Oakland, CA-based metallers MACHINE HEAD have been in the process of searching for a temporary bassist replacement for this summer’s Mayhem Festival in the US.

An update from Machine Head states: "Auditions are officially over, and Machine Head would like to thank each and every person for their YouTube submissions as part of the bass / vocal auditioning process. A lot of hard work and effort went into each and every submission, with many people bravely making them public for the whole world to see and judge both their singing and playing, mostly fairly. It took a lot of brass to do that and we earned an even greater respect for our fans in doing so. There are some incredible musicians out there, fantastic players who unfortunately did not make an attempt to sing, and thus were ineligible, but you should absolutely keep at it! In fact, in the course of these submissions, it looks like many people have earned a lot fans in doing so. Congrats!!

We will now begin the process of having our top picks come down and jam with us in person, and get a feel for each other, both musically and on a personal level. We have posted this reply on our websites as many submissions came via YouTube with no way for us to reply to them directly, so in order for all people to see it we felt this was the most effective.

On a final note, many of the men and women who sent in YouTube clips performing, did so with the utmost passion and intensity, but of all the submissions, this man deserves a special mention. He learned and played not only the hardest song of the submission 'This Is The End', but played it with only ONE HAND. It moved some of us to tears, it took a lot of heart to do this, cheers Frank Memolo."

Machine Head and bassist Adam Duce parted ways earlier this year. According to a brief band statement, "the split is amicable, and Machine Head would like to wish Adam the best with his current and future endeavours. The band will continue on for the time being as a three-piece and have begun the writing process for their follow-up to 2011's Unto The Locust. A late 2013 release is projected."

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, the world’s biggest hard and heavy music touring festival, recently announced its electrifying sixth-year lineup. A new trailer video, which can be seen below, includes footage from the press conference announcing the event:

Artists performing on the 2013 fest include main stage metal and horror legend, festival closer, ROB ZOMBIE, plus, the triple gold certified FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and a monster lineup that includes additional main stage bands MASTODON and AMON AMARTH. The festival area is led by stage closers CHILDREN OF BODOM and Machine Head, as well as BEHEMOTH, JOB FOR A COWBOY, EMMURE, BORN OF OSIRIS, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, BUTCHER BABIES, BATTLECROSS, HUNTRESS, THROWN INTO EXILE and CITY IN THE SEA.

Four stages will be presented this year for the first time ever, and the stages include: the Rockstar Energy Drink Main Stage, the Jagermeister Stage, Musicians Institute Stage, as well as, the Sumerian Records / Headbang For The Highway Concourse Stage, (local bands performing on the Sumerian Records/Headbang for the Highway Stage will be announced in June).

All tickets go on sale March 22nd at 12:00 Noon local venue time via RockstarMayhemFest.com or LiveNation.com. This year once again Mayhem is offering the Get Off Your Ass 72-Hour $20 Lawn Ticket Offer from 12 Noon local time on Friday March 22nd through Monday March 25th, while supplies last. The tour will stop in 26 cities across the United States and Canada; dates and venues are as follows:

June

29 - San Bernardino, CA - San Manuel Amphitheater
30 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre

July

2 - Boise, ID - Idaho Center Amphitheatre
3 - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheater
5 - Phoenix, AZ - Desert Sky Pavilion
6 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheatre
7 - Denver, CO - Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
10 - Toronto, ON - Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
12 - Burgettstown, PA - First Niagara Pavilion
13 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
14 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake PAC
16 - Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center
17 - Bangor, ME - Bangor Waterfront
19 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
20 - Saratoga Springs, NY - SPAC
21 - Hartford, CT - The Comcast Theatre
23 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
24 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
26 - Noblesville, IN - Klipsch Music Center
27 - Tinley Park, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
28 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
30 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
31 - Tampa, FL - Live Nation Amphitheatre at the Florida State Fairgrounds

August

2 - Austin, TX - Austin360 Amphitheater
3 - The Woodlands, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
4 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion

A brand new video announcing the official 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival lineup can be seen below:

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Stages and Artists:

Rockstar Energy Drink Main Stage

Rob Zombie

Five Finger Death Punch

Mastodon

Amon Amarth

Musicians Institute Stage

Children Of Bodom

Behemoth

Emmure

Born Of Osiris

Motionless In White

Thrown Into Exile

Jagermeister Stage

Machine Head

Job For A Cowboy

Butcher Babies

Battlecross

Huntress

Sumerian Records/Headbang For The Highway Stage

City In The Sea

3 Local Openers