Swastikas, Lemmy and Screaming Christians: Picking the Winner of the Mayhem Festival

By Ryan Wasoba Thu., Jul. 19 2012 at 9:08 AM

Good luck, As I Lay Dying.
ROUND 2

Slipknot vs. Betraying The Martyrs

After barely sneaking into the second round, Slipknot is challenged by a questionable Parisian metal-core sextet.

DH: I have to go with Betraying The Martyrs because they don't have a band member who beats on empty kegs with a stick.
PR: Slipknot. I had a phase back in high school.
RW: I'm torn, because Betraying The Martyrs is the ironic choice and Slipknot is the guilty pleasure. I think Slipknot is probably better, it's just hard to look past the schtick. I'm impulsively going with Betraying The Martyrs. Sorry, Phil. You've been outvoted.
PR: Whatever.

WINNER: Betraying The Martyrs

Anthrax vs. Motörhead

The first match of headliner against headliner proves easier than the judges expected.

DH: I lean towards Motörhead. They were substantially more influential and Anthrax kind of turned into a joke. They were saying for a while that the singer of Slipknot was going to be their singer, which I have a problem with, obviously. And Lemmy, come on. I think i'm gonna have to go with Motörhead as the band who never tried to court members of Slipknot.
PR: Motörhead is better, and it's hard to look past Scott Ian's beard.
RW: Ian used to be on VH1 too often for me to take him seriously.

WINNER: Motörhead

Icon & Anchor vs. As Shadows Collapse

After battling peers to earn their spots on Mayhem, the two local champions face off.

DH: As Shadows Collapse because I found Icon & Anchor to be exceptionally boring.
RW: As Shadows Collapse is a different kind of boring to me. I'll say Icon & Anchor.
PR: I'm going Icon & Anchor.

WINNER: Icon & Anchor

Slayer vs. As I Lay Dying

To be honest, the judges didn't even discuss this one.

WINNER: Slayer

Location Info

Venue

Map

Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis

I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, MO

Category: Music

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Tags:

anthrax, motorhead, slayer, slipknot

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NickLucchesi moderator communitymanagertopcommenter

"DH: And I don't think anybody has put a box cutter to their arm to give themselves a Motörhead tattoo, but that's how almost every Slayer tattoo is done."

I think this is a result of the type of person who is Slayer fan, vs. the type of person who is a Motorhead fan. Speed-addled shut-in who's depressed? Think the idea of giving yourself a homemade band tattoo alone is a good one? You're a Slayer fan.

On the other hand, if you're in the middle of a bender with three or four of your friends, what do you do? You go out and get Motorhead tattoos together.

Case in point:

http://www.imotorhead.com/mh_for_life.cfm

NickLucchesi moderator communitymanagertopcommenter

While both bands' best material is more than 25 years behind them, Motorhead's body of work, history and ability to put out a great record full of new songs every few years should give them the advantage, easily. If you want to talk influences, look at the litters of awful death/thrash/Republican Metal bands that were inspired by Slayer, then look at the bands who use Motorhead as an influence. Tell me which ones you'd rather listen to. Based on reading the defenses of Motorhead above, and the location (Missouri is Slayer country), I'd say Slayer wins based on a poor defense of Motorhead, and the sheer force of meth-powered Slayer fans.

TL;DR

Motorhead is better than Slayer.