THE HYST LIST // Who We Want To See Play Download Australia

Australia may have well and truly moved on from the trauma that was the sudden capitulation of Soundwave Festival, with one-day festivals and the Unify Gathering establishing small settlements on the barren Aussie heavy music festival plain. There will always be a gaping hole in February that was once home to an extraordinary travelling roadshow of the who’s who of the heavy music community.

Thankfully, this new chapter seems set for a major boost, with UK’s esteemed Download Festival not only confirmed to be coming to the country in 2018, but also on the verge of dropping the first line-up announcement.

With concert promoters Live Nation rumoured to be managing booking duties for festival, two former managers of the defunct Soundwave festival took to Twitter to speculate that a line-up announcement was coming in October.

Chris O’Brien, now manager of operations at Destroy All Lines touring took to Twitter to announce that Download Festival will drop its first lineup for the Australian edition “next month.”

next month

— Chriswhatavibe (@chriswhatavibe) September 21, 2017

Infamous Soundwave promoter/bridge-burner AJ Maddah then followed things up with his own Twitter news, claiming that “It looks very much on.” (Just like Soundwave 2016? – ed.)

Yep. It looks very much on; but I wouldn’t expect an announcement for a few weeks yet!

— AJ (@iamnotshouting) September 13, 2017

With rumours coming thick and fast about who might be making the trip down-under to give the Aussie summer a boost of heavy music, we’ve compiled a wish-list of who we would love to see for the inaugural event that looks like will indeed see the light of day.

Metallica

As far as festival headline appearances go, they don’t come much bigger than this. One of the hardest touring acts to ever grace the scene, the metal Gods have gone from strength to strength in the new millennia, last year dropping their 11th LP Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, picking up a Grammy and knocking off a US stadium tour in the process. Having last graced our shores for the legendary 2013 Soundwave festival, the band were due to tour later this year but, according to former Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah, will now tour “next year.” Fingers crossed!

Sum 41

Sum 41 are back to their classic sound with original guitarist Dave “Brownsound” Baksh making the band a powerhouse 5-piece for the first time. Their 2016 comeback album, 13 Voices saw the band’s distinct punk-rock sound from highlight albums Chuck and Does This Look Infected? make a return. With a newly sober Deryck Whibley, an appearance at Download Festival 2017 and a tighter than ever live show we could see Sum 41 make the trip out here. Sum 41 were last here for Soundwave Festival 2013, while their 2011 Soundwave shows were cut short due to illness. // Thomas J

Prophets Of Rage

What appeared to be a knee-jerk flash in the pan against the US political climate has quickly snowballed into a fully-fledged touring superpower, giving the voice back to the people through the power of music. The Rage Against The Machine and Cypress Hill supergroup just this year completed co-headlining duties at the UK edition of the download event, and no doubt would cause a huge stir with a debut trip down-under. A supergroup that isn’t cringe? Sign us up!

The Getaway Plan

Currently touring their acclaimed LP Other Voices, Other Rooms throughout the country, the Sydney pop-punk stalwarts have always been one of the best live bands on the scene, and have the perfect anthems to get a festival field up and about. The thought of screaming Where The City Meets The Sea  under a hot February sun is enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face, so here’s hoping.

Marilyn Manson

The veteran shock rocker is “relevant again”, so what better way to celebrate than by coming down under and scaring the daylights out of hordes of Australian fans? Having graced our shores twice for Soundwave, the Aussie summer is no stranger to Manson, and with a new album on the way, now would be the perfect time.

Architects

I know: music festivals these days are rock museums on wheels. How many old fuckers can we trundle out for a grab at megabuxx, amirite? So for fucks sake, can we get someone new to headline? Confining Architects to a club is like stuffing a starving tiger into a carry-on cat carrier. It’s fucking cruelty. The passion and force of Architects future metal thunder would demolish crowds and crown them the new, clamoured-after kings of heaviness. Johnny Rotten declared “no future” to get a rise out of pearl-clutchers. Feeling blasts of apocalypse Architects bring, you fucking believe it. // Tom Valcanis

Underøath

The freshly re-united Florida rockers blew audiences away with a theatre tour in February, performing They’re Only Chasing Safety & Define The Great Line back to back, but that still left a sizeable back catalogue of untouched material. Two visits in a year is asking a lot, but with a band that boasts such a fearsome live reputation, Spencer and co. are the perfect international heavyweights to make any bill a glittering monument.

Rob Zombie

A Rob Zombie Australian tour is well overdue with his latest album The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser yet to debut on our shores. Australians were last graced by the king of horror at Soundwave 2014. This year he headlined the Zippo Encore stage at the UK’s Download Festival. It would make sense for Zombie to make Australia his next stop. // Thomas J

Avenged Sevenfold

Another old Soundwave favourite, the theatrical metal roadshow that is A7X have currently been opening for Metallica around the US on their stadium shows. No strangers to the big festival stage, cuts Almost Easy, Scream an Nightmare have been the sound of many a metal tween across the country. The schedule is free and Australia is waiting….

Creeper

With a main stage appearance at Download Festival this year, newcomers Creeper would be a logical pick for the festival in Australia. The horror punk band have quickly gained a cult following in the UK with their debut album Eternity, In Your Arms. Creeper have never visited Australia, so what better way to introduce them to a new audience than on one the biggest festivals in the world? // Thomas J

Karnivool

God, it’s been awhile since we had a good mosh to that final breakdown of Themata hasn’t it? Pulling double full-time duties with his other project Birds Of Tokyo, it’s easy to forgive frontman Ian Kenny for not always having the time to give the Aussie proggies the time of day, but there is always an audience waiting, and a new festival would be the perfect time to blow out the cobwebs. With the band playing a smattering of shows across both Australia and the US over the past few months, hopefully the odd-time meter machine is beginning to kick back into gear.

Parkway Drive

The group that (arguably) started it all for contemporary Australian heavy music on a global sound. The  OG battlers. THE BOYS! Despite returning for what feels like victory lap after victory lap in the country’s biggest rooms, the Byron Bay quintet haven’t toured an actual festival around the country since the 2013 edition of Big Day Out. From youth centres to the festival fields of Europe with one of the most outrageous live shows on the circuit, it’s impossible to ever knock back the idea of Parkway jumping on the stage; whenever there is a chance to potentially hear the fury of Crushed, the speed of Karma or the teenage throwback of Romance Is Dead, there the punters will go. The band is set to celebrate 10 years of their legendary record Horizons at this year’s Unify, but a full tour of the record just makes sense, right?

Deftones

Unlike most bands, Deftones get better with age. Few frontmen can bring a crowd to its knees in supplication, haunting them with dark visions. Deftones have been around a long time. Their stagecraft is as finely crafted as a porcelain figure, chiselled and carved out of stone with utmost precision. As the sun sets behind their black and steel amphitheatre, pained cries and riffs tunnelling up from hell makes a perfect swansong to a day filled with pits, hits, and licks. Deftones transport people to another, better place. Let’s hop on, shall we? // Tom Valcanis

Neck Deep

Neck Deep are ramping up with their most personal album to date, The Peace And The Panic receiving love from all over the world. Neck Deep have proven themselves well in demand as they climb to the top spot of modern pop-punk. Their touring schedule is packed with the band, at the time of writing, booked up until 28th February. Mmm, nothing booked in March yet? // Thomas J

Who do you think will appear at Aussie Download? Tell us on Twitter and Facebook!