KNOTFEST – Brisbane, Australia 26th March 2023
In a flashback moment from the Good Things Festival, early arrivals for the enormous Knotfest metal festival find themselves in a huge queue that snakes kilometres around the local environs until, mercifully, it starts moving at a workable pace. Malevolence’s piledriving hardcore punk/metal starts the day with voluminous abandon. Formed in Sheffield, Yorkshire, these Northern English metallers are also not afraid to show their debt to American pioneers from the deep South such as Pantera and Crowbar, while melding their influences to create something distinctive and unique to them.
Next, I get myself in a good position to catch Bad Omens, the Virginian metalcore outfit recently plagued by vocal issues afflicting frontman Noah Sebastian. You wouldn’t know it by today’s performance with Sebastian in fine voice, his authoritative bellows leading the band through their hard, riffy and atmospheric modern metal. It’s hard and brutal yet also strangely cinematic in its epic scope.
The set-up for Knotfest is simple yet effective, two stages with one band starting right after the other one finishes. So after Bad Omens finish up, it’s straight on to Void Of Vision, ostensibly a metalcore band, but if anything that description is becoming more and more inadequate in describing many groups, including these guys. In the case of this Melbourne band, there is a gothic industrial vibe as well, not least in the long black jackets they wear while being directly hit by a blazing Queensland sun. Points for commitment, though the jackets are gradually shed as they give 110% on this unseasonably warm March afternoon. Frontman Jack Bergin is an engaging performer, inciting the crowd to open up the pit and get into the carefree spirit of the day, while the band’s blend of nu-metal, gothic, industrial and hardcore is one of the more genre-splicing sounds of the festival.
The audience is extra hyped for Alpha Wolf, the Tasmanian-formed, Melbourne-based metal outfit who express their appreciation for those who came early to catch their set, as well as being genuinely chuffed with how well their mosh-friendly anthems go down with an up-for-it crowd. Since joining as vocalist after the group’s debut Mono album, Lochie Keogh has shown himself to be a great extreme metal singer as well as an energetic, crowd-inciting frontman. In years to come, don’t be surprised if you see these guys playing the kind of slots currently enjoyed by fellow Aussies Northlane and Parkway Drive.
Next up on Stage 2 is a personal early highlight from me, with the most blatantly hardcore punk blast of fury heard all day from Knocked Loose. This Kentucky band have a penchant for brief, effective blasts of furious punk blended with metal riffery and the demented vocalist Bryan Garris sounding like a Zack De La Rocha on a hardcore bender. Their songs have the intensity of metal and the economy of punk, harnessing the energy into two/three-minute bursts of howling mayhem.
Canada’s Spiritbox are up next with a more melodic, but no less intense, set. Lead vocalist Courtney La Plante has bright, melodic clean vocals which she puts to exceptional use in opening number Circle With Me. Fear not, headbangers, for she can also growl with the best of ‘em, helping mould the band’s sound into a meld of extreme metal, melodic rock and even pop. There are breakdowns for the circle pits but also soaring melodies and softer, more atmospheric elements, all combined perfectly to keep the audience on side all through their stylistic shifts. Courtney also has dry humour and charm to spare.
I am probably not the best choice to review a screamo band – nothing against the genre, it just doesn’t happen to be my personal cup of tea. That said, I find myself being won over by the sheer likeability of Story Of The Year. “When we signed up to play, we didn’t know the gig was going to be on the actual sun!” they quip in refence to the ongoing barrage of hot afternoon solar hitting the stages directly. Their music is somewhere between emo pop/punk and more edgy hardcore mania, and while it’s something of a stylistic change compared to the general vibe of the day, their energy, humour and affability keeps the crowd enthusiastic.
Swedish melodic death metal legends In Flames get a respectful but slightly more muted reception, though for my money they were one of the highlights of the day. It’s clear listening to the growled death metal vocals and ultra-melodic guitar soloing that these melodeath veterans are an enormous influence on much modern metal, including many of the bands performing today. Cloud Connected and furious closer Take This Life are among the highlights of the set. And while many of the more youthful people here today probably came to see different bands, In Flames provide a clear connection between the ‘90s and today, their perfectly-pitched blend of extremity and melodicism essentially creating the template for much modern metal.
Just prior to the end of their set, In Flames frontman Anders Fridén quips that his friends in Amon Amarth are the next group of Swedes about to feel the wrath of the Australian heat. And that they do, but the energy doesn’t lack just because they aren’t performing in an icy tundra. Amon’s stage set is among the most impressive of the day, flanked on each side by enormous inflatable statues of Viking warriors. And while they keep the Viking theme running strong throughout the set (they even get some of the crowd to form a “rowing” pit), musically it’s more classic melodic death metal commandeered with aplomb by immensely likeable frontman Johan Hegg.
For a total change of pace, it’s Sydney stars Northlane next, their hi-tech metalcore enhanced with electronic textures and glitchy video visuals. But for all their extra dressing (their music is more ornate and elaborately arranged than many of the bands on this bill), they still know how to put on a visceral live show, their ferocity complemented by a spirited moshpit near the front of the stage. With a swag of ARIA top three albums (including two number ones), their reputation is now undisputed among modern metal fans. There are plenty of highlights from their two most recent albums, with 4D, the almost four-on-the-floor techno metal of Cypher and devastating finale Talking Heads showcasing their increasingly daring approach to music. At times, the guitars reach a denseness reminiscent of shoegaze. Everything this band tries seems to work. We’re in expert hands.
Yet another legendary band takes the stage, namely long-time faves Trivium who have visited our shores plenty of times but certainly don’t seem to be taking that fact for granted. With an evolving career that has taken in everything from groove metal to prog, their patchwork approach to metal is in keeping with many of the bands on today’s bill. It’s all kept in focus with disciplined songwriting and, of course, exemplary performance, with guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy sounding fearsome while also inciting the crowd to get crazy to their diverse-yet-focused body of work.
The legends just keep on coming with thrash royalty Megadeth taking to the stage next. Singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine proudly proclaims how he “kicked cancer’s ass” to a huge cheer from the crowd, the mercurial frontman in good form today. Following the relentless movement and energy from the bands today (along with constant encouragement to go crazy from the various vocalists), Megadeth are a staid stage presence (Mustaine has never been a mover), but musically it’s one of my favourite moments of the day. Absolutely perfect renditions of Hangar 18, Peace Sells and Holy Wars? Doesn’t get better than that, especially with lead guitarist Kiko Loureiro’s acrobatic solos and drummer Dirk Verbeuren bringing jazzy flair to their classic speedy thrash metal.
Parkway Drive just seem to get better and better each time I see them. With their musical palate expanding from metalcore into classic metal and hard rock, it’s always going to be a rifftastic, euphoric experience at a Parkway gig. Today is no exception, as bursts of fire and explosions add drama to their already crowd-pleasing anthems. Everything we have come to expect from Parkway is there in spades – vice-tight, intense performances and an almost uncanny connection with their audience. It is all going swimmingly until frontman Winston McCall’s voice gives out. “I am going to keep going until I can’t speak” he croaks. An absolute trooper, he still manages to sound better than most people with fully functioning vocal cords, Vice-Grip and Dedication still sounding as uplifting and outrageously heavy as ever. When they take their curtain call, drummer Ben Gordon who never speaks to the audience gave a moving tribute to Winston, calling him the “best frontman in the game”. Winston is visibly moved, and his perseverance in the face of adversity wins him even more fans.
Which just leaves the reason we’re all here today, namely the headliners and curators of this wonderful day, Slipknot. The masked Iowans are by now one of the most familiar heavy acts out there, evident by the sheer amount of lookalikes in the audience, donning their overalls and whatever creepy mask they can get their hands on. So predictably, the crowd goes apeshit when they take to the stage, with percussionists battering metal kegs and Corey Taylor hyping the crowd up to ensure they are going off to each and every song. And for a group whose fans are known as “maggots” and with nihilistic songs such as People = Shit in their back catalogue, there is a moving camaraderie at a Slipknot show. We aren’t made to feel like freaks or outcasts, but members of a family. Slipknot bring a communal warmth to their shows and signature songs such as Sulphur reveal melody and accessibility as important as brutality and heaviness (the latter attributes in prominent form during The Dying Song (Time to Sing), though even this number from the band’s most recent album The End, So Far isn’t immune to some clean vocal harmonies). This reviewer is not a Slipknot fanatic like many of the folks here today, but the band’s infectious showmanship and camaraderie with the audience made me feel like an honorary maggot.
It was a wonderful way to cap off a great festival with one of the most impressive line-ups of heavy bands this country has ever seen. Hats off to everyone involved in bringing this great day to Brisbane.
Reviewer: Matt Thrower
Photographer: Bruno Cechella
