This weekend was Sydney’s turn to host every metalheads favourite Aussie festival – Knotfest. The past week or so has been HUGE for live music with most bands adding in sideshows meaning double the fun for fans. What an epic effort by all involved!
Whether you were kawaii dancing with BABYMETAL, braving the Slaughter to Prevail wall of death, running laps with Miss May I, or headbanging with headliners Slipknot, it is hard to believe that anyone left Centennial Park without a huge smile on their face.. and likely a bit of sunburn.
On that note, a huge thank you to the gods of metal up in Valhalla, who provided almost perfect weather on the day. While most of Australia is currently plagued with the hottest of heat or the cycloniest of cyclones (stay strong, QLD!), Sydney saw morning clouds, a cooling sprinkle of rain and a chance to use your poncho, but mainly glorious sunshine.
At Knotfest Sydney 2025, we had the incredible privilege of being welcomed into the Slipknot Museum by its global manager and true legend, Caelin Meredith, before the festival doors officially opened. With deep passion, she shared heartfelt stories of fans who had approached her, expressing how Slipknot’s music had saved their lives. The museum itself was a powerful time capsule of the band’s legacy, featuring an array of iconic artifacts—from the unmistakable red and blue overalls to original guitars and basses that fans could actually play. Among the many treasures, Paul Gray’s masks held a particularly special place, serving as a poignant tribute to the late bassist. Every corner of the exhibit offered a fully immersive experience, making it a must-visit for any Maggot wanting to connect with the raw energy and history of Slipknot.
Kicking off the festival was two Hardcore favourites, Drain and Sunami. It’s hard to think of a better reason to get to a festival by 11am. Still buzzing from their Manning Bar sideshow earlier in the week, Sunami mirrored Drain’s energy on stage. There is no warm-up here – that’s the walk from Light Rail to the park – most getting into it with a Red Bull in hand. After attending the Sunami midweek gig, you can understand why the bands take time to do this. The vibes can be quite different between a festival crowd at a festival venue and a small independent venue with just your own fans. It also really feels like a way to thank them – especially as Hatebreed said, when their fans are backing up from the night before!
Vended brought the first stage metal make-up with charred faces, blue war stripes and masks. They may be sons of Slipknot, but there aint no nepo here. They soon had the crowd whipped up into a frenzy, restlessly waiting for the command to charge. Within the circle pit, Slipknot cosplayers, bananas, and lobsters – not something you get to say very often!
Miss May I, gave the crowd a great sing-a-long and a reason to run – and run they did, around the sound engineers booth for a whole song, cheering and waving their drinks in the air proving again that festivals are just another type of fitness! And on that note…Health brought a new sound to the day with their brand of industrial, experimental metal. The atmospheric set came as the rain fell, lead singer, Jake Duzsik’s soothing voice giving people a moment between the metal mayhem.
In Hearts Wake picked up the baton, initially matching the same tempo before lifting, lifting and lifting to match those to come. Recalling their time on the road touring with Slipknot and Lamb of God in 2016 lead singer, Jake Taylor said how excited they were to be there. The fans matched the excitement crowd surfing at speed with TMNT Michaelangelo wearing an ‘I pee in pools’ cap doing the rounds at least a dozen times. Splinter would be proud.
The ferocity of crowd surfing continued through to Hatebreed’s set where after each surfer was successfully collected by security and hauled over the barriers, they would grab a cup of water and run down the pit like a marathoner heading towards the finish line. Some posing for photos by the photographers waiting to capture the next band.
Enter Shikari and Within Temptation brought another welcome change of metal genre. While Enter Shikari have been coming here for 20 years, it was Within Temptations, first trip to Australia – Welcome and G’Day! Lead singer Sharon den Adel bringing beautiful gothic vocals over a symphonic metal sound, the Netherlands outfit promise this will not be their only visit as they love the laid-back nature of the country.
Slaughter to Prevail brought the crowd to its house of deathcore, frontman Alex Terrible thanking everyone for letting him live his dream playing on the same stage as his idols. Inciting a wall of death with a single command, festival goers went for it, Terrible having to stop at one point to make sure someone was ok demonstrating once again that even in a wall of death, safety comes first.
The evening crowd was starting to pour in as Polaris took to the stage. Kicking off with fire and black ribbons shot from canons that looked like Harry Potter dementors flying through the sky, you could tell they were giving their all to a hungry home crowd. This band have really fine tuned and matured their sound over the years. The blend of Jamie Hails and Jake Steinhauser’s vocals brings both depth and complexity to the often-deep lyrics – the result is really quite exceptional.
And then there was BABYMETAL—one of the most hyped acts of the day. The second they hit the stage, the crowd went off. Fans in “The Fox God” shirts had been waiting all day for this, and the energy was unreal. They smashed through a killer hour-long set packed with bangers like Gimme Chocolate!!, Pa Pa Ya!!, Karate, and RATATATA, and if anyone thought the pit would chill out after Slaughter to Prevail and Polaris, they were dead wrong. The mosh was absolute carnage—circle pits, non-stop crowd surfing, and a sea of raised “Fox God” hand signs.
Then came A Day to Remember, bringing the fun side of heavy music. Jeremy McKinnon was in full shit-stirring mode, cracking jokes between tracks and losing it over how much Aussies love the “C word.” Hit after hit, they had the crowd moving, and their signature “crowd surfing on top of the crowd surfing” stunt was absolute chaos—security was losing their minds, but the fans? Living for it. And, of course, in true metal festival style, everyone had each other’s backs. No major injuries, just pure, sweaty, beer-soaked mayhem.
Then, 8:25 PM hit, and it was time. The Nine—minus Clown, who had to leave last-minute for a family emergency (but was there in spirit)—stormed the stage, and shit got real. The second “Here comes the pain!” rang out, the place exploded. Slipknot came out swinging with Sic, People = Shit, Gematria, and Wait and Bleed, and the pit turned into an all-out warzone.
Corey Taylor, in classic fashion, took a second to scream his thanks for “25 f**king years of support” and made it crystal clear—this wasn’t some generic 25th-anniversary show; it was a special set crafted just for Knotfest Australia. It was such a banger that they might even take it to other countries. He also got the whole park to send love to Clown, which the crowd absolutely roared for.
But back to the chaos—No Life, Yen, The Devil in I, The Heretic Anthem, Psychosocial, Unsainted, and Duality just kept the destruction going. And then, because why not, Sid (aka DJ Starscream) ripped into a surprise DJ set mid-show, adding another level of madness.
After a quick break, Slipknot came back for Duality and Surfacing, giving the middle finger to the world one last time. The whole crowd screamed along—“Fuck it all! Fuck this world! Fuck everything that you stand for!”—and just when we thought that was it, they dropped a goddamn bomb: Scissors, a song they hadn’t played in 25 years. The entire place lost their minds. Nobody saw that coming, and it was the perfect way to wrap up one of the heaviest, most insane Knotfest sets ever.
Bring the fuck on, Knotfest 2026!
FULL GALLERY COMING SOON
