Kentucky metalcore/hardcore force Knocked Loose will bring their pummeling live show to Australia in March as part of the lineup for the debut outing of Knotfest Australia. 

One of the most beloved and celebrated bands in modern heavy music, Knocked Loose have torn a path through the underground over the last decade, unleashing two full-length albums  (Laugh Tracks, A Different Shade Of Blue) and three EPs (Pop Culture, Mistakes Like Fractures, A Tear in the Fabric of Life) that have found favour with fans and critics alike. 



Bursting to prominence thanks to the feverish reception to 2016 debut album Laugh Tracks, Knocked Loose have propelled themselves forward with every release since, showcasing artistic growth without sacrificing the sheer intensity upon which they built their name. 



On their most recent release, 2021's A Tear In The Fabric of Life Knocked Loose challenged themselves to create something different, hunkering down in a Cabin in Tennesee to create a concept record that pushed them beyond where they'd ventured before, both sonically and lyrically. Their most dynamic and contained offering, A Tear In The Fabric of Life tells the tale of a roadtrip gone horribly wrong, with songs focussed upon a car accident, a passenger who passes away, surivors death and a reunion in the afterlife. The music not only follows the narrative, but was written in the order of it, creating a truly interconnected conceptual artwork, that also happen to be absolutely brutal. 



On the opener, Where Light Divides the Holler, ambient sounds of a radio switching give way to a harsh, punishing breakdown.  Permanent, the closer, is crushing, and ends in a majestic, almost soundtrack-like ring-out. In between there are new elements — guitars droning out, radio interludes, vocal-only suites — and the immediate heaviness listeners have come to expect from Knocked Loose. It’s hardcore, filtered through what vocalist Bryan Garris (he of the iconic "arf arf" pit call) has said is a more prominent death metal influence. 

When we were offered the chance to catch up with Knocked Loose prior to their visit down under for Knotfest Australia, we decided to ask them to to curate a playlist of the harshest and heaviest songs they love and why. These are the songs that'll knock you loose. 



Job For A Cowboy – What We Once Called Home

"The first one that comes to my head is a song called What We Once Called Home by Job For A Cowboy.  That was actually the first song that I ever tried to scream, me and a friend were listening to it really loud and goofing off, trying to imitate the vocals. And there's a breakdown in that song where he says “this is a war” over and over again. I remember I just tried to do that and my friend was just like: “you're not too bad, maybe you should come jam with me and some of my friends”. And that kind of just snowballed into me trying to pursue singing. So, that’s definitely a big one."

Slipknot – People = Shit

"I'll also throw in People = Shit by Slipknot because it's kind of fitting for us coming back to Australia." 

Hatebreed– Driven By Suffering

"I've also gotta throw Hatebreed in there. Hatebreed is such a huge inspiration for me, and one of my favourite hardcore bands. Their song Driven by Suffering, the last song off of their first album – I feel like it's just so ahead of its time. It's so heavy but personal, I love that song. And just to tie everything together with Knotfest, one time I saw also saw Malevolence cover Driven by Suffering - and it was awesome."

Justice For The Damned - The House You Built Is Burning



"I'm throwing more friends of ours in, and an Australian band Justice For The Damned – and specifically, their song The House You Built is Burning. We played with them the first time that we ever came to Australia. It was actually a day off, we played an off day show in Wollongong at Rad Bar."

"It was like a house, it was so small and I remember seeing Justice for the Damned play. I didn't really meet any of them, but everybody told us like: “oh yeah, this band's from Australia, they're sick”. So, it was us, Justice for the Damned and then this band Relentless, who are now members of Speed, and a band called Reactions. I remember watching Justice for the Damned and just being like: “these guys are crazy”, it sounds like a big metal band who you would see play something like Knotfest – but it was in a house show setting, people were, like, beating the shit out of each other and jumping off the stairs. And I just remember thinking that it was such a really interesting blend of the two worlds, and I was just instantly hooked. And then we were fortunate enough to tour with them in 2019, we did Europe with them and every member of the band is just so, so great. That was right when they were promoting their new record and they were playing The House You Built Is Burning before it was out. I remember watching them the first night and when they played that breakdown - me and the guitar player of my band, Isaac, just laughed at each other because it was so crazy."

Pain of Truth - The Test



"I'm also gonna include Pain of Truth. It's a band from the Long Island, New York area. The guitar player is actually the guy that does all the graphics for Knocked Loose, his name is Ridge, he plays in that band. He also plays in a band called Life's Question, but in in 2020 Pain of Truth released their EP No Blame… Just Facts, and I'm definitely throwing their song The Test in here. The EP was instantly something that I played so much in 2020. And then I got to see them live at LDB Fest in 2021. They have such a cool live show, so energetic. It has massive singalongs, but also super heavy mosh parts. You kind of get the best of both worlds when it comes to just watching them, and they've been going pretty hard for a while now. But just going off of their EP, I'm assuming that they've probably gotten more stuff in the works and I'm excited to see what they do next."

Knocked Loose will appear at Knotfest Australia later this month. Headlined by  Slipknot the festival lineup also features Parkway Drive, Megadeth, Trivium, Northlane, Amon Amarth, In Flames, Spiritbox, Story Of The Year, Alpha Wolf, Void Of Vision, Bad Omens and Malevolence. 

The Melbourne and Brisbane legs of Knotfest Australia have sold out. Final tickets are still available for the Sydney date now via destroyalllines.com

Knocked Loose will also perform two headline shows during their visit, with one show taking place in Melbourne on March 23rd at the Colonial Hotel and the other in Brisbane on March 27th. Melbourne has sold out. Tickets for Brisbane are available via destroyalllines.com.

Listen To Knocked Loose