FESTIVAL: KNOTFEST BRISBANE 2025
VENUE: BRISBANE SHOWGROUNDS
DATE: MARCH 2ND 2025
REVIEWER: HAYLEY TREADWELL
PHOTOGRAPHER: MERT TYSON PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHER: ANDREW TREADWELL PHOTOGRAPHY
Just as the weather starts to cool this time of year in Brisbane, Knotfest rolls into town and brings the absolute heat! And it’s own circle pit in the sky with a cyclone off the coast of SE QLD. Gorgeous day to have some fun with a bunch of Metal bands and Brissy Metalheads! In true Brisbane style there were massive circle pits, walls of death, power rangers, crowd surfing and a whole heap of ‘smoke’ in the air.
For the first time we took a tour through The Slipknot Museum this year and we were thrilled by it’s contents. What an awesome opportunity for fans to get up close with some of the amazing costumes, masks and other stage items from throughout the years. I can only imagine how big a museum Slipknot could fill with everything they have! That would be something! But I absolutely loved this sneak peak! And the interactive spaces just added to the fun.
Now, off to the stages!
American hard-core Punk band Sunami kicked things off and drew a reasonable crowd for the first band of the day. I think they were a good opener as people started to arrive and settle into the day.
Vended absolutely brought the fire to Brisbane! Griffin Taylor is definitely carrying that same wild energy his dad (Corey Taylor) was known for back in the day. Their mix of raw aggression and passion for heavy music is exactly what the next generation of metal needs.
Even though the heat was brutal, Griff powered through like a beast.Both the pit and stage were throwing down hard
Miss May I always know how to bring the energy! Their blend of melody, crushing riffs, and hardcore intensity makes for a killer live experience.Brisbane Showgrounds turned into a war zone (in the best way) with that circle pit going strong from the start.
HEALTH definitely has a distinct sound—blending industrial, electronic, and heavy rock in a way that stands out from the usual festival lineup. Their live set can be a bit of a curveball, especially if you’re expecting something more traditionally heavy.
Sounds like the crowd was into it, though! Maybe their vibe fits better at a festival like Good Things, where there’s a mix of heavy and alternative act
In Hearts Wake never disappoints when it comes to energy and message! Their fusion of heavy melodic hardcore with environmental themes makes them stand out, and it’s awesome to see them keeping that momentum with ‘Incarnation’. ‘Hellbringer’ was insane—getting the entire crowd to kneel and then explode into chaos at the breakdown is straight-up Headliner levels of hype
Hatebreed always knows how to ignite a crowd! Their sets are built for unleashing aggression in the best way possible, and Brisbane was more than ready to throw down. The Ball of Death was a chaotic but hilarious addition—classic festival mayhem. And ending with a Mexican Wave? That’s next-level crowd engagement. Hatebreed really brought the heavy and the fun.
Enter Shikari always knows how to shake things up, and they delivered an electrifying set despite the brutal Brisbane heat, even if Rou Reynolds succumbed to it for a moment, lying down on stage. That just shows how intense the conditions were, but he got right back up and powered through like a champ.
Their mix of electronic elements, heavy riffs, and political themes makes them such a unique force in the heavy music scene. ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’ and ‘Mothership’ are always crowd favorites, and ‘A Kiss for the Whole World’ hit perfectly in the festival setting.
Within Temptation always brings that larger-than-life, cinematic energy to their performances, and they absolutely delivered at Knotfest! Sharon den Adel is a force of nature—her vocals are just as mesmerizing live as they are on record, and it’s awesome to see them continuing to evolve with ‘Bleed Out’.
Their ability to balance heaviness with theatrical grandeur makes them such a standout at a festival like this. A set full of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the set, and they didn’t lean too much into any era, be it their classic symphonic sound, or their newer, heavier direction?
Slaughter to Prevail never holds back, and despite the rough start with tech issues, they absolutely destroyed once they got going! Their setlist is just pure carnage—every track is a brutal knockout, especially ‘Demolisher’ and ‘Baba Yaga’.
Alex Terrible’s vocals are on another level; that dude sounds like a literal beast.A young fan, Oscar, was invited on stage to play. Oscar with the help of Make-A-Wish got his wish by playing ‘Viking’, with Slaughter To Prevail, creating an unforgettable moment for both him and the band.
The fact that Make-A-Wish helped make it happen just makes it even more special.
It’s awesome seeing a band as brutal as Slaughter to Prevail have such a heartwarming side, giving a young fan that kind of experience
I loved seeing Australia’s own Polaris so high up in this festival bill! So well deserved. The lads have acquired quite a following here at home and the crowd certainly showed their love. Polaris absolutely own the Aussie metalcore scene right now, and it sounds like they proved it once again with that set! Their blend of heaviness and melody always hits hard, and with those visuals and a dialed-in performance.
A Day To Remember really knows how to mix it up and keep the energy fresh. The ability to seamlessly switch between heavy riffs and more melodic moments, like ‘If It Means A Lot To You’, is what makes them such a powerful live act. That ballad moment must have been a great breather in the middle of the chaos—definitely a crowd favorite!
And then, when ‘All Signs Point To Lauderdale’ dropped? You could feel the energy shift immediately. That line and the eruption of the crowd with the streamers flying around, was an incredible moment. It’s the kind of energy you only get at festivals like Knotfest.
Slipknot. Fresh off their 25th Anniversary tour and smartly donning the White Jumpsuits, to combat a warm Brisbane night (with a fresh cyclonic breeze), ‘Isn’t this what you came here for’ ringing in my head as Slipknot lights up the stage. The music started and rain began to fall from the sky. Not heavy rain, teasing type of rain like how the band teases you before they take the stage! Slipknot does it so well that I don’t even remember if the rain kept going!
Song after song Slipknot just delivered! They always do. The crowd participation was high as we agreed with our favorites that ‘People = Shit’!
Wait and Bleed is always a popular one with the Slipknot crowd and then the 6 songs that closed out the main set were enough to send any Slipknot fan over the edge! I was having the time of my life!
‘Yen’, ‘The Devil in I’, ‘The Heretic Anthem’, ‘Psychosocial’, ‘Unsainted’ (oh I was so so happy), and ‘Duality’! Leaving Brisbane wanting more and more! And we didn’t wait too long! Taking the stage back with ‘Spit it Out’ and ‘Surfacing’, Brisbane was then treated to a very dark and passionate delivery of ‘Scissors’. For Hard core Slipknot fans, this was the cherry! What a way to end Knotfest 2025!
I saw people smiling and having so much fun all day! Friends moshing and laughing, strangers shouting lyrics together and people helping people. It was such a vibe! We have a great Heavy Metal faithful in Brisbane and I look forward to sharing Knotfest with them for years to come.
Thank you to Knotfest, Destroy All Lines, TEG Live, 5B Artist Management, Dallas Does PR and Caelin from The Slipknot Museum.
