“Diversity” isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think of heavy metal. But then again, it isn’t often that you actually see the genre’s many facets—thrash, death, black, glam, metalcore—commingle in a single show. So if there’s anything that can be said about the 2009 Mayhem Festival, which made a stop at Nissan Pavilion last weekend, it’s that the show brings metalheads of all tastes, backgrounds, and creeds together to beat the ever-living fuck out of one another. After emerging last year as heir apparent to Ozzfest’s once tyrannical reign as the pinnacle of summer metal festivals, Mayhem approached its sophomore year with a noticeably all-inclusive bill. The 11-hour set spanned three generations of heavy metal, including pioneers in late ‘80s thrashing (Slayer), figureheads of mid ‘90s glam (Marilyn Manson), titans of modern metalcore (Killswitch Engage and Bullet For My Valentine) and a pair of epic death-metal bands for good measure (Cannibal Corpse and Behemoth). Throw in a handful of other aggressive 30-minute sets—including Trivium, All That Remains, The Black Dahlia Murder, and God Forbid—a few thousand angsty Virginian suburbanites, and temperatures nearing the triple-digit mark, and you have the makings for one hot, sweaty mess.
The A.V. Club was on hand at the Nissan Pavilion to chronicle each spleen-pulverizing power chord. Here are a few of the highlights from the 2009 Mayhem Festival.
Behemoth
Give Polish blackened death metal outfit Behemoth credit for one thing: It certainly lives up to expectations. One glance at the trio—decked out as if Heath Ledger’s Joker moonlighted as a competitor at Medieval Times—gives a pretty good idea of the blazing, cacophonous, and downright blasphemous music it produces.
Trivium
Every metal show needs the nice guy—the one that keeps the hateful jabber to a minimum and reminds everyone in the mosh pit to help out their fallen brethren and stay hydrated. For the Mayhem Festival, Trivium frontman Matt Heafy was that guy.
One of the youngest bands on this year’s tour, Trivium understandably attracts a youthful crowd. The band adapts a Machine Head-esque blend of thrashy riffs, double-kick lines and soaring vocals—a winning formula for the Hot Topic crowd. The band’s songs are an ambitious mingling of pop and heavy metal—matched by a refreshingly spastic, larger-than-life stage presence.
Cannibal Corpse
Subtlety isn’t exactly Buffalo death-metal quintet Cannibal Corpse’s bag. “We’re not here to teach you right from wrong,” explained vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher between songs during their set. “We’re here to kick your fucking ass.”
And that they did. “The Time To Kill Is Now” was so loud that I actually felt my eyelids starting to melt, and I’m pretty sure I watched one guy’s appendix burst during the opening riffs of “Fucked With A Knife.”
Fisher’s rolling growls were surreal and terrifying, inciting a circle pit that kicked up a summer dustbowl that could have inspired a Steinbeck novel. Hell, even his onstage banter was intimidating: “We have a new album out, and if you don’t have it yet, you have until the end of the night to go to the merch booth and get it—or else I’ll come out there and rip your head of and mail it to your fucking parents. So, I advise you to buy it.”
Yes, sir.Bullet For My Valentine
It’s easy to see how Welsh quartet Bullet For My Valentine has generated such a loyal U.S. following in recent years. Its vocals-driven metalcore—easily the poppiest of the day’s performers (though that’s a bit of a “prettiest girl in the freak show” comparison)—attracts a noticeably younger crowd than the rest of the field. Its set was as gritty as it was sing-songy, drawing a largely atypical crowd. Scores of tweenie-bopper girls lined the main stage’s front row to stare lovingly into front man Matt Tuck’s dreamboat eyes, mouthing the words to “Waking The Demon,” “Tears Don’t Fall,” and “Scream Aim Fire.” Bullet may not have offered the hardest set in the festival, but it sure knew how to please its followers.
Killswitch Engage
In addition to being arguably the day’s most entertaining set, Massachusetts metalcore outfit Killswitch Engage wins the prize for best crowd greeting. Dressed in a mini cape, short-shorts and a matching cut-off tuxedo t-shirt, mutton-chopped guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz announced the band’s intentions for the set: “We’ve come to drink all of your beers and pee on all of your girlfriends.” Though KsE lacked some of the shock and bite of its more hardcore predecessors on the side stages, the band’s mature, polished aesthetic carried the 40-minute set. Singer Howard Jones’ ability to weave melodic hard rock vocals among prominent, rolling screams was unmatched by other frontmen in the festival—accompanied, of course, by Dutkiewicz’s thrashy riffs and kinetic presence onstage.
Slayer
Did you ever think you’d see the day when Slayer was the most calm and collected set in a metal show? No excessive use of “motherfucker” to rile up the crowd. No allusions to raping corpses or feasting on human blood. Just four middle-aged dudes—one of which rocked his own band’s T-shirt, masterfully wailing away at their respective instruments.
In truth, Slayer shows have never been about the spectacle, so you can’t expect Tom Araya and the crew to bring any new tricks as they approach their 50s. Instead they stick to the winning formula they helped develop two decades ago: straightforward, impossibly tight speed-metal riffs, thumping kick drums, and the occasional spotlighted solo from super-shredder Kerry King. Araya’s growls are still as deeply raspy, as displayed in the band’s inspired version of “Dead Skin Mask.”
Perhaps it was just a matter of fatigue, but the crowd’s propensity to mosh seemed to dwindle unexpectedly when Slayer took the stage. In fact, as the band put its final touches on classic “Raining Blood,” I couldn’t help but notice two kids in the VIP pit, both no more than 8 years old, standing still up against the amplifier with a look of utter boredom in their eyes. What the hell is our world coming to?Marilyn Manson
You’d think that Manson’s fuck-the-world attitude would have been toned down a notch over the years. After all, the Backstreet Boys no longer have a monopoly over the once-coveted top spot on TRL, so now he’s finally got a shot—right?
Well, the Antichrist Superstar is as pissed as ever, even though he seems to be professing his angst at a markedly slower pace than a decade ago. Manson opened his set with his new single, “We’re From America,” greeting the crowd by spraying backwashed Budweiser into the first three rows (including the photo ring, where I stood unsuspectingly). Yup, he’s still got the whole “I’m a total fucking dick, deal with it” spiel down.
Over the course of the set, though, Manson’s shtick came off as a tad played. While gripping a microphone that doubled as an oversized dagger, Manson belted out a short string of new and long-forgotten older singles (from “Disposable Teens,” to “Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon”), followed by classics “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” “Rock Is Dead,” “Dope Show,” and “Sweet Dreams”—all without a single noteworthy wardrobe change or ritualistic onstage freakout. Even the mosh pit seemed tame throughout the set. Where’s the shock in that?
Manson seemed to take his time between each song, but no pause was quite as awkward as the three-minute span between “Sweet Dreams” and closer “Beautiful People.” Did he need a last-minute boost to make it through the show’s finale, like a quick hit from an oxygen mask or the ol’ devil’s dandruff? Whatever it was, it worked—Manson’s vocals erupted in the all-too-familiar chorus, reminding everyone in the crowd why they loved that song so much in 1996.
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