(Our friend Derek “Godless Angel” Neibarger brings us this series of interviews with four bands who will be performing on the Victory Records Stage at this year’s edition of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’re almost certainly aware that the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival has once again returned this summer. This year’s edition features thirteen bands and the knockout punch of dual headliners Slayer and King Diamond. The festival has twenty-six stops between June 26th and August 2nd, and if you’re lucky enough to score tickets to one of those shows I am insanely envious.

My son and I attended our first, and so far only, Mayhem festival several years ago when Slayer also headlined along with Slipknot. It was an amazing experience that included three stages for an all-day-long barrage of metal, a glorious overabundance of merch booths, food, and meet-and-greets. We got to meet Shawn Crahan of Slipknot, grabbed some killer t-shirts, and banged our heads to the point of exhaustion. It was also an amazing social experience, as we were met with friendly smiles and lively conversation from excited metalheads throughout the entire day. We left the festival swearing we would be regular attendees from that day forward, but sadly the tour has skipped the Kansas City area ever since.

That hasn’t stopped me from following the news of every Mayhem tour. I eagerly await the line-up announcement each year and I eat up every fan footage video to hit YouTube as the festival carves a path of destruction from coast to coast. For 2015 the second stage has been dubbed the Victory Records Stage and features nine artists from the Victory roster. I was offered the opportunity to send a few questions to a handful of Victory artists as they prepared to hit the road. Continue reading »