The world’s premier rock and metal festival Download returns to Australia after a hugely successful 2019 that saw the event debut to 20,000 heavy music fans at Parramatta Park in Sydney and return to Flemington in Melbourne to satiate 20,000 more!
March 2020 will serve up another two days of pure rock and metal fury across four stages, laced with lashings of delectable ice-cold beverages and mouth-watering eats, topped off with the company of tens of thousands of your closest heavy music mates!
Download 2020 takes up a new home in Melbourne at the Showgrounds and falls on a Friday… so go book in that annual leave and prep for the best long weekend of your life!
The Class of Download 2020 are….
Formed in Newark, NJ, My Chemical Romance made its debut in 2002 with the independently released album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. The band signed to Reprise Records the following year and made its major label debut with 2004’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, now 3x certified Platinum. The album contained the Platinum hit “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” the Gold-certified “Helena,” and “The Ghost of You.” Rolling Stone hailed the 3x Platinum The Black Parade as one of the top albums of 2006. Lead single “Welcome to the Black Parade” topped both Billboard’s Alternative Songs tally and the UK Official Singles chart and is now 3x Platinum. The band toured extensively behind the album – appearing as characters from The Black Parade – and released the live album The Black Parade is Dead! in 2008. Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys was released in 2010 and topped Billboard’s Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. It was followed by a series of singles later released as Conventional Weapons in 2013. Selling out stadiums across the globe and providing the soundtrack of a generation, we are beyond excited to welcome them exclusively to Download 2020 (there will be no side shows).
Since Deftones’ inception, the multiplatinum, Grammy-Winning alternative rock band from Sacramento, CA have quietly been pursuing two paths, delivering songs defined by churning, double-fisted aggression while also testing the boundaries of music by incorporating elements of psychedelia and shoegaze. Deftones have released seven albums to date and have sold over 10 million albums worldwide.
Since 1992, beloved Arizona alternative rock band Jimmy Eat World have been selling out venues, headlining festivals and scoring top ten albums! Their 2001 breakthrough Bleed American that spawned hit singles, ‘The Middle’, ‘Hear You Me’, ‘Bleed American’ and ‘Sweetness’ has proved to be a timeless release that continues to gain new generations of teenage punks struggling to fit in, who swiftly adopt their songs as the soundtrack to their lives. They land at Download in the wake of the release of their tenth studio LP, Surviving (Oct 2019), giving Australian fans their first taste of the new tracks live.
Fans have been patiently waiting four years for the return of legendary Maryland rockers the mighty Clutch! One of the hardest working, greatest bands in heavy music, Clutch spend eleven months of the year on the road touring the globe, cementing their reputation for delivering faultless, blistering rock n roll opus’ show after show. Another exclusive to Download, this will be the first chance to see new songs from the bands 12th studio LP, Book Of Bad Decisions live on stage, don’t miss the greatest band in the Universe!
Industrial metal pioneers Ministry bring their synth pop heavy repertoire to Download 2020. Fourteen studio albums since their inception in 1981, including their seminal LPs Twitch, The Land Of Rape and Honey and The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and their mainstream breakthrough LP Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and The Way to Suck Eggs, have cemented Ministry as one of the most consistent prolific heavy artists of modern times. With a new line up, incredibly full sound, and some might say a return to the roots of Ministry, the band is prepared to release a record that is socially relevant and sonically effective.
Sweden’s leading metal band In Flames have never stopped moving forward during the more than 20 years they’ve been performing. The melodic death metal of the band’s early days has since evolved into a unique expression, manifested in 13 albums like ‘A Sense of Purpose’, ‘Sounds of a Playground Fading’, ‘Siren Charms’ and their latest release, ‘I, The Mask’ recorded in Los Angeles with multi Grammy-nominated producer, Howard Benson. 2019’s ‘I, The Mask’ charted #1 in Sweden and Austria, #2 in Germany and #1 in US Top Rock and Metal Albums. In Flames are a band that fans around the world can rely on.
For over three decades, Bay Area quintet Testament has consistently delivered unadulterated, unbridled, and unbreakable metal in its purest form without compromise or any signs of slowing down. Over the course of seminal releases ranging from The Legacy and Practice What You Preach to The Gathering and The Formation Of Damnation, which won “Best Album” at Metal Hammer’s 2008 Golden Gods Awards, the group’s sales exceeded 14 million worldwide with 2 million in the U.S. alone.
Scotland’s party machine Alestorm have evolved into an international sensation! Conquering album charts and festival stages throughout the world, with their infectious brand of ‘Pirate Metal’ and their dashing good looks. Somehow they’ve managed to convince hundreds of thousands of people around the globe that it’s cool to wear a pirate hat and sing stupid songs about getting drunk and stealing ships. So prepare your spleens, because Alestorm are coming to Australia exclusively for Download to kick ass and chew gum!
Seminal English outfit Carcass have released several classic albums over the years and changed the trajectory of extreme metal with each consecutive release. Whether it was inventing gore-grind (Reek of Putrefaction & Symphonies of Sickness) or creating the template for melodic death metal (Heartwork), Carcass has always made records by which bars were set and rules were broken. Upon their untimely demise in 1996, fans mourned the loss of this seminal act and lived in hope that the group would one day be exhumed from their premature grave. After an 18-year hiatus, Carcass has been fully reanimated since 2013, catch them at Download 2020!
Formed in 1994, another Download exclusive, Italian alt metal superstars Lacuna Coil’s spirited and lauded live performances have also earned them a solid reputation for a band that not only delivers night in/night out, but also a band whose stage performance reverberates long after the show is over. Indeed, Lacuna Coil’s heartfelt, heavy, melodic, and rhythmic metal—a hybrid of gothic, groove, and alternative—has created a rabid worldwide following.
Born and bred in Canberra, Hands Like Houses have achieved a lot in their decade together, spending their time thrilling crowds playing packed arenas and festival stages around the world. Over 150k record sales worldwide, multiple headline tours of the USA and UK, and three sold out back-to-back headline tours across Australia in just two years. Their newest release –Anon. snatching even more praise with their first top 5 Aria charting album with the album swooping in at #4.
Byron Bay’s In Hearts Wake have been changing minds and lives since 2012. With three top five records under their belts and over 100,000 records sold worldwide, they are one of melodic Metalcore’s leading lights. They have looped the planet multiple times in the name of spreading their ecological, humanitarian and urgent environmental message. Their latest album Ark inspires global change like never before and musically it pays homage to the past as much as it signals a bright new future for conscious heavy music.
The HU is a band from Mongolia that blend hard rock and traditional Mongolian throat singing. Their first two videos Yuve Yuve Yu and Wolf Totem immediately went viral garnering the band over 30 million views. The explosive reaction to The HU resulted in enthusiastic coverage from media all over the world. Together they create rock music with traditional Mongolian instrumentation such as the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), Tovshuur (Mongolian guitar), Tumur Khuur (jaw harp), guttural throat singing built around the pillars of heavy rock: distorted guitars, bombastic drums, and aggressive rhythms.
Fifteen years after releasing their first EP, Grammy-nominated exploratory rock band Baroness spill triumphantly past genre barriers, their anthemic alt-metal hooks ricocheting between the circuitous twists of prog and jazz, the moody swirls of space-rock and noise, and the hypnotic pulses of trip-hop and 20th Century minimalism.
Melbourne’s extreme prog metallers Ne Obliviscaris blend epic and intense progressive metal with thundering drums, devastating guitar riffs, shrieking violin and gorgeous string sections, soaring clean vocals and brutal growls! No strangers to festivals, they have graced the stages of some of Europe’s heaviest and we welcome them to Download 2020.
One of the most revered punk bands Australia has ever produced, Bodyjar have come a long way since forming in the Melbourne suburbs over 20 years ago. Graduating from pub stages during the worldwide ’90s punk boom, to stages of festivals like The Big Day Out, with hit singles like Not The Same and Fall To The Ground, Bodyjar went on to tour the globe several times over with many of the era’s most respected acts! After calling it a day in 2005, they reunited in 2013 and have continued to tour and release new music.
New Years Day, the U.S. metal five-piece lead by powerhouse Ash Costello, made their debut Aussie appearance hitting Download’s Avalanche Stage in Melbourne and Sydney last March, immediately setting about performing a killer set and they are back for more! Earlier this year they unleashed their fourth and current studio album, Unbreakable “the poppiest metal album, or the most metal pop album”, see it live in all its pop-metal glory at Download 2020.
Melbourne’s hardcore punk outfit Clowns have never been ones to conform. The five-piece started life in 2010 as a more-or-less straightforward hardcore punk act, but over the course of their first three albums – 2013’s I’m Not Right, 2015’s Bad Blood and 2017’s Lucid Again – were steadily evolving and mutating their sound in whatever direction they felt like. 2019 has seen the band release their fourth studio offering Nature/Nurture, which caught the ears of punk heavyweight Fat Wreck Chords, making them the second Australian band ever to join the esteemed label.
UK based five-piece Venom Prison first pummeled the jugular of the underground with a self-released demo Defy the Tyrant in 2015. Their debut LP Animus propelled the death metal band into the spotlight earning them the prestigious Metal Hammer Golden Gods award for best new band in 2017. What you might mistake for the light at the end of the tunnel is just as likely to be their view of watching the world burn.
SKYND peel back the layers behind the earthly façade we show to the world and uncover what lurks beneath in all of its painful glory. The industrialized gothic and true crime-inspired electronic duo -Skynd, (lead vocals) and Father, (producer, multi-instrumentalist) reach into the deepest, darkest depths of your soul, are you ready for this Download performance?
Melbourne metalcore outfit Thornhill are the future of heavy music in Australia. Their thunderous, melodic alternative metalcore is on the rise in heavy music fans conscious thanks to their stunning EP Butterfly, the refreshingly colourful debut LP The Dark Pool (Oct 2019) and some solid touring with heavyweights like Northlane, Architects, Parkway Drive and more.
In their 10th year since conception, Disentomb now stands as one of the most unique and commanding bands in modern metal. The pursuit of unrelentingly brutal death has lead the Brisbane based act down a dark and twisted path and into a unique sound that is completely unlike their rudimentary beginnings, combining lacerating energy with a bleak dissonance that embodies pure sonic malice.
One of Australia’s hottest prospects, Sydney’s Stand Atlantic have played 150+ shows in the last 12 months. The pop-punk meets alternative rockers have gone strength-to-strength since the release of their debut album Skinny Dipping. They have toured relentlessly across the globe and racked up over 30,000,000 streams online, secured BBC Radio 1 / Sirius XM / AppleBeats1 airplay and gained a triple J Feature Album and are universally tipped to be the next household name in rock music.
Sydney’s Plini, composes, plays guitar, records, produces and manages his unique brand of instrumental progressive rock all from a bedroom studio. He was named “Best Prog Guitarist in the world right now” by Music Radar, and legendary guitarist Steve Vai described his critically-acclaimed debut album “Handmade Cities” as “one of the finest, forward-thinking, melodic, rhythmically and harmonically deep, evolution of rock/metal instrumental guitar records I have ever heard.”
Since Sydney’s RedHook officially spawned in 2018, the rise of the self-styled heavy pop mutants has been described as nothing short of meteoric. They create unique and emotional alternative music that fuses multiple genres including rock, rap, metalcore, pop and electronica, with lyrics that aim to inspire listeners to keep fighting against the forces of darkness – both in the real world and inside their own heads.
Dystopia in the eyes of New Wave Hardcore band Dregg means a world where humans turn into machines and machines turn into humans. The five-piece from Melbourne often don face masks, war paints, and outlandish outfits to put on a lively show that melds hardcore, nu-metal, and hip hop. Their defined artistic vision aims at breaking down and analyzing every aspect of life — socially, politically, spiritually, and mentally – they implore you to channel your inner weirdo!
“Parramatta Park was an ideal venue… pleasing was the juxtaposition of natural and unearthly worlds – the scent of the surrounding gum trees combined with the appearance of hundreds of bats at sunset to contribute an amiable and uniquely Australian atmosphere to this festival of metal.” Sydney Morning Herald
Previous Years Purchaser Presale: Fri 8 Nov, 11am AEDT – Mon 11 Nov, 11am AEDT
Moshtix & Ticketmaster Presale: Mon 11 Nov, 12pm AEDT – Wed 13 Nov, 11am AEDT
General Onsale: Wed 13 Nov, 12pm AEDT
RIP Tickets:
One General Admission ticket to Download Festival
VIP Express Line at Entry
Exclusive Download Festival merchandise item
Commemorative Download Festival VIP laminate
Exclusive Access to the RIP Viewing Area which includes –
• A view of the main stage
• VIP bar and food stalls
• Official Download merchandise stand
• VIP Cloak Room
• VIP toilets
• Complimentary WIFI and phone charging stations
• VIP Shade and seating areas
General admission – $189 + bf ($194.93)
RIP – $349 + bf ($358.05)
Double Down(load) – $360 +bf ($369.26)
Plus $5.95 transaction fee per order
TICKET LINKS
BOTH SHOWS
MELBOURNE
SYDNEY
Spotify Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2XMoYC2fFrGMOIZbkkDf4M?si=DdV61ZZIRWKU7JPVp8z_EQ
Melbourne Friday March 20 || Showgrounds
Sydney Saturday March 21 || Parramatta Park
Download is an 18+ fully licensed event
