If you noticed the faint smell of burning plastic mixed with dust and Rockstar energy drink this past Sunday, then you were probably hanging around San Bernardino where metal gala Mayhem Fest was in full swing. Gearing towards the Hot Topic and KROQ generation, thousands of oppressed youth and the seemingly browbeaten citizens of the Inland Empire gathered to take part in the manufactured anger fest to support bands like Walls of Jericho, Suicide Silence,......

Last night I was happy to make it to Lou on Medium on "Guitar Hero III", the latest video game to earn more than $100 million in sales in its first week. But I just got the thing last week, so I was just satisfied not to get booed off the stage... again. After feeling cocky about making a respectable run through Metallica's epic "One" and long time favorite Maiden's "The Number of the......

Killswitch Engage, DragonForce (above) @ Wiltern Rod Stewart @ Staples KRS-One @ Malibu Inn Badly Drawn Boy @ El Rey Apples in Stereo, Page France, Headlights @ Spaceland Ann Magnuson @ Amoeba Ozomatli @ Key Club The Radiators @ The Mint Antibalas, The Lions @ The Troubadour The Cheat, Party Fowl, Cherri Mob @ Mr. T's Bowl Army of Freshman, The Transit War, Schoolyard Heroes @ The Knitting Factory Street Drum Corps, Gents, Goes......

We don't know what the kids at Cracked are smoking these days (maybe it's something from that janitor's bucket?) but to name DragonForce anything but Best Reason Not To Mourn The Darkness is shameful. (Hat-tip Stereogum). Here at LAist we like girls. We like sports. We like beer. We like throwing up the devil horns when we hear metal. In fact last night we TiVoed VH-1 Classic's metal documentary marathon thingie. You can't tell......