Heavy metal festival Psycho Las Vegas has announced its initial 2022 lineup set to rock the stage next August. Mercyful Fate, Mayhem and Wolves in the Throne Room are among the acts scheduled to play between August 19th-21st at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in 2022.

Emperor, Satyricon, Watain, Samael, Boris, Mgła, Cirith Ungol, King Woman, Marissa Nadler, Bombers and Year Of No Light are some of the other acts fans can expect to see at the 2022 festival. This lineup features some of the international bands that couldn’t make it to the 2021 festival due to travel restrictions. More artists are expected to be announced in the coming year.

Mercyful Fate, who have not played in the U.S. in over twenty years, announced earlier this summer that they would be playing in the 2022 festival. The band, along with Wolves in the Throne Room, was originally scheduled to take part in the 2021 festival but opted to postpone until next year.

In July, Norwegian black metal band Mayhem released Atavistic Black Disorder/Kommando. This EP includes 4 punk rock covers and features blazing guitars and powerful, authoritative vocals.

Psycho Las Vegas organizers are hoping that the 2022 edition will go smoother than the 2021 iteration. This year’s festival, which just took place this past weekend, faced numerous scheduling obstacles. The event was originally postponed back in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. Psycho Las Vegas was forced to replace several international acts, including headlining band Emperor, due to visa troubles stemming from strict U.S. travel policies. Guitarist and rock singer Wino made headlines when he dropped out of the event due to a mask mandate.

The Skull canceled their appearance after it was revealed that lead singer Eric Wagner was hospitalized with COVID pneumonia. Earlier today, the Skull announced that Wagner has since passed away.

Psycho Las Vegas is a three day festival notorious for both its unique atmosphere and eclectic rock lineup. Past acts have included The Flaming lips, Mastodon, Danzig, HEALTH, Old Man Gloom, Megadeth and Electric Wizard among many other rock titans.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat