5 things I learned at Mayhem Fest last night.

I went to Mayhem Festival yesterday, for $10. Top that shit. It's rare that concerts are this heavy, or this evil. How heavy and how evil was it? Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Killswitch Engage, Cannibal Corpse, Trivium, Bullet for My Valentine, Job for a Cowboy, God Forbid, Behemoth, All That Remains, The Black Dahlia Murder, White Chapel, and Mushroomhead left Indy with a new asshole. I learned a few things there, too:

1. All That Remains and God Forbid were better than I expected.

2. Killswitch has vastly improved. And Adam Dutkiewicz is the coolest motherfucker around. "Hey, Indiana...fucking suck on this." They even got people to do illegal walls of death. I counted four. Yeah.

3. Manson is overrated live. Definitely not headlining material.

4. After seeing Trivium for the fourth time, more and more I see that they're still incredibly underrated and I'd be hard pressed to name a band with more talent.

And the best thing I learned last night:

5. 25,000 people were not ready for real heavy fucking metal. Slayer came on, men cowered, women wept, children pissed themselves, and Tom Araya and Kerry King gave nightmares to everyone. Thrash is a dying breed, but Slayer's here to fucking stay. This isn't Bullet for My Valentine, kids. This is fucking Slayer. Those two fingers you raise in the air, they're called "devil horns" for a reason. And that reason doesn't apply to Hinder or Breaking Benjamin or Buckcherry. Metalhead posers stood around confused and scared when they got their shit ruined by real metal last night. Aside from watching Trivium right in front, this was the only time "Mayhem" truly felt like mayhem. Okay, I take that back. Behemoth was fucking brutal, too. Concerts aren't this hardcore anymore, because people are fucking pussies and just go home crying.

Oh, and I also learned that 30 or 40 heavy metal fans going to Denny's after seeing Slayer and Marilyn Manson, and getting fucking terrible service (or none at all), does not turn out very pretty. Stupid bitch...

Five reasons to break shit.

I love metal. And guess what? I love nu-metal. Yeah, that's right. And I miss it. I grew up on this shit. Well, that and Cradle of Filth. But what the hell happened? It's all good that those bands wanted to change their sound over the years. Like, for instance, I wouldn't want Tool to make another album just like Lateralus, after waiting almost five years. It's a good thing that they didn't...

But that doesn't mean that we can't still have new, er, nu-metal bands, does it? Oh well. I'll just keep listening to the old shit. So here's a list of five vids I miss. There was going to be more, like Slipknot, Korn, and Spineshank, but those damn record companies seem to enjoy disabling access to embed them.

"The Red" - Chevelle

The best idea for a music video, ever. It just didn't quite live up to my expectations. It could have been so much more pissed off. It always seemed funny to me, to pack a room with the angriest fuckers that aren't in jail. And deep down, I know this court-ordered class is in my future.

"Giving In" - Adema

I miss Adema, more than any band that lost a singer or disbanded. I don't quite know why everyone hated them. And to be honest, this vid has inspired quite a few writes actually. Great song all around. Even though it works with the whole addiction to sex, I wish the video had reflected the drinking addiction instead, just like the song.

"One Step Closer" - Linkin Park

This is the one that started it all. It really doesn't even seem like this is the same band. Like I said, I'm all for a band testing new grounds, but Linkin Park has really mellowed out. I miss this anger. Hell, I miss any emotion at all that they used to convey. Fuck it. I miss when they were Hybrid Theory.

"Last Resort" - Papa Roach

Christ. I don't know how many million times I've listened to the Infest CD all the way through. I still remember the night when Kevin bought this CD, and I bought Korn's Issues. The two best purchases we've ever made, including cars, food, and even clothes. If you have good nu-metal you don't need to eat, or even clothe yourself.

"Break Stuff" - Limp Bizkit

Fred Durst is the biggest douchefag in America, when Bono is touring in other countries. And he's soulless. But old Limp Bizkit really wasn't too bad. This was back when Durst was on his way to living in a dream world where he was king, but he wasn't quite there yet. The video's kind of cheesy, but I'll forgive him for that, because you're not supposed to make fun of mentally-handicapped people.


Well, that's the list. Just a trip down memory lane of my high school years. Now I need to go find something to break.