Knotfest @ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne 28/2/2025

The only constant in life is change someone once said. It is the theme that runs through Knotfest Australia’s opening day in Melbourne.

A line up headed by Slipknot features A Day To Remember, Polaris, Hatebreed – who have not been here in over a decade – and Within Temptation – who have never been here – amongst others. It’s the last day of summer and this day is bright.

The layout is different this year, instead of the bottleneck of earlier set ups, the stages run along the side now. The actually does help with navigating through the crowd to get food and drink – situated opposite the stage – and back and forth from the toilets. Shade though, is still at a premium, slices of it darted near fences before disappearing into the afternoon sun. You, know, change and all that jazz.

I am privileged and blessed to be in early before gates open to visit the Slipknot museum. A historical tour through the chapters of the band featuring boiler suits from numerous tours, stage props, drums, and masks. All the wonderful iconic grotesque masks we’ve grown up with and gone into legend. Some are even behind glass due to the vomit stench.

Curated by Cailyn, the Global Museum Director, for the last four years, it’s a metal fans wet dream. Artefacts included a $50000 platinum and gold face mask worn only once or the opportunity to play one of the bands guitars. Cailyn has access to the bands warehouse and promises each visit to the museum will have a new selection of exhibits to look over.

As for the first run of acts of the dual stages, Sunami open first and are old school two step hardcore fury. While the band may be West Coast, you do get an East Coast vocal style spliced between the heavy riffs.

Vended step up for their first Aussie assault with Nihilism and it’s clear the band have a blueprint of riffs, breaks and hi octane energy. Drummer Simon has left due to a family emergency, a note that will arrive again in the evening, however this change doesn’t stop the crowd getting them. Plenty know the words and you can consider than a successful debut.

It’s been a hot minute since Miss May I were on these shores and as the day’s temperature rises so does Levin Benton’s energy. He tears across the stage like a young Axl Rose. The bands combination of new wave American metal, with metalcore, has the mosh pit going off. The solos stirring , the energy infectious and the sweat pooling. It’s not even 1pm.

Which is an odd time for Health to arrive. Basked in the mid-afternoon sun, a band who’s sound picks from 80’s euro goth, 90’s American industrial metal and 2025 clarity is perfect for the dark setting which makes the bands performance all the more impressive that they still slam in the sun.

There are plenty of food and drinks trucks and while you are paying festival prices, it’s not as steep as you’d think in a win for the fan.

Stalls selling all sorts of shenanigans, shirts, paraphernalia are in abundance. You want a Slipknot tattoo? Easy. You want some rare merch from other Knotfest’s? Right over there. Throw in a rare singing tent where Corey Taylor makes an appearance at and you’re set for the day.

If there is a downside, the merch queues were horrific all day from the two tents they had at either end. Oh, and the sun has vanquished what shade there was.

I won’t give a play-by-play run for the bands however the middle part of the day is a bit special.

In Hearts Wake make it clear if we are going to get burnt, might as well get in the pit and enjoy it anyway and plenty do. To be fair, with bellowing performances of songs such as Worldwide Suicide, why wouldn’t?

Hatebreed are the gnarly veterans on the bill. Going through their own personnel change currently, they do what they do best, they inspire, they make you lose your voice and they make you head bang hard. Whether it’s a ball of death or the brilliant Diehard As They Come, it’s metal goodness for the soul.

Enter Shikari are always a band to uplift spirits, and the Brits don’t miss again. Taking plenty of tracks from the feel-good album Kiss For A New World is the perfect antidote to the blues.

The vibe within the crowd was celebration. Whether you were dressed as a dinosaur, bananas or you forgot to pack shorts – like myself – so forced to wear jeans as the day got hotter, everyone seem pleased. The new layout meant you were never to far from the stage, the sound towers were fantastic not only for sound but for meeting spots. That was a nice touch.

Within Temptation have never played Australia before and they delivered as promised. Epic, operatic stirring metal. Sharon den Adel vocals really are as good as you hear on record, and the precision playing of the band is elite

Which then becomes a brutal contrast, or change, with Slaughter To Prevail. Having seen them the night before and being surprised by the bands subtly, it was great to see them again. Masks where everywhere – another theme of the day – and they get on with business in their crushing way. Unfortunately a gap appears in their set when a fan is knocked unconscious however the band spot it and are quick into action.

Polaris get fourth on the bill, a reward for the bands hard work, graft and drive to succeed and they don’t miss the chance. A set of all killer no filler includes Lucid, The Remedy and Nightmare. Throw in some streamers and special guest Jack Bergin from Void Of Vision for Hypermania and you can say ‘well done chaps!’

As we enter the final part of the day, the sun begins to set and shade arrives, BabyMetal take to the stage. They arrive to a mixture of a rabid fan base, curious onlookers and those skeptical. The band sound huge, while the ladies up front perform their dance routines. The choreographing is actually really cool and a lot of the crowd are eating out of their hand. It is fun and energetic, and while I have no idea what’s going on, it’s actually quite a pleasant experience. By the time they finish, resplendent in an Australian BabyMetal flag, you can feel they really enjoyed their show and being here.

Talking of enjoyment, A Day To Remember were the days party band. Confetti, toilet rolls, crowd surfers on crowd surfers, on stage banter and choice of anthems, they hit a home run.

Opening with The Downfall Of Us All and All I Want, everyone everywhere is dancing and singing. While McKinnon has circle pits running like spot fires, pyro is exploding all around. This is a band that needs to be seen, and in their own setting.

Then it’s Slipknot, where the themes of change come to a crescendo. What was original thought of as the twenty fifth anniversary of the debut album is actually not the case. However, Corey Taylor promises us a set list never before played. Also, it’s noted that there’s no Clown, Taylor commenting on the aforementioned family emergency.

So, onto the show, a long intro goes into ‘(sic)’ and…we cannot hear the band. A quick scurry and we are in and when we do it’s worth noting how huge they sound. New drummer Eloy Casangrande belts the life out of his kit and it works a treat as they roll into People = Shit and *checks notes Gematria. Yes, a song rarely played live and never played in Australia. Change.

The set list goes through their whole career and throws in a few deep cuts however no jumping up and down for Spit It Out to save those knees. The light show is naturally enormous, the energy volcanic and the monstrous vocals what we needed.

As the day ends, getting out was a breeze – a nice cool breeze after a hot day too – and off we went into the night. Knotfest Australia was changed up this year, the layout, band members, set lists, and possibly even saw the bands that will replace the old guard. After all, the constant is change.

Live Review By Iain McCallum