Within Chaos Vinnie Paul Kerry King Max Cavalera Scott Ian King Diamond Mike Inez, Jerry Cantrell and Pearl Aday Serj Tankian Ozzy James Hetfield

The only things hotter than the 100+ heat were the bands on the side stages of this year’s Ozzfest. For this U.S. one-day event, they added a Texas only stage. The Destro destroyed with “Bridges Will Burn” and “Sever The Ties.” Within Chaos also kept the heat index on the rise with scorching tracks like “Virulent” and “What Doesn’t You.” Rigor Mortis followed, delivering their brand of horror thrash metal that kept the pit swirling.

Ozzfest MC (goon) Big Dave was giving props to Devildriver, while Drowning Pool was waiting to kick their set into gear. Dave finally got the hint that he was introducing the wrong band, since the crowd was chanting “Drowning Pool.” DP delivered another flawless set with “Soldiers,” “Bodies” and the new single “37 Stitches.”

A few feet to the right was the Second Stage, which included notables Kingdom Of Sorrow, Goatwhore, Devildriver and Sevendust. It was great having the two additional stages, but the Main Stage started during Within Chaos’ set and it made it hard for fans to see all the bands — such as In This Moment, Apocalyptica, Shadows Fall and Cavalera Conspiracy. In This Moment got a great response during their powerful set, which featured new song “Forever.” It was hot as hell but a great day of music. Next time, Ozzfest should try to keep from overlapping the set times, so everyone can check out all the great bands. (Travis Tutwiler)

Hellyeah’s biggest hometown crowd yet witnessed one of their best performances to date, with Vinnie Paul clearly being the man of the hour. The band ripped through their entire first record, including a great crowd singalong of “Alcohaulin’ Ass,” before launching into an amazing tribute to Dimebag Darrell. Special guests began to appear, as Max and Igor Cavalera, Scott Ian, Pearl Aday (Meatloaf’s daughter/Ian’s wife), Kerry King, Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, Jamey Jasta, Nick Bowcott and Frisco’s own King Diamond all collaborated on a battery of Pantera tunes. Highlights included “A New Level,” “F*ckin’ Hostile” and an acoustic “Wish You Were Here” that had the crowd singing along. What a great moment in Ozzfest history.

The man who drew the short straw and had to follow this was System Of A Down front man, Serj Tankian and his solo project band. They hit it hard and heavy, in typical Serj style, and wowed the near-capacity crowd with their versatility and boundless energy.

Remarkably, the sun was still clinging to the edge of the horizon as Ozzy hit the stage. He chose this year to give the closing slot to Metallica instead, but boy did he make ‘em work for it. Clearly sober again, Ozzy put on his best show since the Sabbath reunion tour. The Madman abused the crowd with all his classics like “I Don’t Know,” “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Crazy Train” and all the expected songs. But he also threw in a few curve balls, like “Fire In The Sky.” By the end of his amazing set, most of the crowd was fully satisfied, which meant Metallica was gonna have to bring their “A” game.

Holy God, did they ever bring it. Opening with “Creeping Death” followed by “Ride The Lightning,” they slammed from the very onset. The band played NOTHING past the “Black Album” except new song, “Cyanide” and gave fans exactly what they wanted. See the full mini-feature on page 11 for the full story on Metallica’s attempt to regain their heavy metal crowns. (Kevin White)