The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. A scorching summer day chalked full of the heaviest of the heavy, lead by the sub-culture demigods Slayer and Marilyn Manson. What does one expect to happen at such an event? Blood? Sweat? Fire? Tattooed men and women wearing way too much black clothing? Human Sacrifice?  Absolutely. And don’t forget to bring the kids.

The show started with Las Vegas’s Hemlock, and progressed throughout the day with stellar performances from bands like God Forbid, The Black Dahlia Murder, Behemoth, Trivium, and All that Remains just to name few. And unlike other summer festivals, the bands were staggered in such a way that, for the most part, you didn’t have to sacrifice seeing one band for another one. You definitely got your moneys worth.

The main stage kicked off a little after 6:30pm, with Bullet For My Valentine tearing into the teeming masses, followed by Killswitch Engage. At this point every man, women, and child that was attending the event switched from a showdown with the brutal summer heat to bracing themselves against a quite formidable summer dust storm. But everyone I talked to during this battery of nature claimed that it was brought on by the pure metal power of Slayers arrival and was not a coincidence. And despite this reviewer’s skepticism of all things supernatural, I agree.

Slayer stepped on stage opening with the big guns, hammering into “Disciple”, with legions of loyal metal heads joining them for the chorus of “God hates us all, God hates us all.” And with temperatures that day reaching 117 degrees, it’s not hard to imagine why even the most amateur metal fan believed in those words. Slayer marched on playing some of their biggest “hits” (seeing as they have never been anything mainstream it’s hard to call anything they have written a “hit” in the commercial sense) including “Dead Skin Mask” and “Angel of Death” and closed with the song that has made them a dysfunctional household name, “Reign in Blood”.

After a slight thinning in the crowd, the now iconic Marilyn Manson took to the stage, opening with “We’re From America”, and quickly proved that he is a rock force to reckon with despite having probably the most widely listened to music of anyone else on the tour.  And once he got your attention, you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Looking complete with a line up including long time collaborator and band mate Jeordie White ( some of you may still know him as Twiggy Ramirez) and newcomer and AZ hometown hero Andy Gerold, the band flowed into song after song, playing favorites such as “Disposable Teens”, “Tourniquet”, and “Sweet Dreams (are made of these)”. Manson wrapped up his captivating performance with the thunderous “Beautiful People”, and then left the stage with flair.

The Mayhem Festival may be aptly named for the music, but not necessarily for the event itself. What I saw was a well oiled, organized event for heavy music that was created with the rowdiest fans in rock and roll today in mind. There was plenty to see, plenty of room, and plenty of good old fashioned American evil to be had. The usual arm and a leg was needed to enjoy the smallest necessities of food and water, but with a band like Cannibal Corpse in the background growling through songs such as “Hammer Smashed Face” self mutilation was not only plausible, it was almost welcomed. The overall atmosphere was surprisingly positive, and I didn’t seem much in the way of conflicts between fans and event staff. And despite the expected suffering that comes from the Arizona Summer sun, it was a very good time. And after all, suffering is, well METAL.

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