It goes without saying that the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival is not necessarily a family environment or concert you would want to take your mother to. If you are looking for something along those lines, I hear Barry Manilow is on tour again.

My original idea was to gather a bunch of videos from YouTube of the bands that are on Mayhem this year, but literally everyone’s comments on YouTube are along the lines of: “Performance was awesome, sorry that the mic on my camera sucks.”

Fantastic, thanks for the help and for polluting YouTube with videos that are complete garbage.

So instead, in the interest of you actually getting a sense of what these artists bring to the table instead of hearing a bunch of garbled nonsense, I decided to gather official videos.

I also decided, instead of covering all the bands and making this the longest review ever, just to cover the ones that I thought were noteworthy (sorry fans of Behemoth and Cannibal Corpse). The main stage artists also do not have actual reviews since I would hope you know who they are, but I did include some of their videos in return.

If this review sparks your interest, or you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, or you just want to see some very interesting people, go check dates in your area and buy tickets directly from Ticketmaster!

The first band to play that is on the entire tour (there are Jagermeister Battle of the Bands winners which will vary by venue) will be Whitechapel. I guess the way these guys are described -- and most of the others on the Hot Topic Stage -- is ‘deathcore’ or ‘grindcore’ or something along those lines. A lot of these bands blend genres and I don’t think anyone really knows how to categorize them.

Regardless, these guys are brutal. But what else would you expect from a band that named themselves after the town that Jack the Ripper murdered his victims? The lead singer, Phil Bozeman, came out onto the stage, stared at the crowd, yelled ‘Are you ready?!’ and then they kicked into something a little like this:

Whitechapel -- Possession

If you prefer to shop at Amazon, check out their discography in CD and MP3 format: Whitechapel

The band is currently signed to Metal Blade Records. To get their albums from iTunes (Somatic Defilement [2007], This is Exile [2008]) click the cover artwork below.

Next up was some band that I can’t even remember. I think it was Mobile Death Camp. They were okay I guess, I really only heard them as background music, because at this point my entire focus was on spinning the DingLife wheel and winning a meet and greet with the members of All That Remains (Check out our previous All That Remains review)…which eventually did happen!

Moving back to the Hot Topic stage, the next band you will see there is The Black Dahlia Murder. This Michigan-based band, also signed to Metal Blade Records, has performed at the Wacken Open Air Festival (the enormous festival in Germany that attracts around 70,000 people) and has also embarked on several headlining tours.

Like the majority of the bands here, they falls into the melodic death metal/whatever you want to call it category. Last year’s Mayhem Fest was focused more on hard rock/metal crossover bands, this one is focused mainly on the extreme metal genres. Here is a sample of what they are all about:

The Black Dahlia Murder -- Everything Went Black

If you prefer to shop at Amazon, check out their discography in CD and MP3 format: The Black Dahlia Murder

Their available albums from iTunes (from left to right) are: Unhallowed (2003), Miasma (2005), and Nocturnal (2007). They also have a new release schedule for September 15th, entitled Deflorate.

God Forbid -- One of the bands that we had not heard before but definitely caught our ear. They are more in the realm of Killswitch Engage than the previous bands, as they don’t just focus on riffing as fast as possible, they also focus on song structure and alternate between screaming and clean vocals. Here is one of their videos:

God Forbid -- War of Attrition

Here is the link to their Amazon Discography: God Forbid

And here are their albums available from iTunes ( Determination [2001], Gone Forever [2004], IV: Constitution of Treason [2005], Sickness and Misery [2007], and their newest release -- Earthsblood [2009]):

Job for a Cowboy: The drummer of this band has described their sound as ‘technical death metal.’ The video below will back up that statement. If you like what you heard from The Black Dahlia Murder and/or Whitechapel, give these guys a spin.

Job for a Cowboy -- Entombment of a Machine

Here is the link to their Amazon Discography: Job For a Cowboy

And here are their albums available from iTunes ( Genesis [2007], Doom [2008], and Ruination [2009]):

All That Remains -- Their set here was not as good as the one in May when I saw them at Rock on the Range in Columbus, mainly because the crowd here was really weak during their set. They barely even moved. When I met the guys they said that the Rock on the Range set they played was one of the top five they have done -- so anyone who was there…give yourself a pat on the back.

Trivium -- This is the last noteworthy band that might not be known by everyone. Although they have come under criticism as of late because some claim that their most recent releases, The Crusade and Shogun, sound too much like Metallica, there is no doubting their talent. I am one of those in the majority who feel that their early work is their best (which, ironically, is how a lot of Metallica fans feel about their work as well).

Here is the link to their Amazon Discography: Trivium

And here are their albums available from iTunes ( Ascendancy [2005], The Crusade [2007], and Shogun [2008]):

Here is the video for the title track of their debut, Ember to Inferno:

Trivium -- Ember to Inferno

I’m going to guess that when it comes to Bullet For My Valentine (who did not play the Cleveland show, unfortunately), Killswitch Engage, Slayer, and Marilyn Manson, most people who read this are going to know who they are (I would hope so at least).

Based on that assumption, I am just going to throw some videos out there for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Bullet for my Valentine -- Scream Aim Fire

Killswitch Engage -- My Curse

Slayer -- Raining Blood (Live at Download Festival 2007)

Marilyn Manson -- Disposable Teens

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.

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