It was reported earlier this week to much surprise that Mayhem Festival will be making its comeback in 2020. Of course this now means there’s a whole slew of potential line ups that could take form. So let’s look at some of who could take part and why.
Avenged Sevenfold leads my list of possibilities for one fact – their last US tour was cancelled due to the health of M. Shadows. Sure they toured with Metallica in 2017 but their summer headline run never happened. So by next year it’ll have been 3 years since most of the US got to see them live. Plus with how quiet they have been in recent months they might also be ready to release a new album making them a perfect returning member of the Mayhem Festival family.
After cancelling all of 2019 due to Dave Mustaine’s cancer battle I’d toss Megadeth into the pool too. It’s no secret that they’ve been hard at work on a new album slated for a 2020 release and we know Dave is chomping at the bit to get back out there playing after so much unplanned downtime. Plus with Slayer ending and Metallica too expensive your Big 4 choices are down to just two.
Of course I’m going to throw Anthrax into the discussion as well because, again, they’re one of the remaining Big 4 that would do a touring festival. Plus they’ve been very quiet all of 2019. Aside from Frank Bello doing his side project of Altitudes & Attitude it’s been all quiet from New York’s thrash masters. This again hints at a new album coming and what better way to push it than to tour on a returning festival.
Now for one to possibly surprise you. Accept would be a strong addition to the return of Mayhem Festival. They’ve continued to produce strong albums over the past few years and despite a strong following here in the states it’s been some time since they did a full US tour. This would be the perfect opportunity for Accept to get into towns they haven’t been to in years AND in front of another multi-generational audience.
I first saw In This Moment back in 2008 as the opener for Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne. They blew me away then but unfortunately the industry just didn’t accept them until they reinvented themselves in 2012 with Blood by creating an over the top show and personas while using technology and Maria Brink’s amazing vocal abilities to make everyone take notice. Each album since they’ve continued to grow in popularity and with the hints coming of a follow up to 2017’s Ritual coming it’s definitely the right timing for them.
Lastly I’ll give you a controversial one. Greta Van Fleet. Yes many say they’re a glorified tribute to Led Zeppelin but they are growing and growing fast. Why? Because they sound similar to Led Zeppelin and so many from all generations are hungry for that old school sound. Love them or hate them they are without a doubt a candidate to be on Mayhem Festival.
That’s just a few that could be seen on the main stage. The second stage has way too many young and coming bands to even speculate but not matter how you look at it the 2020 Mayhem Festival return is a good thing for the rock and metal scene.
