The touring behemoth of Knotfest is rolling into town with the Nine firmly back at the helm.
The weather turned it on for Melbourne, with nothing but sunshine and good times forecast. The line at 10am was already bulging, fans eager to get on the barrier for the entirety of the day.
This reviewer was one of a lucky few who entered early and got to explore the Slipknot museum before gates officially open. The room was filled with memorabilia, original masks, baseball bats, blood stained boiler suits and freak show performers ready to entertain. Slipknot fans need to check this out.
Despite the warning signs against moshing adorning the stage, the circle pit was a mess of bodies for openers Sunami. The Californian four piece kicked off Knotfest 2025 with a roundhouse kick to the face. Better suited to a club stage where punters can launch themselves into each other, the band gave the big stage a solid stomping.
For their debut show on Australian shores, Americans Vended turned it up and the crowd turned it on, the main stage bulging in the midday sun. Featuring the sons of prominent Slipknot members, Griffin Taylor sounds uncannily like his old man and with the stage swagger of a son raised watching the biggest metal bands in the world. Nihilism, Asylum, The Far Side… the band’s face paint running in the stinging Melbourne sun.
It’s been several years since Miss May I have graced our shores. The metalcore quartet kept the energy going with no break between bands. Powering through a catalogue of emo-metalcore classics, the pit heaved as Levi Benton launched himself off every available surface. Under Fire, Deathless, Miss May I hitting with a flurry of punches, never letting up.
Standing out on the mostly ‘core’ centred bill, sex metal trio HEALTH slowed things down entirely. This, their third visit in two years, was a brazen edition to the lineup. Their sleazy, synth driven industrial noise prefers to be played in a dank, dingy club. The kind where your feet stick to the floor, bodies press against each other in the dark, the synth rhythm fills the room with its ecstasy, not on a huge stage in the 30+ degree heat of Flemington racecourse. Nonetheless the trio put in a fine job, Johnny Famiglietti slides across the stage, bass and synth decks intertwine with Jake Duzsik’s haunting croon.
That summer sun I keep mentioning was only getting hotter. The stage orientation at Flemington had moved 90 degrees this year, the sun cut across the field the entire day offering no sliver of shade. A thin line of trees at the back offered some reprieve for those lucky enough to nab a spot. The three metre square misting station was full to the brim the entire day and again offered little to quell the heat. There will be a lot of sunburnt bodies tomorrow, as free water was readily available but free sunscreen wasn’t as accessible as previous years.
With the recent release of their heaviest material yet, Incarnation, Byron Bay metalcore crew In Hearts Wake kicked us back into circle pit territory with a battering of mosh heavy cuts like The Flood, Tyrant and Hellbringer, complete with Polaris’s Jamie Hails helping out with his vocal part, a giant Elmo hailing on the big screen. Miss May I bassist Ryan Neff made an appearance for Earthwalker before a Timothee Chalamet Dune lookalike rode across the crowd on a sandworm (a sheet of foam).
Twelve years it’s been since hardcore heavyweights Hatebreed have destroyed Australian audiences. Slated to support Parkway Drive before COVID stole them from us, Jasta whips the pit into a frenzy. The intensity builds with every call to arms: Perseverance, Destroy Everything, A Call For Blood, Tear It Down. The anthemic hardcore hits straight to the chest, fists punching the air, As Diehard As They Come.
Hatebreed bring the wrecking ball to the Knotfest crowd, quite literally, with the giant Hateball rolling across the tops of heads, Jasta screaming I Will Be Heard.
Most certainly feeling the heat, Brit’s Enter Shikari were bringing the dance fire with their acid house metalcore. Again, having been here numerous times in recent years, we were treated to the full version of Sorry You’re Not A Winner with its universally loved ‘clap clap clap’ refrain, evolving from its usual carnage to the Pendulum remix version. Mothership and set closer A Kiss For The Whole World x feature as a shirtless Rou Reynolds danced his way across the stage.
On the other end of the spectrum, making their Australian debut after over two decades together and headlining countless European festivals, Dutch power metallers Within Temptation are finally in front of Australian audiences. Resplendent in a black and gold flowing number, a two piece spiked gold head piece, vocalist Sharon den Adel belts out a one woman metal choir. Bleed Out, Paradise, Supernova, from their early symphonic roots through power metal, goth rock and a touch of doom, the Dutch band showcase their divergent and complex sound. Closing with Mother Earth, the band not acclimated to the Aussie heat, sweating but still riffing til the end.
Russian maniacs Slaughter To Prevail are back. Having caught the demonic deathcore band the night previous at their only sideshow, I knew what i was in for – absolute carnage. And they didn’t disappoint. Opening with Bonebreaker, an apt description of things to come, new track Grizzly getting the pit heaving, security busy catching crowd surfers.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea, the largest wall of death at Knotfest were ready to clash, one bloke in a wheelchair is held aloft dead in the centre, Viking, and the two sides come together in one crushing moment. Injuries were inevitable, a broken arm, bleeding faces, and the set was stopped for some time during Bratva for medics to safely retrieve a person from the crowd, rumours of a broken neck or simply out cold, this reviewer is unsure but the band left the stage before returning once all clear to finish with Demolisher.
Though the sun was dipping, Knotfest was heating up, with Sydney boys Polaris raining unholy fire and streamers down on the crowd. Three records deep now and no sign of letting up, Nightmare, Landmine, The Remedy, Polaris ripped through a nonstop shred of classics. Pyro shot into the sky, fists and horns shot back after every track.
Void Of Vision frontman and new Triple J ‘Core’ host Jack Bergin joins the fray, guesting on Hypermania. Closing the hour long set with a double whammy of Lucid and Inhumane, Jamie Hails is front and centre as flames lick the ceiling of the stage.
No stranger to Aussie stages, Japanese kawaii metal starlets Babymetal danced their way into our hearts. BABYMETAL DEATH, METAL!! and the kick ass fun of KARATE the perfect soundtrack for a circle full of pit ninjas. Synchronized dance moves, demon masked band members, beach balls bouncing around the crowd. Their collaboration with Electric Callboy for RATATATA had the German fellas joining in on the giant screen, PA PA YA, Gimmie Chocolate!! and Road Of Resistance round out the super fun, super kawaii set.
A Day To Remember always try to live up to their name and today was no exception, finally the sun was setting, golden hour, confetti fluttered on the breeze, the crowd full of beer and good vibes. The familiar chant of “da da da da….Lets go!” that heralds The Downfall Of Us All, chorused by all in attendance. Fire and flames, Jeremy McKinnon pacing the stage, guitarists face off each other as more confetti is pumped into the air. 2nd Sucks, Right Back At It Again, All I Want, their songs are super catchy, fun pop punk, so catchy that I find myself hating their hometown as well.
A flock of beach balls are unleashed on the crowd, bouncing around in the golden sunset, more streamers blast away from the stage and “probably the slowest song ever played before Slipknot” If It Means A Lot To You. Closing out with the raucous All Signs Point To Lauderdale these Florida boys make every show a day not to forget.
After a long day in the sun, darkness prevails, no curtain drop this year, just the grating noise of song as the entirety to Knotfest press together. In what should’ve been a chaotic moment of energy released, as the nine launched into (Sic) the sound cut, no vocals or guitar, just drums. The crowd yelled in frustration, fortunately the sound tech recovered without much delay. It was soon obvious that we weren’t getting the Self Titled anniversary show as cuts such as Yen and the never before performed Gematria appeared. Corey Taylor announced this on stage as “This is a new show!”, also addressing the departure of Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan due to a family emergency (his son was also missing from Vended).
Psychosocial, People=Shit, Wait and Bleed, core staples had the crowd going ape shit. New drummer Eloy Casagrande absolutely shining behind the kit, giving the tracks that extra oomph. As the band exits the stage, Sid Zero drops the needle, giving us the remix of Tattered and Torn. Rounding out with Unsainted and Duality before an encore of Spit It Out, thank God Taylor didn’t ask us to squat for the ‘crazy test’. My knees are too old for that.
Ending the spectacle that is Slipknot and Knotfest with a special one just for the fans, the erratic noise of Scissors. The set and band alike devolving into a cataclysm of sound, scraping and resonating, eerily. Die hard maggots screaming along as Taylor sits in front of the kit, casual fans left bewildered and confused. What a way to end Knotfest 2025.
