Mayhem Fest

It's been a long road for Mushroomhead, and while the band has run through hot and cold times, the solidarity of their core has led to a remarkable streak of consistency. Fresh off the release of their newest studio record and holding up a pillar Mayhem Fest, Mushroomhead remains a popular and capitvating live performance. As much as any of their contemporaries, the band are artists, blending their music with personal flair and inspriations far and near. Taking a few minutes out of their schedule to sit down, we talked with Skinny and St1tch about their band, balancing all the pieces and the state of horror cinema.

Often in literature, we see references to a person who has a piercing gaze, or is said to 'look right through you.' Never, until I sat down with Jill Janus of Huntress, did I fully understand what that meant. Her eyes are a pure, icy blue, and her gaze is somewhat magnetic. You lock eyes with her and get the impression like she's seeing inside you, watching your spirit. That said, she's also incredibly friendly, very gregarious and extra charming. We had a the following conversation about her band, her personal life including her Wiccan influences and, you know, Lemmy. Read on!

Children of Bodom has always been treated as a work solely of frontman Alexi Laiho. His vocals and guitar theatrics and songwriting dominate each of the band's releases, and "Halo of Blood" is no different. But behind Laiho stands one of the most talented bands working in metal today; adaptable, versatile, heavy, melodic, anything they need to be. Hidden in the shadows of CoB stands Henkka Seppälä, bassist and generally amiable guy. In search of his story, we sat down recently as Mayhem Fest.

Five Finger Death Punch has broken the curve for a band's acceleration, going from niche act to headlining phenomenon in fairly short order. Now standing aside Rob Zombie at Mayhem Fest and on the verge of a double release, I sat down with drummer Jeremy Spencer to talk about the band, how they got here, what it feels like, and what to expect from this album.