Okay, everybody remain calm.
Actually, nah. Don’t bother.
Aussie heavy music fans are currently losing their collective shit after some extremely suspicious imagery appeared in Brisbane overnight, seemingly teasing… something… involving System Of A Down and Faith No More.
“I’m going to vomit. Omg” – fan reaction
The footage was captured and shared by local heavy scene legend, Wall Of Sound‘s Browny, who spotted a large-scale projection flashing across a wall in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
First comes Faith No More’s unmistakable eight-pointed star logo – the same symbol that appeared on the cover of their 1985 debut album We Care A Lot.
Then comes the iconic red hand artwork from the cover of System Of A Down’s 1998 self-titled debut.
You can peep Browny’s footage up above.
And naturally, Australian heavy fans have responded with total emotional stability.
“I’m going to vomit. Omg,” one fan commented on Wall Of Sound‘s post.
“Oh my god!!!! I have been waiting my whole life to see them live!!!” wrote another.
“This better not be some cruel joke,” added a third, speaking for basically everybody.
At this stage, no official announcement has been made, so let’s put the speculation helmet firmly on.
The projection could be teasing a co-headline Australian tour. It could point to separate tours announced at the same time. It could be part of a larger festival reveal???
But considering both logos appeared together in the same public teaser, it is looking increasingly difficult to believe that the pairing is a coincidence.
And if this does turn out to be a joint tour, calling it “massive” would feel almost offensively understated.
System Of A Down haven’t toured Australia in 14 years, with their last local appearances taking place as part of Soundwave 2012.
Despite maintaining one of the most devoted fanbases in heavy music, the Armenian-American metal icons have remained relatively selective with live dates in recent years, making any Australian return a capital-E Event.
Faith No More, meanwhile, have only just confirmed plans to return to touring in 2027 after years of uncertainty about whether the band would ever perform together again.
Last month, bassist Bill Gould finally confirmed the news during an appearance on the Rock Talk podcast.
“Yeah, we’re gonna do it,” Gould said. “We’re gonna play.”
He explained the band had collectively decided to return while they still felt physically capable of performing Faith No More’s intensely demanding catalogue the way it was originally intended.
“We wrote it as 20-year-olds and it’s always been very physical,” Gould said.
“We think we can do it for a few more years, and we can do it the right way, so we’re gonna give it a go.”
Faith No More have not played live since August 2016, and Australia has been waiting even longer.
The band’s last local visit came via Soundwave 2015, while their last proper Australian headline tour happened all the way back in 1997.
That means any 2027 headline return could mark their first full Australian tour in three-ass decades.
Australia was originally meant to host Faith No More’s comeback in 2020, but the shows were postponed twice due to the pandemic before ultimately being cancelled as frontman Mike Patton stepped away to focus on his mental health.
At the time, the band stressed that performing at anything less than 100 per cent after such a lengthy absence was not an option.
Now, with Faith No More officially preparing to reactivate and their logo suddenly appearing alongside System Of A Down’s in the middle of Bris Vegas, the possibility that Australia could be part of those comeback plans feels significantly less hypothetical.
Again: nothing has been formally confirmed.
We do not have dates. We do not have venues. We do not have a promoter announcement. We do not even know for certain whether these bands will be appearing on the same bill.
What we do have is one extremely deliberate-looking projection featuring two of alternative metal’s most recognisable images, displayed publicly in an Australian capital city.
And honestly, that is more than enough to send the group chat into cardiac arrest.
Massive credit to Browny and Wall Of Sound for spotting and breaking the huge news.
Now we wait.
Very patiently.
And by “patiently”, we mean refreshing every tour promoter’s social accounts until our thumbs stop working…
Further Reading
Faith No More Confirm 2027 Live Return, Giving Aussie Fans Good Reason To Hope
11 Unforgettable Soundwave Festival Moments
System Of A Down’s ‘Toxicity’ Briefly Vanished From Spotify & Fans Were Real Pissed
