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Festival Review: CoS at Mayhem Festival 2011

Despite what amounted to lots of otherwise great news for later dates, Mayhem’s 2011 climax unfortunately felt a tad limp given its hyped potential, and Bizkit wasn’t even booked. Maybe this is Mayhem’s version of Senioritis? We’ll see.

-David Buchanan

I’m not entirely sure how Red Fang managed to steep itself in some of the chaos attached to Mayhem, nor am I certain how such awesomeness resigned itself to a mere side stage while Machine Head was getting promoted. Cruel and unusual practices are just part of the game, I suppose.

Red Fang is easily the most left-field member of this Mayhem roster, cherry-topping a relentless pursuit of hardcore and modern metal with stoned sludge a Kyuss fan might definitely enjoy. Clearly, the current mainstream metal scene is warming to our friends of the static doom persuasions, and we are ever thankful. Having managed to cull two deliciously heavy albums from its core, Oregon-based Red Fang takes cues from its Western US roots quite seriously, donating six songs split between an eponymous 2009 release and 2011′s Murder The Mountains , respectively.

The ferocity of “Sharks” and “Malverde”, the QOTSA/CKY flavored “Wires”, gave a surrealistic second wind to anyone who tasted fatigue from moshes, but instead wished to completely dip in zen. It was a fucking godsend in 100 degree heat, though we could’ve used a few more illicit activities in tow. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.