Just when everyone thought metal died along with Iron Maiden and Pantera, a handful of modern day bands who use these former rockers as inspiration plan to rock the Bryce Jordan Center.
Though Korn is headlining the concert, three other metal bands that have all toured with the band before are also playing and are sure to leave an equal mark on Penn State tonight.
Five Finger Death Punch
Los Angeles-based Five Finger Death Punch has been together for two years.
With inspiration ranging from Iron Maiden to Metallica, Zoltan Bathory, guitarist of Five Finger, said the band is working with a style that was popular 20 years ago. However, Bathory said the absence of metal music today has led them to create their own sound.
"We're pretty much straight-ahead 2007 metal," Bathory said. "The first year we were like sharpening our knife. We wanted to make it count."
Five Finger's first album The Way of the Fist, debuted on the Billboard top 200 and the band's first single, "The Bleeding," has been in the top 40 since its release.
HELLYEAH
HELLYEAH, the Dallas-based band formed by Vinnie Paul Abbot from the band Pantera, has been together for a year and a half. Abbot, the drummer, classified the group's music as southern rock, metal and rock 'n' roll.
"We're a band that's bringing rock 'n' roll back," guitarist Tom Maxwell said. "We need a little danger. We need a little fun. We need a little old school Motley Crue mentality."
Droid
California-based Droid is the veteran of the bands opening tonight, having been together for nearly 10 years, vocalist James Eason said. The band has been touring with Korn and HELLYEAH for several weeks and met up with Five Finger Death Punch on Oct. 1. All four bands toured together on the Family Values tour.
