Knotfest, created in 2012 by nu-metal icons Slipknot and their longtime manager Cory Brennan (CEO, 5B Artist Management), has become a global force. From its inception in the US, Knotfest has flourished into a touring destination festival, held in a growing number of international countries including Mexico, Japan, Germany, Canada, Chile, and in more recent history, Australia.
This year’s lineup has brought a diverse group of international acts to the Australian East Coast including Dutch symphonic metal group Within Temptation, Japanese kawaii metal superstars BABYMETAL, and beloved US hardcore punks Hatebreed.
At the head of this festival beast for 2025 is the band who created the concept in the first place.
For Slipknot, their Australian return falls in line with their 25th anniversary tour cycle that has seen them hit the road extensively across North America, Europe, and the UK since last year.
Their set, which draws not only from their seminal 1999 self-titled debut but their wider catalogue, serves up an eclectic experience that celebrates the band’s legacy. It’s one that has seen multiple chapters marked by personnel changes, differing sonic directions, and shifts in identity that, for the most part, have kept the band and their fanbase alike guessing where things could head next.
Sitting with bassist Vman (Alessandro Venturella), he offers a laugh when trying to diplomatically provide information about Slipknot’s next moves. “It’s hard to tell! That’s the problem with this band, there’s so much secrecy around things…”
What he can confirm is that the current chemistry within the band has a sense of potency within it that he hasn’t felt in some time.
“We’re hungry now to keep doing stuff,” he says. “There is so much talk of writing new music, even just jamming new music. It’s a breath of fresh air into the band.”
“You can drop an idea and say, ‘Why don’t you try this?’ He’ll play it and I’ll be like, ‘That’s amazing!’ It’ll set someone else off and it goes from there. For me, the future or what’s to come is more of a unit than it’s ever been.”
For Vman, his history with Slipknot stretches back almost 12 years, making the transition from touring guitar tech and musician to full-time member around the time Slipknot entered their .5: The Gray Chapter era.
Describing the shift from tech-ing for a band like Slipknot to actually donning a boilersuit and mask himself, Vman notes that stepping on stage in front of 50,000 for the first time proved a powerful reality check.
Image: Vman Credit: Michelle Grace Hunder
“I’ve always been a musician, so the first rehearsals I had with the band, it just felt natural,” he remembers.
“The only weird thing was the realisation of, ‘Okay, I’m playing with Slipknot.’ That was the only thing. I’d known Jim [Root] for a long time. I’d been on tour with Slipknot in 2008 for All Hope Is Gone, so I’d known a few of them. It wasn’t too weird, but when it came to actually being on a stage and playing in front of 50,000 people for Knotfest in San Bernardino it was like, ‘Whoa, what is this?’ You’ve got something on your face, you’re in a boilersuit and it’s boiling hot… those types of things were definitely strange.”
That guitar tech mindset is one that’s never truly shut off, though.
“I still do it, even today,” Vman says. “I got on-site and there were some things I wanted to work on with my rig. Friends were coming by from Slaughter to Prevail and they’re like, ‘Dude, what are you doing? You’ve got a tech!’ I’m there soldering and tinkering with stuff. I’ll never get away from it.”
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Returning to Australia is one he says feels like a “family reunion,” not just for the band but also for Vman. It’s been an opportunity for him to reconnect with local and touring crew and behind the scenes workers who he shares history with from years’ worth of touring as a member of crew himself.
“Australia is a surreal one,” he smiles. “I did eight Soundwaves in a row, as a tech in the band. The last one I did, I headlined it with Slipknot. It’s quite surreal! Coming back here, we’re seeing all the friends, all the crew, all the people who work these festivals… It’s a big reunion every time we come back here.
“With the sideshows as well, it just feels like we’re on holiday. We’ll go off and do our own thing for the day, then meet back up at the sideshow.”
The backstage energy at Knotfest is, for the most part, relaxed and grounded. Flying in the face of what one might expect from a heavy metal/counterculture event as large as this, floating around backstage, you see artists sharing meals with tour crew; some catch moments to tan in the relentless sun, others walk their children around to find snacks.
This extends to the Slipknot touring family. It feels very much like a tight unit – from the band to their production crew and the families who have joined them on the road for this tour.
Though Vman admits his time with the band has flown in (“it only feels like it’s been three years!”), he takes us through his perspective of Slipknot’s evolution and why now has never been a more exciting time to be in the band, as well as a fan of the music.
“There have been some member changes, of course,” he says, referring to the introduction of percussionist Michael “Tortilla Man” Pfaff and drummer Eloy Casagrande.
“I come from a trained musical background, so having someone like Eloy join the band, who also studied… at 14 years old, that kid was insane. I locked in with him instantly. Not only that, friendship-wise, we just clicked. With the (still to the public unknown) new guy on the keys and Pfaff as well, if you wanted to call us the ‘new guys of the group’, there’s a real brotherhood coming along there.
“Even with time off now… before, the band would separate and we wouldn’t see each other until the next outing with the band. Jim will be like ‘come to my house’ every now and then, but people want time off as well. We’ve got families; someone will be having a kid, or we’ll just want time off to see our families. Now, we plan to go and hang out in between. For me, that’s something new, I haven’t done that before.”
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So, with the juices flowing again and new music in the works (according to Shawn “Clown” Crahan, a new album is in play for this year), Vman is keen to just keep riding the good energy into whatever direction it stands to take Slipknot from here.
Following on from the band’s shows Down Under, Slipknot have their eyes/masks trained on a European summer circuit that will take them to the midway point of 2025.
As Vman says, these are opportunities to see a band operating at a new peak of enthusiasm.
“For me personally, I can’t speak for other people in the band, but there was a time where you’d get to a show or a tour and there’d be a bit of a lull in mental creativity,” he admits. “But now, there’s that enthusiasm; I’m like, ‘Let’s try this today. Let’s run through this today. Let’s work on this new song!’ It hadn’t been like that for a very long time.
“For the fans, they get to see something where everyone is super locked in. That’s not to say that on previous projects we haven’t done great things because we have, but it’s different. People change. Things are moving. Having the excitement when you do write a record or you do all get together, there’s so much love and passion inside of it and ultimately, the fans get a better product.”
More information about Knotfest Australia, and Slipknot’s sideshows, is available here.
