Sick New World 2024 Preview

Las Vegas rocks as Sick New World returns to the Festival Grounds on Saturday, April 27th:

Gold Stage
System of a Down, 10:35 PM This century/millennium’s metal artistic renaissance owes a lot to System of a Down. While many of their nineties contemporaries were either just playing it louder & faster, or incorporating pop or even rap for greater mass appeal, SOAD kept it weird, including lyrics that stretched from political to Dadaist – and a wild pit. They return to headline their second Sick New World in a row!

Bring Me the Horizon, 8:20 PM Sheffield lies at the heart of northern England’s manufacturing belt (or what’s left of it) – and brings the world the metal core of Bring Me the Horizon (QRO photos at an English festival), who play Sick New World (QRO photos at a festival) behind 2019’s Amo.

Alice In Chains, 6:05 PM Alice In Chains (QRO photos) came out of the nineties grunge scene with records like Facelift, Dirt, and Jar of Flies – their song “Would” was even in the very-of-its-era Singles. Unfortunately, frontman Layne Staley’s drug abuse sent the band into hibernation before his 2002 death (followed later by bassist/Celebrity Rehab patient Mike Starr), but the rest of the group has kept going (QRO photos), with new singer William DuVall (QRO photos with DuVall), with word of a new record (QRO photos).

Bad Omens, 4:10 PM Virginia metalcore Bad Omens have been around for almost a decade, but just back in 2022 third full-length The Death of Peace of Mind gave them their big sleeper hit, “Just Pretend”.

Lamb of God, 2:45 PM Virginia’s Lamb of God (QRO photos) have opened for the likes of Metallica and even Slayer on what was billed as their final ever tour (QRO photos from that tour), to come to Sick New World behind 2022’s Omens.

Ice Nine Kills, 1:30 PM Embrace the Vonnegut horror of Ice Nine Kills (QRO photos), who evolved from ska-punk to symphonic metal, and come to Sick New World (QRO photos at a festival) behind 2021’s The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood.

Spiritbox, 12:20 PM Canada’s got heavy metal too, with British Columbia’s Spiritbox (QRO photos) crossing metal sub-genres, most recently with their latest EP last year, The Fear of Fear, and play their second year of Sick New World in a row!

Nonpoint, 11:10 AM Fresh off creating their own independent label, 361 Degrees, Ft. Lauderdale’s Nonpoint come to Sick New World.


Red Stage
Slipknot, 9:20 PM Slipknot were wearing masks before it was cool (QRO photos). Their horror-metal has been scaring people for over two decades now, most recently on 2022’s The End, So Far. They have a look as signature as anyone (QRO photos), and come to Las Vegas for Sick New World (QRO photos).

Danny Elfman, 7:10 PM One of the greatest soundtrack and scoring creators in history, Danny Elfman (QRO ’22 photos) has made the music for everything from a ton of Tim Burton projects (Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Wednesday), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man and Doctor Strange), and Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk) to the iconic theme song for The Simpsons (which yes, he plays live, iconic animation up behind him). Oh, and he was also the frontman for Oingo Boingo before it all. This living legend comes to Sick New World.

A Perfect Circle, 5:00 PM Guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan lead alternative rock-metal supergroup A Perfect Circle. The line-up around them changes, but the sound remains the same, with Howerdel writing the music and Keenan penning the lyrics.

Primus, 3:25 PM Mixing alternative and funk in a Frizzle Fry sauce is Les Claypool’s (QRO interview) Primus (QRO spotlight on). Fronted by one of the most acclaimed bassists out there today, Primus first came to widespread notice in the early nineties thanks to Sailing the Seas of Cheese (QRO live review) and Pork Soda, with songs like “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”, “Tommy the Cat”, “My Name Is Mud”, and “Mr. Krinkle”, delivering a weird funk-driven rock sound akin to an accessible Residents (QRO live review). Primus went on hiatus at the start of this century/millennium (after composing the theme to South Park), with Claypool working solo (QRO photos at a festival – and composed the theme to Robot Chicken), before reforming, first as nostalgia, but then with 2011’s new Green Naugahyde (QRO review), and have kept on going strong (QRO photos), especially on the festival circuit (QRO photos at a festival), even a livestream during COVID (QRO livestream review).

Babymetal, 2:05 PM Blending heavy metal and J-pop is the kawaii metal of Babymetal, bringing the kaiju to Sick New World.

Lorna Shore, 12:55 PM Jersey deathcore crashes into Vegas as Lorna Shore brings the blackened metal of 2022’s Pain Remains and more to Sick New World.

Kittie, 11:45 AM Back in the late nineties, Canada’s Kittie seemed poised for mainstream success with Spit, only to shift to a harder metal sound, change labels, and their bassist Trish Doan passed. But then came back with a fury in 2022, and now come back to Sick New World for the second year in a row!


Spiral Stage
Sleep Token, 11:05 PM Check out the masked British post-metal of Sleep Token.

Black Veil Brides, 9:40 PM Inspired the likes of KISS and Mötley Crüe, Black Veil Brides (QRO photos at a festival) are bringing glam metal into the twenty-first century (QRO photos at a festival), most recently with 2021’s The Phantom Tomorrow.

Wage War, 8:50 PM Melodic metalcore comes from Florida to Nevada to Wage War (QRO ’21 photos in Florida).

Sevendust, 8:00 PM The Atlanta alt-metal of Sevendust (QRO spotlight on) fronted by Lajon Witherspoon (QRO interview) went from only selling 310 copies of their self-titled debut to gold-certified records and big stages (QRO photos in Atlanta), and play Sick New World (QRO photos in Atlanta) for a second year in a row (QRO photos at ’23 Sick New World) on the Machine Killer Tour (QRO live review) with Static-X and Dope (see both below).

Jinjer, 7:25 PM One of the sickest things about this new world we live in right now is the invasion of Ukraine, with the horrible damage done to the Donetsk region. So, celebrate the Donetsk with its native & official cultural ambassadors, Jinjer (QRO ’23 photos).

Motionless In White, 6:35 PM From Scranton, the same home as Joe Biden & Dunder-Mifflin, Motionless In White (QRO photos) bring their heavy metal back to Blue Ridge Rock behind last year’s sixth studio album, Scoring the End of the World.

Static-X, 5:50 PM Wayne Static formed Static-X around him and his trademark high hair, but tragically passed away in 2014. However, four years later, the original Static-X line-up came back together in his honor, putting out music made before his death. With mysterious lead singer “Xero” (QRO ’24 photos), they come to Sick New World on their Machine Killer Tour (QRO live review) with Sevendust and Dope (see both above).

Slaughter To Prevail, 5:15 PM Also protesting that terrible war is Russia’s own deathcore Slaughter To Prevail, who voiced their own denunciation in 2022 with “1984” and leaving Putin’s oppressive state for America.

Dope, 4:40 PM Catch the nu-metal of Dope (QRO ’24 photos) as they come to Vegas on the Machine Killer Tour (QRO live review) with Sevendust & Static-X (see above & below).

Dayseeker, 4:05 PM A Dark Sun rises over Sick New World with the post-hardcore Dayseeker.

Skindred, 3:30 PM Wales’ Skindred fuse reggae, metal, and more (including old fashioned rock) into ‘ragga metal’ that taps into a huge number of different influences while making something original (QRO photos at a festival).

Taproot, 2:55 PM Taproot are alternative metal guys hailing from Ann Arbor.

Helmet, 2:20 PM “To die unsung / Would really bring you down” – with those lyrics from Page Hamilton’s Helmet (QRO photos) launched into surprise, immense success in the early nineties with “Unsung” and Meantime, ushering in a major label rush for their style of straight-faced alt-metal. And while they followed that up with successful records Betty (QRO live review) and Aftertaste, the band never achieved the same level of success, breaking up as the nineties came to a close. But of course, Hamilton wanted to put on his Helmet again, with a new line-up and a series of new records, ready to rock Sick New World with songs old & new.

Powerman 5000, 1:45 PM Formed around Rob Zombie’s younger brother Spider One, Powerman 5000 (QRO photos) go back to Beverly Hills, 90210 and the Scream franchise, because they know that “When Worlds Collide”, “Nobody’s Real”.

Fear Factory, 1:10 PM Pretty much any type of metal – industrial metal, groove metal, alternative metal, death metal, thrash metal, etc. – owe a debt to Fear Factory. They’re now entering their third decade – sort of; there’s been two break-ups and numerous line-up changes, including disputes over who is the ‘real Factory’, but have still released records, most recently 2021’s Aggression Continuum.

Also: Paleface Swiss, 12:35 PM Wednesday 13, 12:00 PM Violent Vira, 11:35 AM


Siren Stage
Swans, 10:45 PM An influential act that’s been a regular at avant-garde European festivals (QRO photos at Optimus Primavera Sound ‘13) is New York’s post-punk pioneers Swans (QRO live review). Fronted Michael Gira (QRO solo photos at a festival), Swans land in Las Vegas (QRO photos at a festival) behind last year’s The Beggar.

Slowdive, 9:40 PM Shoegaze was always at its biggest in Britain in acts like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive (QRO photos at a festival), whose members spun off into various other projects in the nineties (including Mojave 3 – QRO photos), but started a reunion on 2014 (QRO photos at 2014 festival). It’s kept going on both sides of the Atlantic (QRO live review in the U.K.), including 2017’s full-length (QRO review) and last year’s Everything Is Alive (QRO review), now coming to Sick New World (QRO photos at a festival).

Polyphia, 9:05 PM Incorporating viruosic guitar and other styles into their progressive metal is Texas’ Polyphia (QRO live review).

The Garden, 8:30 PM Twin brothers Wyatt & Fletcher Spears form The Garden (QRO photos at a ’23 festival).

Duster, 7:55 PM Incorporating space rock and slowcore into their indie is San Jose’s Duster (QRO photos at a festival), who come over to Vegas behind 2022’s Together.

Knocked Loose, 7:05 PM Because you came to Sick New World to get in the pit, jump in with the hardcore of Knocked Loose (QRO ’22 photos).

Have a Nice Life, 6:30 PM Have a Nice Sick New World with the experimental shoegaze of Have a Nice Life.

Nitzer Ebb, 5:55 PM An essential act in both electronica and industrial, Nitzer Ebb (QRO photos) have their own essential legacy.

Front 242, 5:20 PM Another influential early electronic act that helped birth the sound comes to Sick New World: Belgium’s Front 242.

Front Line Assembly, 4:45 PM After leaving Skinny Puppy way back in the eighties, Bill Leeb founded his own electro-industrial outfit, Frontline Assembly (QRO photos), and the assembly line has kept going ever since.

VNV Nation, 4:10 PM For Irish electronicist Ronan Harris, his Nation is Victory Not Vengeance (QRO photos).

Lords of Acid, 3:35 PM Take a tab of the sexually explicit EDM of Lords of Acid (QRO live review).

She Past Away, 3:00 PM Reaching across to the other side of the Black Sea, Sick New World brings in Turkish post-punks She Past Away.

Combichrist, 2:25 PM Norway’s Andy LePlegua has since moved his aggrotech outfit Combichrist from Atlanta (QRO photos in Atlanta), so will be perfect for Sick New World.

3TEETH, 1:50 PM Inspired by the likes of The Downward Spiral, Los Angeles’ 3TEETH come over to Vegas behind last year’s EndEx.

Also: Vowws, 1:20 PM Kim Dracula, 12:55 PM 6arelyhuman, 12:30 PM Quannnic, 12:05 PM Snow Strippers, 11:40 AM


Red Stage
Incendiary, 9:00 PM Light up the Long Island hardcore of Incendiary.

Static Dress, 8:25 PM Mixing screamo and emo is England’s Static Dress, who come to Las Vegas behind 2022’s debut full-length, Rouge Carpet Disaster.

Better Lovers, 7:50 PM A hardcore supergroup featuring members of Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan and more is the new Better Lovers.

Code Orange, 7:15 PM Embrace the hard-hitting industrial metalcore of Code Orange (QRO photos at a festival), who come to Sick New World behind last year’s The Above.

Vein.fm, 6:40 PM Boston metalcore comes to Las Vegas in the form of Vein.fm, warning that This World Is Going To Ruin You.

Drain, 6:05 PM Hardcore is having a renaissance this decade, so the New York Times, and one of those acts is the crossover thrash of Santa Cruz’s Drain.

Kublai Khan TX, 5:30 PM From the stately Xanadu of Texas comes the metalcore of Kublai Khan.

Loathe, 4:55 PM Liverpool’s Loathe bring in the likes of shoegaze and industrial into their metal, and play their second year of Sick New World in a row!

Fleshwater, 4:20 PM Mixing everything from shoegaze to grunge is Boston’s Fleshwater.

Sunami, 3:45 PM What began as a parody of hardcore by players of hardcore has become the vital Sunami.

Superheaven, 3:10 PM Philly alt-grunge Superheaven are playing their second year of Sick New World in a row!

Trash Talk, 2:35 PM One of the most praised bands in today’s revival of hardcore is Sacramento’s Trash Talk (QRO photos). Judge for yourself what all the Talk is about – just don’t get caught in the pit if you want to survive!

Also: Drop Nineteens, 2:00 PM Ultra Sunn, 1:35 PM Gel, 1:10 PM Zulu, 12:45 PM Spy, 12:20 PM Fury, 11:55 AM Glare, 11:30 AM