Words by Samantha Wolstenholme
Photography by Elizabeth Sharpe | @ummagummamumma
Knotfest Australia returns for another year, but this time it’s quite the special occasion, marking its namesake’s 25-year anniversary odyssey. In assembling this force of a lineup, Slipknot have wielded their considerable power as tastemakers of heavy music fans across the globe. They’ve cherry-picked an eclectic collection of leading and emerging heavy acts that demonstrates just how closely they have their finger on the pulse, and to top it off, their quarter-centurian anniversary promises a special performance from the legends themselves. It’s a searingly hot summer Sunday in Brisbane for this leg of the tour, and tens of thousands of punters are excitedly gearing up for bulk moshing with a side of sunburn.
Hardcore punk outfit Sunami waste no time in making a ruckus as punters begin to filter into the arena. Hailing from California, the quartet are clearly following in the footsteps of breakout hardcore stars Speed with their coarse, brash, beatdown throwdowns, which feel all the more potent in the merciless blaze of the midday sun. A mosh breaks out early on in the set, fuelled by frontman Josef Alfonso’s gruff barks and booming kicks from drummer Benny Eissmann. At one point, Alfonso remarks “From QLD to the Bay, fuck the blues”, and there’s nothing like a bit of interstate footy politics to rile up the eager early birds in the mosh. Closing number Step Up generates the first circle pit of the day.
Vended may bill themselves as nu metal, treading the path of their (literal) forebearers Slipknot, but live, they deliver a punchy sound that’s closer to gritty metalcore with its frequent blistering drums and brutal riffs. Think Lamb of God vibes, but with an unmistakable nu-core swagger conveyed by men in black denim dungarees looking like evil goth gardeners. Griffin Taylor is a confident frontman as he leads the quintet through a series of bangers including Nihilism, Am I The Only One and The Far Side. Guitarists Cole Espeland and Connor Grodzicki are bursting with energy and entertaining to watch as they dart up and down the stage. Taylor and drummer Simon Crahan’s famous fathers would be proud to witness the multitude of circle pits this inspires.
Fresh off a recent lineup change and the release of the 15th anniversary re-recording of their seminal work ‘Apologies Are For The Weak’, Ohio’s Miss May I approach today’s set with the energy of a grand comeback. There is a vitality to their performance as they power through a tight and dynamic set that reminds us all why late-2000’s/early-2010s metalcore was so darn good. The quartet have crafted a distinctive take on the genre with pops of genre-bending flavour that echo Iron Maiden power shredding and Gojira-esque tremolo and double kicks. Crowd pleasers like Hey Mister, Under Fire and Forgive and Forget get the pit jostling nicely. Bassist Ryan Neff’s clean vocals are a particular highlight, his mellifluous tone and pitch-perfect delivery providing the melodic anchor to ground us amidst the metalcore chaos.
It is strange and somewhat jarring to experience a HEALTH live set in the middle of the day in scorching heat. They’ve just always struck me as a band best enjoyed under the cloak of darkness. However, there’s no denying that the sheer force of those synth and bass layers, reverberating through the ground beneath us, effectively summon the festival spirit. It’s hot as sin but the trio are cool as cucumbers as they meander through a moody catalogue of hits, including HATEFUL, FUTURE OF HELL, and FEEL NOTHING. Jake Duszik’s ethereal voice is as gorgeously hypnotic as ever, and I don’t know what preset B.J. Miller has applied to his drum kit patch, but it’s fine-tuned his thundering double kicks to a razor-sharp point. Wrapping up with DSM-V is an apt choice, as the sultry, seductive track is practically a soundtrack for festival debauchery all on its own.
Since the release of their most recent album, ‘Incarnation’, In Hearts Wake have zeroed in on an abundantly clear theme of “AI Nightmare” for this new cycle of live shows. Interpretive dancers clad in techwear appear intermittently throughout the set, their feral and frenetic movements intensifying the underlying menace of the quartet’s cyberpunk metalcore maelstrom. Frontman Jake Taylor is in fine form as he unleashes hellish guttural screams that send the circle pits spiralling. Hellbringer sees Polaris‘ Jamie Hails join Taylor on stage for an aggressive scream-off for the ages, and Miss May I’s Ryan Neff returns for a cameo in Earthwalker. Taylor sets the scene for Gen Doom with a bleak preface about how technology has led to us devolving as a species. However, the mood is soon lightened by a comedic reprieve involving someone dressed as Paul Atreides from Dune “carpet surfing” across the crowd, and then the band wrap up their darkly polished, compelling set with the recent banger Orphan.
Now it’s time to get down and dirty for Connecticut’s hardcore punk veterans Hatebreed. It’s been 11 years since they’ve graced Australian shores, and they make the most of every minute on stage today with such a vast army of sweaty fans at their feet. A tribal chant of “Born to bleed, fighting to succeed” leading up to In Ashes They Shall Reap fires up the mosh, and an unhinged circle pit swells during Empty Promises. The sea of horns waving wildly in the air is constant and unrelenting as this brand of 90s groove metal aggression gets the blood up for the pit minions. Jamey Jasta makes several remarks that the veterans are “coming out of moshpit retirement”, but any metalhead would tell you there’s no such thing – moshpits are the great equaliser across generations of metal fans. Perhaps in an effort to connect with the younger audience, Jasta lobs a giant blow-up ball into the crowd, proclaiming that instead of a wall of death, “today we’re bringing you a ball of death”.
In a mind-boggling change of pace, Enter Shikari are up next with their cyber-infused electro-rave Brit rock. Most unfortunately, the quartet are let down by live mix inconsistencies that persist throughout their set, and this really is a shame because they are giving their all in this performance. Their trippy retro-meets-futuristic video backdrop reflects the EDM-driven chaotic punk direction their more recent releases have taken. Rou Reynolds is a firecracker of a frontman, buzzing around the stage with seemingly limitless energy and a certain whimsical charm that is uniquely British. They deliver a career-spanning set comprising some of their best-loved bangers, including {The Dreamer’s Hotel} and Sorry You’re Not A Winner. Despite the sound issues, their electrifying cocktail of Skrillex-esque rave drops, Bloc Party Britpop and occasionally thrashy riffs works for this festival setting. Struggling with the oppressive heat, Reynolds lies down on stage for a brief reprieve, but happily, he summons the energy to whip out the trumpet for a few hilariously incongruous jazz solos towards the end of the set.
A sombre chant intro and a majestic crackling fire video backdrop sets the theatrical tone for Dutch symphonic metal titans Within Temptation. In their nearly 30 years of tenure, they’ve never toured Australia, so this maiden voyage is long overdue, but they deliver a truly captivating performance that is well worth the wait. The six-piece easily boasts the best live mix of the day so far, crashing onto the stage with a colossal wall of sound that immerses the rapt audience in their stately melodies, elegant orchestrations and powerful riffs. Emerging in an ornate golden mask and floor-length black ball gown with an Australian flag wrapped around her, Sharon den Adel is living up to her metal goddess reputation today. Her coloratura soprano vocal lines are as impressive as they are enchanting, and she is a mesmerising force who moves with great passion and intensity. Popular bangers from the sextet’s more recent pop-driven discography such as Paradise (What About Us?), Faster and The Reckoning get the crowd moving and grooving. We find out that den Adel lost her voice last night, not that you would know from the miraculous return to form she has evidently had. OG fans are rewarded for their loyalty today, with the band wrapping up this flawless performance with their original breakout hit, Mother Earth.
In yet another whiplash-inducing stylistic shift, deathcore hot topic Slaughter to Prevail take the stage, with frontman Alex “Terrible” striding out in the trademark mask – this one’s a blood-streaked horror edition – and a battle vest adorned with Russian and Australian flag patches. I sense a running theme with the flags here. There’s an initial false start with some tech issues, but once these are resolved, we launch straight into punishing, merciless double kicks, downtuned chugs and the famously unholy, inhumanly guttural growls from Alex. It’s not difficult to see why the frontman has become such a personality, with his brutish intensity tempered with sardonic candour. The mosh descends further into chaos with every infernal breakdown spurred on by Evgeny Novikov’s cataclysmic drumming and plumes of smoke punctuating bass drops. The circle pits seethe and walls of death sternly ordered by Alex spread wider and wider. The band barrels through a crushing set featuring Bonebreaker, Baba Yaga and Viking, in which Alex invites a longtime young fan Austin on stage to chug on the guitar. Most deathcore kings really are just teddy bears at heart, after all.
I swear, every time I see Polaris live, they’ve stepped up their stagecraft game considerably since last I saw them. This stage has a striking setup featuring a futuristic spaceship-style drum riser lined with numerous lighting strips. Opening with Nightmare, the mosh instantly breaks out to the punchy live mix, thunderous drums and particularly brutal harsh vocals from frontman Jamie Hails. Jesse Crofts, currently on loan from Windwaker, joins Rick Schneider in the axe grind, and the riffs fuel the near-constant circle pits while breakdowns crash like meteorites through the ground beneath us. Pyro plumes burst in a few numbers, and the bangers flow hard and fast. There’s a fantastic call-and-response moment with the crowd during The Remedy, Masochist is a pit party, Dissipate is crushing, and there is a literal arena-wide wall of death during Consume. Hails has levelled up his vocal versatility too, showcasing strong cleans and even goblin fry today, and Jake Steinhauser’s clean vocals are always perfection. Closing with the ferocity of Inhumane, featuring a final video visual of a reverse pentagram on fire as dusk begins to settle, it’s a powerful end to a powerful set.
The customary Star Wars-inspired video intro blares through the arena, then kawaii metal icons BABYMETAL creep onto the stage in a stately procession. In keeping with the sci-fi theme, their new outfits are stunning, holographic sartorial masterpieces. Their choreography is as impeccable as ever as they launch into Distortion, and Su-metal has the opportunity to flex her harsh vocal talents in addition to her flawless clean belt. Props to their Kami Band guitarists for their blistering shreds also. PA PA YA!! is a high-octane rave, and BxMxC delivers defiant swagger and immense breakdowns. The trio are a joy to watch, their sunny smiles only growing wider as the crowd goes wild for their genki brutality. Megitsune is particularly striking tonight, beginning in total darkness with the trio emerging in a red spotlight until the full band kicks in, and KARATE is deeply compelling and emotive. But it’s RATATATA, the band’s recent cover collab with Electric Callboy, that sends the crowd absolutely ballistic, with crazed chants resounding from across the arena. Watching BABYMETAL is what I imagine the personification of dopamine would look like – endless effervescent joy and vitality.
Floridian pop-punk/metalcore legends A Day To Remember embrace grandeur to announce their arrival, with the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey booming proudly before launching into crowd favourite The Downfall of Us All. It’s immediate mayhem in the mosh, and then a merry burst of confetti sets the tone for the candy-sweet rage raves to come. The quintet are bolstered by an incredible live mix (hallelujah) and cycle through almost the entire gamut of stagecraft effects, with pyro blasts, smoke clouds, abundant strobes and rainbow flickering light strips accentuating key moments throughout the set. The searing screams and massive breakdown in I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of? sends the crowd into a frenzy, and the hooks in new track LeBron captures the magic of those breakout hits A Day To Remember became famous for.
Jeremy McKinnon is absolutely on point tonight, his powerful vocal delivery tugging at the heartstrings of diehard fans in the pit. The unforgettably brash “Disrespect Your Surroundings” chant in Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End contrasts with the tenderness in Have Faith In Me, which is dedicated to the ladies in the crowd. After another new track, the mature Make It Make Sense, we’re hit with the one-two punch of Resentment and Paranoia, then a soothing acoustic reprieve with If It Means A Lot To You. It’s a balanced, polished and impressive career-spanning set that reminds us just how versatile A Day To Remember are, and just how easily their melodies can get stuck in your head.
With the knowledge of Clown’s absence hanging in the air, it’s fair to surmise that this may be a different Slipknot set tonight to what we’re used to. Glowing green S’s gradually loom into view like serpentine Dark Marks to the sound of a creepy intro track of children’s voices singing “Come and play with us”, and then Slipknot crash in with the rollicking (sic), clad in new all-white jumpsuits. The dirty defiance of People = Shit drives the gigantic mosh further into disarray, beset by a lighting show that is elaborate beyond comprehension. No really, you’ve probably never seen this many lights furnishing just one stage, and they seem to flicker with every minute double kick hit. Before long, Corey Taylor addresses the elephant in the room – Clown’s absence due to a family emergency – and reveals that we’ll be treated to a number of songs never before played in Australia. There’s the stock standard Slipknot bangers such as Wait and Bleed and The Devil & I, but interspersed between them are extended DJ sets to infuse tonight’s experience with dark ambience. The Heretic Anthem inspires bedlam in the pit, as is to be expected, and that telltale chant during Psychosocial is positively deafening.
Unsainted sees crowd surfers soaring for one final hurrah after a long and sweaty day of moshing, and in Duality, Taylor barely has to sing any of the lyrics because the crowd has that covered. A triple-threat encore of feral grooves comes in the form of Spit It Out, Surfacing and, surprisingly, the deep cut of Scissors, one of the band’s earliest tracks. Taylor invites us to “go somewhere dark with us tonight” on this trip down memory lane, and in my opinion, they’ve saved the best until last with this ominously captivating number. In response to the rapturous legions of Brisbane fans, Taylor remarks that “we’ve been doing this for 25 years – as long as we have this, we’ll keep coming back”.
Here’s to another 25 years, Slipknot – keep making heavy metal history and paving the way for new generations of talented bands to break fresh ground also. That’s one hell of a legacy at work!
Thanks to Dallas Does PR
