Ryan Knight from The Black Dahlia Murder is currently on the road with the Rockstar Mayhem Fest. Thankfully he's kept a journal of his adventures so far, and he's passing them along to us here at Noisecreep for you, our wondrous readers.

Mayhem Rehearsal Day One
Hello, everyone! I'm Ryan Knight (the new lead guitar player in Black Dahlia Murder), and this is my Mayhem Tour journal. Today we flew from Los Angeles, Calif. to Sacramento to meet up with the tour. Today is just a rehearsal day, meaning that all we do is sound check, get the basic layout of the tour, and get crunk the rest of the day with friends. Woohoo! We play the Hot Topic stage everyday alongside our friends in Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Job For a Cowboy, and Whitechapel. Needless to say it should be a pretty awesome summer!! Sound check went well, and I managed to wrangle up around 36 beers for a celebration. Let the tour begin!!!

Mayhem Opening Day, Sacramento, Calif.
This morning I stepped outside to the California sun blazing my eyes. It felt like the wrath of God was upon me. No one could have been more prepared for the evil and blasphemy we would bring to this wretched wasteland. There were a s--- ton of people at the fest, and despite it being hot as balls I felt we brought the ultimate thrash. After our set we did a couple of signings, which went pretty well besides some people giving me the "who the f--- is this dude" look. Oh well, its tough being the new guy at first. So far this is my first American tour with Black Dahlia Murder (the past two tours have been in Europe), and what a rad tour it is!

Day Two, Mountain View, Calif.
Today started off well. I woke up, took a pleasant s---, ate a couple bowls of Frosted Flakes and prepared to take on the day. I try to wake up around 9 to 10AM to feel like I'm actually going to accomplish something. I like going to catering in the morning. It's always nice to greet others in their half awake state as you talk about the potential radical-ness of the day.

Today the weather was pleasantly overcast, and it even rained a little during our set. Much better than it being 105 with devil wind. We did a few interviews, and alas another days work was done. By this point you might be noticing that there is a lot of down time on tour. The constant battle of hurrying up to be somewhere, only to sit around and wait for hours when you finally get there. I checked out Marilyn Manson's set tonight and immediately felt like i was in 7th grade again, although not nearly as shocked.

Day 3, San Bernardino, Calif.
Well, here we are again. Back in sunny southern California! Today was the hottest day yet, as we pretty much played in the desert. This amphitheatre is set in a valley surrounded by mountains. Great scenery! I actually really like hot, arid places. Being a Georgian myself I'm pretty used to the heat, but at least here on the west coast you lose the humidity. Playing around the Los Angeles, Calif. area in general is always kind of interesting. All the industry people come out to mingle, and you try to be on your A-game to make everyone happy. A lot of times you end up drinking too much and find yourself shaking the hand of some douchenugget giving you a pleasant, "Well hello there, sir!!! Ahh f--- you indeed!!!" handshake.

We played an awesome set today, and the sound on stage is much better now. Playing outside venues is a bit different than clubs because the sound tends to project more. I ended the day sitting in a lawn chair, watching the sun set over the moutains in the cool desert air, watching Trevor spark a bowl.

Day Four, Medford, Ore.
Today is a day off. So we travelled to a town known as Medford, Oregon. We got a hotel room, and set off to see what the town had to offer. First off, someone told me that Medford has a vortex. Now I have no idea what in the s--- a vortex is, but it sounds like some ungodly black hole into the living room of beezlebub himself. I asked a girl working in the local Hot Topic if she had any information on this matter, but all she had to say was "Oh, that mystery place?" So oh well. We ventured around the mall which, I might add, had an astounding Juggalo to semi-Juggalo population that you just dont see these days. I bought an old dirty bastard shirt at Hot Topic, and Brian got a 'Twilight' (yes, the movie) themed jewelry box to keep his secrets in. Be jealous, girls.

Next stop was the movie theatre in which we bumped into the Job For a Cowboy guys, and watched 'Bruno.' 'Bruno' is awesome. So awesome that it made the 50 year old dude sitting next to me leave. We bought a bunch of beer, drank some screwdrivers, then went to bed. Overall, Medford was a pretty cool visit.

Day Five, Seattle, Wash.
Well, today was nice. It wasn't four billion degrees, we weren't in the desert, and there was a nice breeze. Seattle is usually a good time, and today wasn't any different. There was a good sized crowd today, and from the get go I could tell they were ready to thrash. Being the thrasahlolics that we are, we thrashed them.

After the show, Brian and Trevor did some guest DJ'ing at the Harley Davidson after party. Needless to say, I got pretty crunk and busted out some sick dance moves that this planet is not quite ready for. At some point in the night I remembered a short conversation I had with George "Corpse Grinder" Fisher regarding my faction on 'World of Warcraft.' He was very disappointed that I chose to play as alliance, and quite honestly I felt a little disappointed in myself as well. How unmetal of me!!!!

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