Mayhem Bands Pick Their Favorite Songs From Each Other’s Catalog

With the Mayhem Festival under way this summer, each of the bands will get very familiar with the music of their cohorts. So we at Loudwire asked a number of the acts what songs from their peers on the bill that they feel are so genius that they wished it was part of their catalog. As you can see, the veteran acts are getting a lot of love.

Fans of Motorhead include Asking Alexandria and Anthrax. Asking Alexandria's Danny Worsnop told us, "'Ace of Spades' [is our choice], one of the biggest rock 'n' roll songs of all time. Of all the songs on the tour, let's be honest. That's the biggest."

Meanwhile, Anthrax's Joey Belladonna says it might be hard to pick one that he'd vocally be able to take on, but he definitely is a Motorhead fan as well. He explains, "I'm aware of some of the great songs that other bands have, but I'm not for sure to say that I'd want it. But really, look at Motorhead, you know. You're thinking 'Ace of Spades,' but even that's not really me [vocally]. I don't think, 'God I wish that was mine,' but there's a lot of songs from the other bands that we wished we had learned or wrote, but I don't think that way."

Then there are fans of Slipknot, like Whitechapel guitarist Ben Savage. He says, "Slipknot, I would say … We would never be able to pull it off cause we don't do like clean vocals, but 'Psychosocial,' that song is great. I love that song. It's more universal than anything, but it's still like metal and really powerful.

But a majority of the love comes for Slayer. Perhaps As I Lay Dying have the easiest time answering the question, as drummer Jordan Mancino points out, because they already have a cover of 'War Ensemble' in their catalog from the 'Decas' record.

The Devil Wears Prada singer Mike Hranica says it's hard to pick just one Slayer song, as he's a longtime fan. The vocalist explained, 'Raining Blood' … Or even like 'Post Mortem' or 'Angel of Death' [would be my choices]. 'Reign in Blood' came out in '86. I was born in '88, and it's still like I'm nervous to be watching them. Like I'm so excited. It's one of my favorite … It is the 'my favorite metal record of all time,' so what else is there to say about 'Reign in Blood?'"

Slipknot's Chris Fehn is also in agreement that Slayer would be the favorite, but like Joey Belladonna before, he would be cautious before ever considering a cover for their show. "I like 'Hell Awaits' a lot from Slayer," says Fehn. "I could kind of see us putting that one in there. But really, it's so different. And how can anyone in their right mind want to try and play a Slayer song in their set? [laughs] It wouldn't go over."