Got a big taste of chaos at the Main Street Armory last night with a long list of the new heavy. Hardcore, punk, and heavy metal have been melted down and polished into pure adrenaline and aggression.

Top of the heap is Atreyu, which has developed beyond the teeter-totter of the genre's standard-issue scream/sing/scream dynamic. Unfortunately, when you get close to 4,000 sweaty kids screaming/singing/screaming, you tend to horse it into the boat. All of the subtlety found on the band's latest "Lead Sails Paper Anchor" went out the window as the group pummeled and pounded like a monster truck in freefall.

Headliner's Avenged Sevenfold followed, and mayhem ensued. This is one of the heaviest bands out there that still manages to throw some nice and catchy amid the dark and loud. I dug the fast take the band did on "The Beast and Harlot."

I honestly think melody is the only avenue left unexplored; AX7 and its contemporaries are simply running out of ways to amp-up the heavier aspects. And please don't tell me I'm the only one that hears Thin Lizzy in the band's twin guitar attack.