Total Fckn Mayhem

The King's Arms, Auckland
Friday November 9th, 2007
*** OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE ***

Total Fkn Mayhem is a true taste of chaos!

Never before in New Zealand's musical history has a calendar year seen so much top-tier international metal talent arrive on New Zealand shores. No fewer than fifteen of the globe's hardest hitting acts have performed in Aotearoa in 2007, and with the new year fast approaching things are showing no signs of slowing down. On Friday November 9th, TOTAL FKN MAYHEM hits The King's Arms in Auckland. Featuring seven of the best and most mind-bending international and local metal and hardcore acts jampacked into one pulsating evening and night of complete audio terror, TOTAL FKN MAYHEM is a festival of pure sonic insanity designed to shatter your cranium and leave your nervous system in tatters.

Headlining this must-see event are Detroit, Michigan melodic metalcore thrashers THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. Named for the ghastly, unsolved murder of Elisabeth Short, the bands stark etymology is wholeheartedly representative of the nightmarish qualities of their music. Weaving masterful guitar solos over a pounding, frenetically tempo-changing rhythm section and guttural, gore-soaked screams, The Black Dahlia Murder have streaked to the top of the American mid-western metal and hardcore scenes, having toured with the likes of Hatebreed, Walls of Jericho, Terror, Job For A Cowboy and Throwdown. The band has also performed on such luminary tours as Ozzfest 2005 and Sounds of the Underground 2006, and took part in a widely-acclaimed tour of Australia in late 2006 which left Kiwi fans without and hungry for a live dosage of BDM's metallic ferocity. These prayers have now been answered, and The Black Dahlia Murder will finally take to a New Zealand stage as the headlining act of TOTAL FKN MAYHEM, in support of their recently released new album Nocturnal.

Co-headlining the night's proceedings, and also making their first visit to the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand are Colorado stoner grind merchants CEPHALIC CARNAGE. Hot off the release of their latest epileptic masterpiece Xenosapien, the band, who refer to their style as 'hydro-grind' (an homage to their love of a particular viridian flora and its resulting lyrical influence) are unmatched masters of pushing the metal envelope to absolute breaking point. Fusing brutal grinding metal with doom rock, stoner rock, jazz fusion and industrial trappings, Cephalic Carnage have developed a reputation for orchestrating music as heavy as it is elastic and wholeheartedly unpredictable. The band's live performances have garnered much attention throughout the heavy metal underground; their spastic, flailing and wildly energised stage act masterfully complimenting the sheer madness of the music they so clinically execute. Five antipodean bands round off the TOTAL FKN MAYHEM line-up, showcasing the best in New Zealand and Australian metal and hardcore.

New Zealand's premier tech metal outfit ULCERATE take the TFM stage in support of their latest cerebrum-crushing offering Of Fracture and Failure - NZ metal audiences know all too well the manic nature of Ulcerate's live show and their ability to devastate audiences with their frenzied, manic death metal assault. Hailing from the other side of the ditch, Melbourne's FIVE STAR PRISON CELL are a chaotic, mathematical blend of groove, grime and grunt, a band Rolling Stone described as "beautiful noise that is much more intelligent than it will probably get credit for", and are touring NZ for the first time in support of their latest release Slaves Of Virgo. Auckland metalcore terrors ANTAGONIST take part in the TFM line-up having recently been announced in New Zealand's 2008 Big Day Out line-up, and have just returned from the Destruction of Humanity tour in Australia where the band have further honed and refined their unparalleled metallic hardcore brutality. With a departing vocalist and a new EP Filthlicker set for release, Wellington spazz-grinders AKANAME return to an Auckland stage for the first time in many months; their razor-sharp eclectic grind styles in prime form for live delivery. Completing the line-up are Christchurch newcomers LOAD MASTER performing a style best described as 'psychedelic grind' and featuring a swag of Canterbury's top metal talent, including former and current members of mainland metal staples Odiusembowel and Offal Stench.

TOTAL FKN MAYHEM kicks off at 6PM with a free BBQ for patrons and drink specials galore, and the first act of the night will take the stage at 7PM sharp, with bands running constantly through to the wee hours of the morning. Then, for the truly diehard, a BYO afterparty with live bands will be taking place at Bunker 77, in the darkest, most depraved depths of Cook St in inner-city Auckland.

TOTAL FKN MAYHEM will be a night of maniacal metal madness not for the faint of heart or soft of stomach. Strictly limited earlybird tickets to the fest are on-sale now for $45 (+ booking fee) from Ticketek, Real Groovy and Cosmic Corner nationwide (regular ticket price $65 + bf)