Chad Gray of HELLYEAH tying up a noose.

Heavy metal. It’s gut wrenching. It’s neck breaking. A good heavy metal show will have you going home with whiplash. Any true heavy metal fan can attest that they most likely have attended one of Rockstar Energy Drink’s Mayhem Festival. Shit, it may have even been their first metal concert. Offering an extensive lineup of big name bands, a motocross side attraction featuring the Metal Mulisha, multiple stage setups, meet and greet autograph signings and industry leading vendors completing the package, Mayhem Festival provided the ultimate heavy metal experience which used to draw immense crowds.

Mayhem Festival began in 2008 and instantly became a staple in the heavy metal community here in the United States. By 2012, Mayhem Festival had expanded the festival from three to four stages. Known for hosting some of the most reputable names in the heavy metal curcuit, the festival would also introduce fans to new bands, while giving fans the chance to meet some of their favorite metal bands. But, 2015 was a strange year for the Mayhem Festival in comparison to previous years. This year certainly had it’s fair share of drama but that’s nothing new for any festival. Chad Gray of Hellyeah posted on his Instagram regarding the tour “I don’t give a fuck what people are saying about this tour or how dead metal is! This is what we do and metal isn’t going anywhere! We are the underdogs and we embrace that shit! And we fucking bite, fight and bleed for it!”

Kim Choo of Feed Her To The Sharks

This years festival was a condensed lineup of bands offering only 2 of the usual 3 or 4 stages. Victory Records sponsored the second stage and lined up some amazing bands to play the stage. Even with a roster of some great talent, the festival still seemed as though it had dropped it’s level of mayhem and excitement that the typical Mayhem Festival was known for unleashing across the U.S. as it had done the every year before. No motocross bikes flying through the sky to distract you from the performance or multiple stages playing at the same time drowning eachother out and competing to draw the most fans. In previous years you were unable to watch all the bands on the lineup from start to finish because of how much was going on.

Mayhem was always a bigtime show, but with the smaller lineup and smaller crowds this year it created a more personal experience for the fans and musicians. Each shows attendance was certainly smaller than previous years but attendance was still strong. The crowd was full but not overpacked with people being trampled like all events years before. The sound was crisp and clear. Fans actually were able to experience all the performances without worries of missing bands play or rush from stage to stage due to overlapping time schedules. The energy from the smaller crowd was as intense as any other year. The bands were fueling that energy by connecting with their fans, an easier task because they had their full attention. What seemed like a stripped down version of Mayhem was actually the complete opposite.

Mayhem Festival veteran Kerry King of Slayer

Mayhem Festival was staying true to the roots of metal. Heavy metal music is appealing because it has substance to the music, fans and listeners connect with the music because they relate to the lyrics, or because the music itself speaks to them. Music in itself  can draw out so many emotions that it’s a great release for most people. When fans can have a more intimate experience with the music they listen to it can be life changing. The experience at Mayhem was no longer about woo-ing people with side attractions, it was focused on the experience in the music itself.

TDR spoke with Sworn In gutiarist Eugene Kamlyuk about Mayhem Festival and this is what he had to say. ” It’s really fucking cool, we are outside all day, jamming in front of all these new kids everyday who really get into it, the vibes are cool and I’m loving the festival… You see a lot of other bands come out and support the other bands… It’s really cool that Rockstar makes this all happen and that they support the metal community because it’s obvious that metal isn’t as big as it used to be, but Rockstar helps to keep that community alive… It’s like a family without being a real family, we are all on the same page, we all share the same interests and share vibes, it’s like a complete unit and it’s something I don’t think could be replaced by anything else.”

Phil Bozeman – vocalist of Whitechapel

And nothing will be able to replace the experience it offered fans as well as the bands. Speaking with lead singer Dave Matrise of Jungle Rot, he commented “This tour is everything we’ve dreamed of, thank god for Victory Records, they put us on and were the first ones to give us a chance and here we are. And Rockstar for putting this on, they take good care of us, the crew is awesome and everything is always all set we just have to show up and do our jobs. the shows are big, you can see everyone getting into us… It’s important to us to go out and meet the people just to see their happy faces, it’s what we enjoy most.”

After, I spoke with vocalist Andrew Van Der Zalm and guitarist Kim Choo, members of the Australian metalcore band Feed Her To The Sharks it really shined through on the impact of the festival. “This tour has been sick! Really awesome shows. It’s our first time over here in America so to be on a tour like this you really can’t ask for much more. This is our first real festival, we have no festivals back home like this, so it’s hard to compare this experience to anything else. We love the crowd interaction, seeing people getting into what we are doing as much as we like doing it. It’s awesome seeing how many people love metal and love coming out to enjoy a good time. I love that you are creating something so subjective and to see so many people come out and enjoy what you do, well, you can’t really beat that.”

Tyler Dennen – vocalist of Sworn In

Unfortunately after 8 years, Mayhem Festival will be no more. In a press release on August 2nd by John Reece who is one of the festivals founders, it was stated that the 2015 season of Mayhem would be the last season ever of Mayhem Festival… Another platform perishes but the determination to keep heavy metal alive is stronger than it has ever been. The community has lost another staple in the industry and the community eagerly awaits to see what happens next. Will another festival sprout up and try to fill the void left behind in the industry? Only time will tell and hopefully that time comes sooner than later!

Thank you to the Rockstar Energy Drink team and the Mayhem Festival crew for 8 years of dedicated service to the heavy metal community and industry. As well as a huge thank you to the musicians a part of the festival who persevered through the shit talking and still went out there shredding hard for the fans, you guys fuckin rock and showed every fan in attendance what metal is all about. Stay metal and stay fucking awesome!