide Silence took a slot on the Revolver Stage to obliterate the crowd. Unveiling their new album, The Black Crown, the band destroyed with new songs You Only Live Once and Slaves To Substance. The brilliant craft of Suicide Silence is their live show. Mitch Lucker is one of the most energetic singers the medium has to offer, and watching him on stage is instantly reminisce of the great rock giants that came before him. Mark Heylum is a brilliant guitarist and core to the band’s contagious charisma. I could praise all the members, but truthfully solidarity is the driving force of this band, and this is the strongest group dynamic of any young band touring today. Newcomers to the summer festival circuits, major mention should be made of All Shall Perish who stepped up to a knock-out performance. The band was one of the first on deck in the afternoon with a break out set that had the crowd feverish (not just figuratively). These outdoor festivals seem to have their own barriers and obstacles and All Shall Perish took up the mantle like old pros. Touring on This Is Where It Ends, the band is breaking new ground in the story of their music, especially with the introduction of two new members into their creative process.
Let’s talk about our two headliners.
Godsmack is one of those bands that have been knocked around more than they deserve. Optimal word in that sentence: “Deserve.” This is the part of the review where I say that the live show impressed me more than I thought it would originally, and they are a completely solid Hard Rock act, and…… none of that covered up for this one. It’s horrible to have to resort to saying “there was nothing wrong with it.” For example: “their live show was pretty good… I mean, there was nothing wrong with it.” They played a great set and got in a lot of their recognizable hits… I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. Some of their best songs, the band played well, they kept a decent pacing, hell they even made good use of the stage, I honestly can’t crucify it for anything. For a letter grade I’d have to give it a low B+ for content, B- for effort. A solid show that never took that extra mile to dazzle me with something I haven’t seen before. Perhaps this is a band that needs a full-headlining set to get the full experience from, but on this tour it fits only adequately.
Let me state at the starting gate that Disturbed as this year’s “official” headliner felt to be the most appropriate choice we had ever seen in the history of this tour since Slipknot on it’s maiden voyage. The band played a monstrous set list, picking out the best of the new album, Asylum, and weaving in the best of their old material such as Stupify, The Game, and Prayer. That said, there were two main issues at hand for Disturbed, their incredibly stripped down performance and vocalist David Draiman hit numerous sour notes. The latter is easier to breeze through, at multiple times during the performance Draiman’s pitch was off. Nearly a month off from the band’s last performance, something was a miss because this was noticeable to nearly everyone. During Indestructible, Stupify, and Down With The Sickness, vocal sour notes were harsh and noticeable. Secondly, the set itself felt incredibly bare and relatively static. Maybe it’s the economy, but it’s hard not to notice lack of massive set pieces that were instrumental last year, yes, even the ones that recreated Bakersfield. In a setting like this, naked space is noticeable, and I’ve seen Disturbed on smaller stages with more packed into their set. Time limits have always plagued the big festivals like this, but part of the fun is rising above constraints and being able to push forward to give a larger than life performance. Disturbed put on a good show, but it certainly did not feel like they were headlining a major summer festival. Also, word of advice, stage pyro is like Frosted Icing, a delicious addition to an already incredible treat. Frosting alone does not make a cake.
There’s something weird in the metal community when the cartoon is one-upping the “REAL” headliners. At the end of the night, Dethklok took center stage and the crowd began to mosh… to a cartoon… on a screen behind the creator and voice himself. Folks, lets have some perspective, if these tours existed years ago the night would have closed with Spinal Tap as the headliner… which is not a bad idea and someone should write this down for next year. For the uninitiated, Dethklok is performed by Brendon Small on vocals and lead guitar, Gene Hoglun on drums, Bryan Beller on bass, and Mike Keneally as Rhythm Guitar. Now, here is where I am a complete hypocrite, the stage for Dethklok was bare, save for a screen that played cartoon videos of the fictional band the entire set. Now why am I not beating them over the head as I just did for Disturbed? The great illusion of Dethklok is that the real people playing real instruments are the illusion. Your focus is on the screen and the cartoons are big and elaborate enough to make you bridge the connection over the medium itself (the actual band). You notice Brendon Small playing, and notice from time to time, but he is not lit to be the center of attention and the reason you come to the show is to feel as if you are at the Dethklok show you’ve seen on TV. The scary part is that Dethklok was electrifying. Not only was the fantasy of the fictitious band well-received, but the band had unparalleled technical prowess, and as the show was built for, it culminates several ranging influence of every band. If I could someone blend all the other bands from that day alone into one, it would sound exactly like Dethklok. There have been jokes about the fact that people are moshing to a fake band, honestly guys, this is the best reflection of fan’s appreciation about this music.
Tags: All Shall Perish, Disturbed, Godsmack, Kingdom Of Sorrow, Machine Head, mayhemfest, Metalocalypse, Red Fang, Straight Line Stitch, Suicide Silence, Testament, Trivium, Unearth
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