This weekend, the rock world’s festival season is set in motion by Australia’s Soundwave storming FOUR cities on different sides of the country across two weekends. Featuring the crème of heavy metal including Judas Priest, Lamb Of God and Faith No More, all eyes will undoubtedly be on headliners Slipknot who are hot off the heels of their carnival of chaos Prepare For Hell UK tour. But how does frontman Corey Taylor see the land down under?
“It’s like a flight to Mars to get there, but the payoff is so fuckin’ rad,” he says. The Knot made their Australian debut back at the start of the century and fulfilled a childhood dream for Taylor. “I remember seeing visions of Australia when I was a kid and thinking ‘Man, that looks fuckin’ rad’. When we finally got there, I remember landing in Sydney and running outside, laying on the ground and looking up at this huge sky – it just looked bigger than the sky does anywhere else – and maybe it’s because I was so fuckin’ sleep deprived, but it was just so gorgeous!”
In opposition to the beautiful surroundings, Australian metal fans are known for being a different beast to the rest of the globe “because they know how hard it is to get down there” and there’s a definite feeling of appreciation – whereas us dickheads in London are jaded enough expect a full tour ever year.
“If you’re in a band and you can afford to get down to Soundwave, you should, because they’ll make it worth every last drop of your time,” Corey enthuses about Aussie metalheads.
“A lot of bands don’t go or they wait until they’re on the other side of the journey to success. They put it on the back-burner, like ‘We know we’ll make money down there so we’ll wait until it’s absolutely fuckin’ necessary…’ whereas we’ve been going down there for ages!”
And now in 2015 the Nine are returning to Australia and Soundwave having previously headlined the 2012 edition of the festival with System Of A Down. But as a band who now top the bill at festivals across the world and even stage their own Knotfest, what does Soundwave mean to the Iowan masked mob?
“It’s probably one of the most well put together festivals,” Corey muses. “Never mind the shows, because the Australian fans have always been fantastic to us, it’s everything behind the scenes, it’s so on point. From the second you get off the plane to the second you get back on the bus and head back to the airport, everything is taken care of, there’s no guesswork. You are led, literally, through it. And it’s so good to feel that sometimes.
“The people at Soundwave are so on it and so in it that you don’t have to wish for anything. Hopefully I can speak for all the other bands too… all the i’s are dotted, all the t’s are crossed and there’s nothing you have to worry about except for the show. And the fans are fucking fantastic over there. I can’t say enough about how well-oiled that machine is and how proficient it is. Hopefully I’m not jinxing it by saying that! But we can’t wait to get back over there.”
And you won’t have to wait long to find out just how Slipknot get on in Australia as Metal Hammer will be heading out there! Starting this weekend we’ll be bringing you all the action from Soundwave in Melbourne and Sydney with full reviews, galleries and interviews from the biggest artists. BE THERE!
