Getty Images Frontman David Draiman and his band Disturbed are co-headlining with Slipknot in a metal music fest that is sure to have plenty of mischief and well, mayhem.

By most standards, the pairing of Slipknot and Disturbed would qualify as the loudest and most jam-packed tour of any summer.

And the fact these Midwestern co-headliners are bringing along 1.1 other bands for the first Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival cements that notion.

Disturbed released its fourth studio CD, Indestructible, on June 3, while Slipknot is slated to release its fourth CD, All Hope is Gone (the first single, “Psychosocial,” is burning up YouTube and iTunes), on Aug. 26. Both bands will play big brother to a slew of one-album and two-album artists on three stages when the fest invades the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on Saturday, July 26.

Though they share the common bond of playing heavy metal music, Slipknot and Disturbed are about as different style-wise as two bands can get.

Slipknot turns its intensity up to 12. Disturbed relies on melodic tones to team with Dan Donegan’s polished guitar work.

Slipknot comprises nine masked marauders in jumpsuits. Disturbed frontman Dave Draiman is Vin Diesel with a mic and a heavy voice that leans toward the mainstream, yet still commands immediate attention.

But both bands also are veterans of past Ozzfests, and each will have its own agenda when the Mayhem Fest rolls into town.

“It’s fun being at a festival like this ’cause there’s a ton of bands,” guitarist Dan Donegan told 210SA by phone recently while driving through the mountains of Sacramento, Calif. “You want to be the standout band. There’s a ton of competition. It makes you want to step up your game.”

Slipknot has had a cult following since its self-titled disc and Ozzfest debut in 1999. The band affectionately refers to its fans as “maggots,” refers to themselves by number and has two members (singer Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root) who also play in Stone Sour, which stopped in San Antonio in March of 2007. Putting nine guys in a room to make any of the band’s records, including All Hope is Gone (the first single, “Psychosocial,” is burning up YouTube and iTunes), had its share of moments. The record is the first studio effort since 2004’s Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses.

After that tour, the band took a much-needed break from music and each other. — well, except for Taylor, Root and drummer Joey Jordison, who delved in his own side projects.

According to percussionist Chris Fehn (aka No. 3, or the guy with the Pinocchio-styled mask), Slipknot was in danger of being no more.

“It was tough after Stone Sour and (drummer) Joey (Jordison) started doing their things on the side,” Fehn told 210SA last week. “That was a weird point in our lives, wondering if Slipknot was ever going to be continuing. There were times when the only communication I got was through magazines, reading about them in interviews, and wondering where my boys were at. So when they got back, we just all sat down together and ironed things out.”

If the title track and “Psychosocial” are any indication, Slipknot’s forthcoming album may be its most blistering yet. Fehn is determined that he and his mates continue on the destructive path they set out on while first trying to get a record deal a decade ago in their hometown of Des Moines, Iowa — which isn’t exactly the heavy metal mecca of the United States.

Fehn, who cites Queensryche’s 1988 epic “Operation: Mindcrime” as his favorite CD, laughs in agreement at that description of his hometown. But his band’s role is no laughing matter.

Percussionist Chris Fehn said he knew the Slipknot concept would take off.

“I knew it from the very first song. I had no doubt (the phenomenon) would be at the level it is,” Fehn said of Slipknot’s growing phenomenon. “It’s tough in Iowa. We have a great work ethic, and I think that comes from growing up in Iowa. We just continually put on the gear and slam as hard as we can. The music is tough to get up there and do every night as heavy as it is, but this is what we love to do.”

“In the beginning, man, it was pretty militant,” he adds. “We didn’t hang out with any other bands. We had a mission. And that was to destroy. Every show was off the hook. We really took care of ourselves. It was our first tour, and we were green as (bleep). But we knew, ‘This was our shot.’.”

Chicago-based Disturbed last played in San Antonio on the 2006 Ozzfest. The show featured vocalist Draiman inviting a disabled boy, who was dangerously close to the mosh pit in his wheelchair, onstage by telling the crowd, “If you’re in a wheelchair, and you have the balls to be in the pit, then you deserve to be on our f**ckin’ stage.”

The boy then watched the last half of the set just a few feet from Donegan as the crowd roared.
“We do that a lot at our shows,” Donegan said. “I don’t remember specifically that person, but if our music can connect with someone handicapped in a wheelchair, and it makes them energized and powerful, they deserve to be onstage with us. What we do is easy. We write songs, and we play them, and we’re fortunate that we have fans who like them.”

It’s encouraging to see a handicapped person get up close, that they don’t let that stop them from having a good time and being up front with everyone else. We like to let them see the crowd from our viewpoint.”

Disturbed also has a huge following among the U.S. armed forces. The band visited troops in Kuwait in March and played a show. Donegan said the title track to Indestructible is for them.

“We wanted to give them something encouraging,” he said. who credits Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi as his most influential guitarist. “With the number of troops we’ve met throughout the years, we’ve seen the kind of impact and inspiration we’ve had on them. David’s always been about military, relationships, religion — strong themes that touch us all.”

Disturbed displayed its chops last month on national TV, playing the new single “Inside the Fire” in a room full of celebrities at the Spike TV Guys’ Choice Awards.

“It was cool, but that kind of stuff’s always weird to me,” Donegan said. “To go up and play one song is a strange feeling. It’s a tease. When I pick up my guitar, I wanna play for hours. Being in the same room with Hugh Hefner and his girls, Snoop Dogg, Cameron Diaz and Harrison Ford — we probably scared the hell out of half of them.”

To frighten is often Slipknot’s department, for their music and stage shtick are not for the faint of heart. That’s why the Mayhem Fest will most certainly belong to the kids — with a few middle-aged fans tossed in. Unfortunately for all of them, they won’t get to recognize their favorite stars behind the masks.

“It’s super difficult to play in them,” Fehn says of the masks they wear onstage. “But we’re so conditioned to it now, it’s like my other skin. Like, if another person put that mask on, they would be in the fourth dimension, dude. It’s super hot and f**cked up. I’ve made that character me. I love the music, and I love to play in front of people.”

Good thing, because Fehn doesn’t know what he’d be doing if he wasn’t in Slipknot. Or maybe he does.

“I’d be pissed off somewhere,” he says. “Or in the electric chair.”

Jay Nanda | 210SA contributor