“I’ve been as busy as I’ve ever been,” Indianapolis Metal Fest organizer Rob Mason tells me just a few hours after finalizing a last-minute change in venues. The Fest was scheduled at the Madame Walker Theatre until concerns about attendance, weather and parking prompted organizers to move the event to the Marquee Convention and Events Center on West 38th Street. Organizers announced the venue change Sept. 16, only 10 days before the second installment of the now annual Fest, which runs on Sept. 26-27.

“We were running up against all kinds of restrictions in the downtown area, like parking and stuff, plus I didn’t like having the possibility of bad weather affecting the outdoor stage,” Mason said. “Marquee had plenty more space and it’s all inside, plus there’s plenty of parking. I just want to make sure people coming to Indianapolis Metal Fest get the best show we can give them.”

With over 60 bands participating, the Indianapolis Metal Fest has become one of the most diverse metal fests in the world. On one stage, Cookie Monster vocals; on another, over-the-top ’80s screaming vocals. Death-metal, industrial metal, Thor’s-Hammer metal and every other metal breed have their place throughout the weekend.

Here, in no particular order, are the acts to look for at Indianapolis Metal Fest II:

Kittie, Level C and female metalists

When Morgan and Mercedes Lander rode the first wave of nü-metal to stardom with tunes like “Brackish” and “Paper Doll” from their 1999 gold record debut Spit, they were conspicuous as an all-female band in a male-dominated domain. But, as Mercedes Lander tells me during a recent phoner, “Just because we’re female, doesn’t make us a novelty act. We’ve opened the doors for all kinds of female metal acts.” Mercedes Lander’s Alex Van Halen-inspired drumming and Morgan’s glass-gurgling vocals head into even darker territory on their latest, Funeral For Yesterday.

Although she acknowledges a debt to Kittie for blazing a trail for women in metal, Level C guitarist Christina Crago says it was rock guitarist and former Runaways lead singer Lita Ford’s video for “Close My Eyes” that originally inspired her to get into rock. “I’ve been waiting to meet Lita my whole life,” Crago says.

Level C’s “Suck a Fist” is as metal as metal gets, and this Cleveland quartet cuts no slack when it comes to pounding riffs, adding as much prong heaviness as Runaways-inspired songcraft. “We play music for the same reason lots of bands do,” Crago tells me. “We play our music to get away and to have fun. It just so happens we play metal.”

Other female-fronted bands on the bill include Wykked Witch, Brazil’s brutal Shadowside and locals Dunwich.

Local hotshots

Just as the Fest brings a multitude of national and international acts to Indianapolis, it also gives Indiana groups a chance to show that they’re as good as any in the world. Not to mention the audiences that our local bands have built up are among the most dedicated and enthusiastic anywhere. Demiricous and The Gates of Slumber, top dogs of the local scene, will bring a skull-imploding attack to the show, alongside acts like Mercykill, Rejicide and Phoenix Bodies.

Foreigners

Long-awaited appearances by Germany’s Dew-Scented and Sweden’s Mustasch suggest that Indianapolis could one day become the International Metal Capital of the World (amateur sports, after all, don’t dabble quite as satisfyingly in the dark arts).

Neo-death speed metal Dew-Scented — long stars on respected German metal label Nuclear Blast — will make their first U.S. appearance since 2005, attracting metal fanatics from across the country.

And Sweden’s Mustasch is making its official U.S. debut at the Metal Fest. Lead vocalist Ralf Gyllenhammar, a TV star in his homeland, possesses a set of pipes that are the finest to shake a stage since Rob Halford’s heyday. Their Fu Manchu meets “new wave of British heavy metal” vibe makes for a fresh and addictive sound, and watching them on “Black City” and “Dogwash” alone will make the price of admission worthwhile.

Freaks

One of the headliners, Green Jelly, shot to stardom on the back of a novelty MTV video for their metal reading of the Three Little Pigs folk tale. Since then, this band has been combining comedy and metal better then just about anybody. Equal parts GWAR, Manowar and Buddy Hackett, Green Jelly shows us that heavy metal doesn’t have to be a somber affair; you can bang your head with a goofy grin on your face. Green Jelly’s current touring partners, Radioactive Chicken Heads and Rosemary’s Billygoat, will offer hilariously bloody and outrageous sets.

Chicago’s Maggot Twat will also be on hand to up the weirdness factor with their aluminum alien drummer and songs about blow jobs and serial killing. There’s something about dudes in cartoon chicken costumes and satanic monster suits playing breakneck death-thrash that’s strangely alluring.

These capsule previews only scratch the surface. Just a few of the other bands performing are the progish-metal of Tampa’s Gigon; the superteam of ex-Morbid Angel singer Steve Tucker and Ex-Grip Inc.’s Jason Viebrooks that is Lowa; the serious heaviness of Bleed The Sky and Arsis; and the straight-ahead old-school sounds of Kentucky’s David LaDuke. Indianapolis Metal Fest II will be all things to all metalheads.

WHAT: Indianapolis Metal Fest II
WHERE: Marquee Convention and Events Center, 5100 W. 38th St.
WHEN: Sept. 26-27
TICKETS: All-ages. One day: $15 advance, $20 day of; two day: $30 advance, $40 day of
INFO: www.indianapolismetalfest.com