Mayhem Festival 2014 brings the heat

Rockstar Energy ‘s Mayhem was in full effect this year. With metal servings from the old school death metal to new school nu-metal, there was something for everyone. With every style on display and more stages than ever Mayhem is growing into the must see metal fest of the year. The day started early with Darkest Hour, putting out their unique style of melodic thrash. They managed to touch on all of their old fan favorites along with new ones off the coming album. The crowd felt the energy early and was ready for more. Next up was the down south, THC loving, Texas Hippie Coalition. Walking into to their set the crowd seemed uninspired. However within a few songs THC’s onstage antics and quirky mix of southern rock and metal quickly won over the crowd. Before too long the crowd was moving and chanting along with these Texas outlaw’s. Next memorable metal moment was Veil of Maya hitting the stage. The crowd was immediately mesmerized with Veil of Maya’s set. As the intensity grew the crowd become rowdier and rowdier. Circle pits formed fast and frequently as the lead singer called to the crowd. VoM was one more amazing set amongst many. Mid-day saw two of the most high-energy sets of the day in Mushroomhead and Ill Nino. Mushroomhead are riding high on the heels of their latest record, The Righteous and the Butterfly, which saw the return of longtime member JMann as well as the band’s first top 20 album. As always, the band pulled out all the stops and brought the heat on the year’s hottest tour. They brought the water drums, spent half the set in the crowd and raised the bar so high most of the main stage bands would have to work hard to top it. Ill Nino haven’t done a major US tour like Mayhem in quite some time but the second they hit the stage you would have never known. They showed up, did exactly what Ill Nino does best and tore the house down. As the day grew hotter and the bands more intense finally Suicide Silence took the stage. Sporting a new lead sing, Eddie Hermida formerly of All Shall Parish, Suicide Silence hit the ground running. While Eddie will never replace Mitch Lucker I can’t think of anyone better to fill his shoes. He put on a wonderful display of pure brutality; doing justice to all of the songs that came before him and putting on a great showing of the songs soon to be released. While the main stage had a great showing this year, I leave that for the fans to decide who was worth going to see on the main stage. Give me your thoughts or opinions. Who was the best band on the main stage this year at Mayhem? -Hans Jaeger Click here for exclusive photos from Mayhem 2014 in Indianapolis