Bad Omens, Parkway Drive, Architects, Poppy, Jinjer, Kittie and more to play returning Mayhem Festival this October

Parkway Drive, Architects, Jinjer and Poppy on stage

(Image credit: Getty Images)

One of North America's most iconic touring metal festivals is set to make its triumphant return later this year, as it has been officially confirmed that Mayhem is back and is packing a stacked, metalcore-heavy bill. Headlining the first Mayhem event in nine years, which will take place at the Glen Helen Ampitheater in San Bernardino in California on October 12, will be modern alt-metal heroes Bad Omens, who were recently forced to cancel their summer UK and European dates due to singer Noah Sebastian’s “extreme burnout”.

Joining them will be Aussie metalcore titans Parkway Drive, UK metalcore heavyweights Architects, Ukraine's premier metal crew Jinjer, nu gen trailblazer Poppy, nu metal favourites Kittie, plus August Burns Red, Shavo Odadjian's Seven Hours After Violet, We Came As Romans, Suicide Silence, After The Burial, Hanabie, Throwdown, Born Of Osiris, Mothica, Peyton Parrish, Darkest Hour, Unearth, Brutus, It Dies Today, Escuela Grind, Holy Wars and Roman Candle.

Ticket info and further information can be found on the official Mayhem Festival website. It is uncertain at present whether more Mayhem dates will be announced.

The first incarnation of the Mayhem Festival, founded by Warped Tour legend Kevin Lyman, took place in 2008 and featured appearances from Slipknot, Disturbed, Dragonforce, Mastodon, Machine Head and more. It was during the first date of the touring festival that Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson infamously broke both his heels after jumping off the stage.

The most recent edition of Mayhem took place in 2015 and was headlined by Slayer, with King Diamond, Hellyeah and The Devil Wears Prada amongst the other bands playing.

Mayhem Festival 2024 — (Image credit: Mayhem)

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.