words & photos: Nathan Goldsworthy @odin.imaging

Review

*Start stretching now, I have a strong feeling Knotfest will return to Australia in 2024*

The long rumoured arrival of Knotfest Australia finally arrived, and it all starTed in melbourne

Knotfest Australia, the inaugural Knotfest on Australian soil, was a wild ride for heavy metal enthusiasts. The early morning news of Bad Omens having to withdraw due to Noah losing his voice meant Malevolence got pushed back and the latecomers were able to witness their mix of classic thrash and death metal with a modern twist.

Returning so soon after supporting Thy Art Is Murder late last year, when I first saw them. They were the perfect opener for this jam packed day

Clad in coats, the locals Void Of Vision lead by Jack Bergin (looking like a mix of Billy Corgan and Nosferatu) brought their abrasive and aggressive electronic injected metalcore to the stage.

The gloves were well and truly off now, with Knocked Loose hitting the stage and your ears elbow first. If there was ever a soundtrack to a pub brawl, this is it!

The skyrocketing popularity of Spritbox meant they’ve been in high demand to tour down under, and after finally making their debut on our soil by selling out the Forum earlier in the week, we can only hope they return as soon as possible.

In Flames are one of the bands that greatly influenced my musical taste, and i would have paid the entry fee for them alone.

With new recruit Chris Broderick (of Megadeth fame) slotting in perfectly, we saw a great mix of older tracks dating back to their first album to the bangers off their latest album Foregone.

Soon pulling people back into line, as frontman Anders spotted a small group of people prematurely rowing, warming up for what was next

From nowhere the pit filled with cardboard axes and shields. Now it was time for battle with Amon Amarth

The stage now flanked with two towering Bezerker statues and the drumkit aboard a raiding ship, they sailed into Guardians of Asgard and had everyone with a heart pumping their fists.

Its never a Amon Amarth show without getting your butt dirty in a row pit.

The over achieving Matt Heafy now arrives on the stage, almost as if he had a point to prove. And if that point was that Trivium could headline this festival, then he proved they were more than worthy

Every other band would have grown up listening to the legendary Megadeth. Dave was looking a little slow on stage and sounding slightly less punchy as he did in the past, but even disregarding the last few years he has had “Kicked cancers arse”, it was still a powerful set.

Classic after classic, hit after hit. There was a large portion of the crowd here to see them, and you could tell.

I was stoked to finally see Kiko Loureiro and Dirk Verbeuren as I have been a long time fan of their work prior, and they slotted in to Megadeth perfectly.

Many knew what was coming next, the biggest metal band in Australia has a reputation and Parkway Drive were here to keep it.

Parkway Drive were lead onto the stage with torch wielding cultists, was the least amount of fire on the stage during the entire set. The Byron Bay band weaved through their discography and the crowd heaved and jumped in response. Winston even altered the lyrics in the song Dedicated from 12 to 20 years to celebrate their 20 years anniversary.

The moment has finally arrive. The gigantic Slipknot banner covering the stage, the crowd of Maggots heaved towards the barrier.

Getting into the Aussie sprit, Corey proclaimed that they were ‘werne’t here to fuck spiders’ , and the crowd proved they weren’t either. Slipknot opened with Dissasterpiece, there were bodies going everywhere.

“I can’t take you crazy motherfuckers anywhere,” Corey stated, after the show was paused momentarily due to a punter who climbed a speaker tower for a better view and the stage manager threatening to stop the show unless they climbed down.

This was a classic Slipknot set, but more refined. Not only in appearance (The classics boilersuits were noticeably upgraded for three piece suits), but their sound was as good as i’ve ever heard them.

Slipknot and Knotfest come down under and have shown us the way forward for festivals in Australia. No more 5 stages playing at the same time, keep it simple an powerful.

See you maggots next year