The first ever Mayhem Festival was a showcase for the 21st century generation of Swedish glam bands, both new and with a longer pedigree. The format was that the three co- headliners would all play sets of equal length, though swap the running order between this London date and the other shows in Nottingham and Wakefield.

It had the advantage of being at one of my favourite but underused venues, whose unusual setting in the basement of some student buildings obscures the fact that once you go into the main room it is well shaped, decent sized and with a nice high stage. However, five bands meant for an early 520pm start on a working day and I rushed to get there, only making it as Smoking Snakes finished their first song, with a decent crowd already in attendance.

The young band from Gothenburg were a solid outfit with the raspy tones of singer Brett Martin reminding me of WASP’s Blackie Lawless and though ‘Excited’ boasted the clichéd ‘fire/higher’ rhyming lyric, ‘Sole Survivors’ was an impressive song with a fine solo from Leo Razor. After songs like ‘Run For Your Life’ and ‘There Is No Tomorrow’, ‘Rocking To the Morning Light’ with some audience participation ended a short but promising set.

The more experienced Toxic Rose were next, looking like a cross between Manowar and Judas Priest in studded and padded leathers. I had heard talk before that they were by some way the most metallic on the bill, and yet on openers ‘Domination’ and ‘In For the Kill’, the taped keyboards seemed more prominent than the guitars.

Despite the growling backing vocals that are not to my taste, their chorus hooks were actually very melodic, notably on the almost Eclipse-like ‘Blood On Blood’. During ‘Set Me Free’ I was entertained by singer Andy Lipstixx (sic) drinking and spilling ‘blood’ out of a skull chalice, before a half hour set that I enjoyed far more than expected ended with ‘A Song For the Weak’.

The first of the three main attractions were also those least familiar to me, though I’d heard the name of The Cruel Intentions from magazines and gig listings. Of all the bands they were closer to the scuzziness of Scandinavian sleaze pioneers like the Backyard Babies as they opened with ‘City of Lice’ and ‘Chemical Vacation’ while the music also had a punky edge, very evident on ‘Genie’s Got a Problem’.

Lean singer Lizzy DeVine had one of those higher pitched, almost wheezing voices, reminiscent of Faster Pussycat’s Taime Downe, both singing and in his spoken intros. I was impressed with lead guitarist Kristian Nygaard Solhaug who had a nice classic tone to him but they were never really going to be my thing.

However I was in a minority as ‘Sunrise Over Sunset’ was rapturously received and there was a series of singalongs to ‘Kerosene’ and ‘Chaos in a Bombshell’, while ‘Go F— Yourself’ (surely not a tribute to Donald Fagen’s new catch[phrase?) featured the band’s name in the lyrics and arms were waving to the closing ‘who oahs’.

However after ‘Jawbreaker’, ‘Shake Your Head’ and ‘Sick Adrenaline’, a fast paced set came to a rather abrupt end after 50 minutes. While I wasn't too upset as their style was becoming a bit repetitive by then, their fans may have felt a little short changed.

Crazy Lixx, who I've seen at numerous melodic rock festivals, then headlining London three years ago, were to be frank my main reason for attending. They brought a professionalism both in the stage presentation with a couple of roll up banners with their logo, but also their stage presence.

Singer Danny Rexon commanded the stage in between three towering and hirsute bandmates as guitarists Jens Lundgren and Chrisse Olsson reeled off solo after solo in their slightly different but complementary styles and bassist Jens Andersson the epitome of cool with his stage poses.

The opening pair of ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ and ‘Hell Raising Women’ actually felt somewhat average but the first of a trio in the set from latest album ‘Thrill Of the Bite’ in ‘Little Miss Dangerous’ was a real grower, setting the scene nicely for the superior ‘Silent Thunder’ and ‘Rise Above’.

However they played an ace card with a cover of ‘Sword and Stone’, the Kiss reject then made famous by Bonfire, and bearing all the hallmarks of its co-writer Desmond Child. Then after ballad ‘Hunt For Danger’ they rivalled Toxic Rose in the prop department as Danny came on stage in a horror mask and wielding a dagger-shaped microphone for ‘XIII’.

Just as it felt things were getting started, it was actually time for the final two songs: ‘Blame It On Love’ was more melodic and mid- pocket, while a new song ‘Who Said Rock And Roll Is Dead’ was a fun track suitable for live participation, though I would have preferred old anthems ‘21 Till I Die’ or ‘The Sound Of the Loud Minority’ as the final track.

The night was seen out by Crashdiet who have the longest (and most chequered) history as something of the doyen of the new generation of Swedish acts. As if to prove it, ‘Riot In Everyone’ was a suitable anthemic opener with its ‘we’re the kids of the underground’ chorus, followed by ‘Queen Obscene’.

The latest in a long line of singers, John Elliot, was a good frontman with long blonde hair straight out of Swedish central casting, though the music felt a bit more basic than that of Crazy Lixx, largely because they had one guitarist rather than two to share the burdens of rhythm and lead. Their songs though were quite diverse, from the aggression of ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ and ‘Reptile’ to the more commercial ‘Together Whatever’.

‘Falling Rain’ saw the crowd go crazy but after ‘Chemical’ and two of several trips back to their 2005 debut ‘Rest In Sleaze’ album in ‘Straight Out Of Hell’, and a particularly convincing ’Breakin’ the Chains’, the set came to an abrupt and premature end.

Fortunately there was an encore of an impressive trio, starting with ‘Change the World’. ‘It’s a Miracle’ could have been a hit in the hands of the likes of Poison, then, unlike Crazy Lixx, they did end with their strongest and signature song in ‘Generation Wild’. I could not resist joining a by now thinner crowd in jumping to its hook fuelled chorus. It was a perfect close to a highly enjoyable mini-festival, an anthem for the new breed of Swedish glam on a night where we got plenty of it in all its various forms.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 16 June 2025

LOVE NOR MONEY Blood Will Tell (Golden Robot Records)
DISCIPLES OF VERITY Break The Cycle (TLG/Zoid)
BLACKLIST UNION Up In Smoke (BLU Records)
ANDY AND THE ROCKETS Cyanide (Valley Music Delapop)
ARCHERS Crooked Smile (SBG Records)
ZETRA So (Nuclear Blast)
HOLLOW SOULS Shotgun (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 16 June 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 - 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 - 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 - 2024 (Singer Songwriter)

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