There are concerts where you can hear a pin drop between the bars, and there are concerts where a dropped pin is fair game for somebody's fashion statement or impromptu body art.

Guess which category Taste of Chaos fits into?

The gang of bands that make up the tour are loud and emotional — the term "screamo" has been used more than once — and fronted by men in makeup to whom eyeliner application has become second nature. These are the bands whose T-shirts keep Hot Topics in business, and whose logos and poster graphics are as amazingly gorgeous as they are disturbing.

Taste of Chaos is a 3-year-old tour produced by Kevin Lyman and John Reese as a winter arena version of the incredibly popular summertime Van's Warped Tour and Ozzfest. All the featured acts are veterans of one "supertour" or another, and headliner Avenged Sevenfold is the only band to headline both the Warped tour and Ozzfest, while holding the No. 1 spot on MTV's TRL.

Avenged Sevenfold (A7X to those in the know), is a California quintet that defies genrefication, with albums that rank on alternative, hard rock and rock charts. The name is Biblical, referencing the story of murderous Cain, who killed his brother Abel and was sentenced to life in exile. God didn't want anyone messing with that punishment, setting it up that "whoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." Several songs, too, have biblical ties, and the members' stage names — M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, The Rev, Synyster Gates and Johnny Christ — also evoke religious themes.

That said, the band makes no claims to promoting any religious or political point of view: "Anyone that reads the lyrics and really knew anything about us, they would know we're not promoting either," Shadows said in a 2005 radio interview. "That's one thing about this band that I love is that we never really shove any kind of, like, political or religious beliefs on people. We just, the music's there to entertain and maybe thought-provoking on both sides, but we don't try to, like, really shove anything down anyone's throat. There's too many bands that do that nowadays, I think."

What they do do, however, is scream: The band's first album, "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet," is all screaming. Subsequent releases have toned down the volume, if not the intensity.

Second in the lineup is Atreyu, another California quintet that's not afraid to use religious imagery in their music. The band changed its name from Retribution to Atreyu, inspired by a character in "The Neverending Story." Like Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu is plagued by attempts to classify its infinitely hard-core, guitar-heavy music, but the latest release, "Lead Sails, Paper Anchor" served notice that labels aren't applicable, and stints on both the Warped tour and Ozzfest have solidified Atreyu's fan base.

Bullet for My Valentine brings the British (they're from Wales) to Chaos, following in the heavy metal steps of imports such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden — and hoping to become bigger than both.

"I think it's time that a British band broke out worldwide and show that Britain is still the home of heavy metal," said Michael "Moose" Thomas, the band's drummer. "You can't sing along to most metal songs these days. We just want to bring that back."

The tour's top four is rounded out with another Christian-tinged metal band, Blessthefall, an Arizona quartet handpicked for Taste of Chaos after impressing the producers on the 2007 Van's Warped Tour.

That's not all: Taste of Chaos is showcasing an emerging trend — Japanese rock (known as JROCK). MUCC, D'EspairsRay and The Underneath are leading this charge into American arenas.

Wait — it's not over: Seattle-based Idiot Pilot will play two sets in the concourse.

Eight bands, one concert — all inside Hara Arena. Good thing it's just a Taste of Chaos, we seriously doubt we could handle a full meal.

how to go

WHAT: 103.9 The X presents Taste of Chaos 2008 with Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Bullet for my Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot

Also: MUCC, D'Espairspray and The Underneath

WHERE: Hara Arena, 1001 Shiloh Springs Road, Trotwood

WHEN: 5 p.m. Friday, March 7

COST: $29, general admission, available at www.livenation.com