Mayhem (n.) 2. Any deliberate destruction or violence.

– Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition

The second annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival did not stray far away from the “Webster’s Dictionary” definition of the word.

There was plenty of deliberate chaos, destruction and violently intense metal mania swarming around the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. last Friday afternoon.

With a vicious line up of performers and a massive crowd of die hard metal fans—hailing from New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Philadelphia—the measure of mayhem was off the chart.

There were 13 (metal’s favorite unlucky number) major label acts that performed at Mayhem this year on three stages. The Hot Topic/ Extreme Metal Stage was headlined by death metal’s finest Cannibal Corpse (Metal Blade Records); the Jagermeister Stage was headlined by metal thrashers Trivium (Roadrunner Records); the Rockstar Energy Drink Main Stage, was headlined on this stop of the tour, by the controversy himself—Marilyn Manson (Interscope Records).

Every performance was pumped full of adrenaline and commanded maximum participation from every fan in attendance—crowd surfing, singing, screaming and “mosh trenches” in front of every stage where not a single body was stationary.

The weather was perfect and the venue was choice, but there is something about this festival that gets fans and bands amped about attending no matter where it is.

The secret ingredient for this perfect metal atmosphere? Other than extremely well played music, for the bands at least, the secret is the way the festival is put together.

“It’s one of the most organized fests in the U.S. we’ve played,” said Killswitch Engage bassist Mike DiAntonio. “It’s very helpful to have so many people on top of what they are doing.”

The professionalism of Mayhem seemed to be the reoccurring compliment for many of the bands. From thrash legends Slayer to death metal youngsters Whitechapel, the tour’s organization and overall operation is the catalyst for its general success.

“It’s got that feel where no one is above anyone else; everyone’s treated equal and everyone’s friends and has a good time—parties at night and hang out sessions with your buddies.” DiAntonio said.

Whitechapel guitarist Ben Savage agrees with DiAntonio about the lax party animal atmosphere present on Mayhem. However it’s not the infamous rock star mentality partying of Motley Crue and other hair-metal rockers of the 80’s, but more of a fraternity of metal heads—a summer camp of heavy metal, if you will.

“It’s like summer camp or the first day of school,” said Savage. “You have your own little click you stick to, [but] after awhile, everyone becomes one big family.”

“We had a corpse paint night on Behemoth’s bus and we all got dressed [up], chilled in the parking lot and drank and ate chicken wings,” Savage continued. “I know everybody’s faces in each band; it’s kind of like a community.”

According to Savage, this camaraderie, coupled with the Mayhem crew’s superior organizational capabilities, helps make the tour run smoother and more enjoyable for bands and fans.

“Is completely different,” said Savage. “It run smoothly because there’s only a small amount of bands here. Tons of people come out and it’s great. Everyone who comes out is a metal head and they’re down for everything.”

Though Rockstar’s Mayhem Festival has only been around for two years, its creators have been working this business for approximately a decade.

Informally known as the “metal Warped Tour,” Mayhem is anticipated by nearly every metal head living in the tri-state area.

While most long for the original summer metal titan, OzzFest, and prefer the winter tour, Taste of Chaos, it has become painfully apparent that there is a new metal mammoth of a summer festival in existence and it’s rapidly becoming a must attend for metal fans all over the country.

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During my short interviews with lead vocalist/bassist of Slayer, Tom Araya, bassist of Killswitch Engage, Mike DiAntonio and guitarist of Whitechapel Ben Savage, I asked them what they liked best about Philadelphia. Here is what they said:

Whitechapel’s Ben Savage: “There’s a lot more [sexy] women that come out to shows in Philadelphia. I’m being honest—there are a lot prettier, easy on the eyes, eye candy that come out. And the crowds are freakin’ amazing.”

Slayer’s Tom Araya: “I don’t know too much about the city. I know that the Liberty Bell was around here and our founding fathers were here.”

Killswitch Engage’s Mike DiAntonio: “I’m a vegetarian, 18years. There’s a place called Gianna’s sort of close to here, and they do vegan cheese steaks. They are out of this world! Sometimes the best things to look forward to are food.”