Metal Allegiance Announced For Soundwave 2016

October 8, 2015

UPDATE 17/12/15 5.50pm: Soundwave 2016 has been officially cancelled.

The Soundwave 2016 drip feed just hit us with one of its biggest drips yet, in the form of heavy metal super-duper-duper-group Metal Allegiance.

Basically a Suicide Squad of heavy metal, the all-star act features a revolving door of the genre’s biggest names, with a core foundation made up of Testament’s Alex Skolnick, Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drum demon Mike Portnoy (who we saw earlier today showcasing his metal skills on a Hello Kitty drumkit) and songwriter Mark Menghi.

Joining them at Soundwave 2016 for their first ever Australian performance will also be (Holy shit!) Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda and Machine Head’s Phil Demmel.

And although the band’s fourth core member, Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson, won’t be tagging along this time, you’ll be able to catch him in a few weeks when he comes Down Under to tour with the actual Megadeth.

As well as a bunch of your favourite hard rock and metal covers, the group will also be performing tracks off their debut self-titled album, the liner notes of which read like a fucking heavy metal encyclopaedia.

The Metal Allegiance album features cameos from honorary Allegiance members Phil Anselmo, Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe, Anthrax’s Charlie Benante, Pantera’s Rex Brown, Guns N’ Roses’ Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz, Trivium’s Matt Heafy, Exodus’s Gary Holt, Jamey Jasta (who is coming to Soundwave 2016 already with Hatebreed), Fozzy’s Chris Jericho, Periphery’s Misha Mansoor, Former Judas Priest and current Yngwe Malmsteen frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens, Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia and shit-tonnes more.

The all-star heavy metal outfit are the 11th act on the SW16 lineup to have their identities unmasked.

They join a bill that is shaping up to be darker than the devil’s derrière, alongside the likes of Hatebreed, fellow metal supergroup Devil You Know, British rock juggernauts Bring Me The Horizon, Sydney metal legends Northlane, Swedish hardcore act Refused, Los Angeles alt-rockers Failure, Brisbane riffsters Dead Letter Circus, Welsh metal outfit Bullet For My Valentine 2006 Eurovision winners, Lordi and English rockers Moose Blood.

The full Soundwave 2016 lineup is now due to be unveiled on Thursday, 15th October.

Next year’s festival is not only tipped to be “heavier” than usual, but will also put the onus on quality over quantity, with “better bands and longer sets”.

Early bird tickets are on sale now. Check out all the details below, or for a rundown of everything we know about next year’s festival as of now, check out our Soundwave 2016: What We Know So Far page.

Watch: Metal Allegiance – Soundwave 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2FTms30iIs&feature=youtu.be

Watch: Metal Allegiance (Ft. Randy Blythe) – Gift Of Pain