theMusic's Guide To Soundwave

So Soundwave finally kicks off this Saturday in Brisbane and we wanted to make sure you were all well equipped to know who is on this epic lineup - there are shitloads of bands so it would be near impossible for you guys to know it off by heart. We've been covering all the artists on the bill, from the controversial news bits to the sit-downs with your favourite frontmen. Here's what they've all been up to in theMusic sphere.

METALLICA

Our Soundwave headliner is (drum roll please)...

It seems Metallica have themselves a fan in This Is Hell.

LINKIN PARK

Our take on Linkin Park's 2012 effort Living Things.

The band announced some big sideshows with Stone Sour.

BLINK-182

Back in August, the band confirmed they would be coming to Soundwave, including drummer Travis Barker, who survived a devastating plane crash in 2008.

They announced a few sideshows and their support bands.

We spoke to Tom DeLonge about their most recent album Neighborhoods, which flunked.

In a blow to Blink fans, Travis Barker announced this past week he would not be travelling with the rest of the band due to his fear of flying, something DeLonge also discussed with us.

A PERFECT CIRCLE

In October, Josh Freese left the band after thirteen years with them.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

Ahead of their Soundwave appearances, returning vocalist Jesse Leach and guitarist/producer Adam Dutkiewicz told Brendan Crabb his days are numbered.

They also announced the date and tracklist for their upcoming album Disarm The Descent.

SLAYER

Kerry King reminisced with Brendan Crabb about the early days when Slayer was hated.

And then he dismissed today's metal bands as “faceless”.

THE OFFSPRING

We reviewed The Offspring's Days Go By album back in June.

The band also revealed they would be playing their 1992 album Ignition in full at their Soundwave sideshows.

PARAMORE

The punk pop rockers announced their only headlining sidewave would be at Sydney's Enmore Theatre.

The band also revealed details of their upcoming album.

GARBAGE

Garbage spoke to us months before they were announced for Soundwave.

We also reviewed their fifth album Not Your Kind Of People.

The Shirley Manson-led rockers announced their sidewaves.

They then released a best of album – the Absolute Collection, which we had a listen to.

TOMAHAWK

Tomahawk announced two Soundwave sideshows for the upcoming tour.

Here's our take on their latest album Oddfellows, which was released in January.

STONE SOUR

The rock stalwarts will join Linkin Park on their upcoming sidewaves.

Our Brendan Crabb reviewed their 2012 release House Of Gold & Bones Part 1.

KYUSS LIVES

The band chatted with Kris Swales ahead of their Soundwave tour.

Former drummer Brant Bjork opened up about the bitter legal battle over the band's name and member changes.

All controversy aside, the rockers announced they would team up with Red Fang for some sidewave shows.

And Kris Swales tried to get us to understand Kyuss. The guy is a big fan, incase you haven't noticed.

ANTHRAX

The thrash outfit announced a couple of sidewaves for their upcoming tour.

We also chatted to vocalist Joey Belladonna about their tour to Australia.

Scott Ian will also team up with Chris Jericho of Fozzy for some special Q&A shows while the bands tour for Soundwave.

SUM 41

The Sum 41 guys will team up with Billy Talent for a couple of sideshows while they're here for Soundwave.

CYPRESS HILL

B-Real got real with Lochlan Watt ahead of their Soundwave appearances.

The rapper also got political and some may say controversial about the decriminalising weed debate in the US.

Lucky for Aussie fans, the hip hop icons announced a couple of sidewaves for their upcoming tour.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

The metal icons announced two extra gigs while they're out here for Soundwave.

Guitarist Michael 'Padge' Paget gave Tom Hersey the lowdown on their latest album Temper Temper.

Which we reviewed…

Michael 'Moose' Thomas revealed to Daniel Cribb he has nearly lost his mind being in the band.

But vocalist/guitarist Matt Tuck went a little further, discussing his issues with drugs and alcohol with Brendan Crabb.

BRING ME THE HORIZON

The metalcore masters announced sidewaves with post-hardcore outfit Pierce The Veil.

BME did endure some controversy ahead of the Soundwave tour, with Australian guitarist Jona Weinhofen being replaced in January.

Crowd funding platform PledgeMusic launched a pre-order campaign for the new Bring Me The Horizon album, the first international pre-order partnership for the company in Australia.

BILLY TALENT

Long before their appearances at Soundwave were announced, the boys from Billy Talent made a quick trip to Oz to promote their latest single.

Benny Doyle reviewed the Brisbane gig of this tour.

Ben Kowalewicz played musical chairs with our own Stuart Evans.

In the interview, Kowalewicz admitted the band's journey was “fucking hard man”.

AMITY AFFLICTION

It was a controversial twelve months for the Amity Affliction, with the release of their confronting cover art for their album Chasing Ghosts.

The band later released an apology statement, for comments they made regarding the uproar over the album cover.

Getting back to the music, we did review the album after all the controversy seemed to fade away.

And it hit number one on the ARIA charts.

The Melbourne outfit also found themselves looking a permanent guitarist after splitting with fill-in Imran Siddiqi.

We spoke to frontman Joel Birch about the new record.

The guys were also announced as part of the Live It Up Festival in Brisbane that's happening in April.

DRAGONFORCE

Earlier in the year, we reviewed Dragonforce's album The Power Within.

The band will team up with The Sword for some Soundwave sideshows.

ALL TIME LOW

The pop-punk quartet announced details of their newest LP Don't Panic.

Frontman Alex Gaskarth gave Daniel Cribb the lowdown on the album, which was nine years in the making.

The guys also announced a couple of sidewaves with Polar Bear Club and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!

FLOGGING MOLLY

The Celtic punk rockers will join Lawrence Arms and Lucero for a few sideshows while they're here for Soundwave.

DUFF MCKAGAN'S LOADED

The guys announced two extra club dates while they tour Australia.

We also spoke to Duff McKagan himself and got the lowdown on his friendship – or lack thereof with Axl Rose.

MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK

We reviewed the band's latest album Go back in June.

Sidewaves were announced for the punk rockers, with The Early November and Deaf Havana set to join them.

We then spoke to lead guitarist/vocalist Joshua Cain about the band touring its arse off.

THE VANDALS

The Vandals will play a couple of sideshows with fellow Soundwaver's Blink 182 and Sharks.

THE SWORD

We reviewed the “pure stoner awesome” album from The Sword, Apocryphon.

The band also announced some sidewaves with Dragonforce.

Guitarist Kyle Shutt told Tom Hersey the band will be as lethal as ever when they return to play Soundwave.

Then vocalist-guitarist JD Cronise told us about Apocryphon, which he described as a “Sasquatch of a record”.

CHELSEA GRIN

Chelsea Grin will join Of Monsters & Men for sidewaves.

SHARKS

Sharks were announced as the support act, along with The Vandals for Blink 182's sidewaves.

NORTHLANE

Northlane released details on their latest album Quantum Flux through UNFD.

This album news was of course the big reveal that UNFD was being all mysterious about on their website.

MILESTONES

The quintet kicked off proceedings in top fashion at a Silverstein gig earlier in the year.

Milestones were also announced as one of the support acts for Gallows on their sidewave shows.

MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE

The band announced sidewaves with The Blackout and Cerebral Ballzy.

SICK OF IT ALL

Sick Of It All will join fellow stalwart rockers Madball and Vision Of Disorder for a few sidewaves.

THE BLACKOUT

We reviewed The Blackout's most recent release Start The Party.

Sidewaves with Mindless Self Indulgence and Cerebral Ballzy were announced for the band.

We also spoke to vocalist Sean Smith on not caring what anyone thinks.

GALLOWS

Guitarist Laurent 'Lags' Barnard told our Daniel Cribb that Gallows still like “fuckin' with people”.

theMusic streamed their self-titled third album.

And we gave our take on the record.

The band also announced some sidewaves with Confession and Milestones.

THIS IS HELL

The band chose Metallica over another rock icon in a recent interview with us.

CEREBRAL BALLZY

The band will join The Blackout and Mindless Self Indulgence for some sidewaves.

POLAR BEAR CLUB

The Polar Bear Club will join All Time Low and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! at a couple of sidewaves.

THE EARLY NOVEMBER

The band will join Motion City Soundtrack and Deaf Havana at two Soundwave sideshows.

VERSUS THE WORLD

The band announced back in May that they had signed a deal with Soundwave's record label 3Wise.

Michael Smith also caught up with Versus The World member Mike Davenport ahead of their Drink. Sing. Live. Love. album release.

CONFESSION

Controversy with Confession lead singer Michael Crafter being apparently kicked out of the band in September.

The band will be playing some sidewaves with Gallows.

LAWRENCE ARMS

Lawrence Arms will play some sidewaves with Flogging Molly and Lucero.

KINGDOM OF SORROW

Kingdom Of Sorrow will join Anthrax at their Big Top, Luna Park sidewave gig.

They will also be teaming up with Cancer Bats for a show in Melbourne at the Reverence Hotel.

FOZZY

The rockers are supporting Anthrax at their Melbourne sidewave.

While the guys are here, lead singer (and pro-wrestler) Chris Jericho will sit down for a special Q&A show with Anthrax pal Scott Ian.

SLEEPING WITH SIRENS

Some of the most exciting younger bands in the post-hardcore genre will be playing two sidewaves together – Sleeping With Sirens, Woe, Is Me and Memphis May Fire.

CANCER BATS

In early 2012, the Cancer Bats announced they were postponing their July tour and they would be here for Soundwave.

We reviewed the band's latest album Dead Set On Living.

Benny Doyle also spoke to frontman Liam Cormier about the “brutally balanced” album.

MADBALL

The veteran New York outfit will play a couple of sidewaves in Sydney and Melbourne.

Our Mark Hebblewhite also chatted with the band's lead singer Freddy Cricien about all things Madball.

VISION OF DISORDER

The original lineup of Vision of Disorder will join Madball and Sick Of It All at two sidewaves.

PIERCE THE VEIL

The post-hardcore outfit and Bring Me The Horizon will play two Soundwave sideshows.

Daniel Cribb caught up with Pierce The Veil's lead singer Vic Fuentes just after the band completed a massive summer tour of the US.

PERIPHERY

We sat down with Periphery's Jake Bowen ahead of their appearances in Oz.

OF MICE & MEN

The metalcore dudes will play two extra dates in Sydney and Melbourne while they're here for Soundwave.

MISS MAY I

The metal five-piece will join Bullet For My Valentine at their sidewave gigs.

DANKO JONES

Danko Jones will partner up with Duff McKagan's Loaded at a couple of sidewaves.

Here's our review of the latest release from the Canadian rockers.

Brendan Crabb also spoke to the frontman about the current rock n roll scene.

WOE IS ME

The guys will play a couple of sidewaves with Sleeping With Sirens and Memphis May Fire.

WHILE SHE SLEEPS

This Is The Six was released by the guys in 2012. Here's our take on the record.

We also chatted with their frontman Lawrence Taylor ahead of their Soundwave visit.

It was announced that the band would be teaming up with Of Mice & Men on their sidewaves too.

LUCERO

We chatted with the Memphis country rockers not once, but twice this past year.

theMusic also reviewed their most recent record Women And Work.

It was revealed in early 2013 that Lucero would be joining Flogging Molly and Lawrence Arms at their sidewave gigs.

SIX FEET UNDER

Just this week, Six Feet Under announced that their drummer Kevin Talley would not be visiting for Soundwave after a nasty dirt bike accident.

DEAF HAVANA

The band will join Motion City Soundtrack and The Early November at two sidewaves.

RED FANG

Red Fang will team up with Kyuss Lives for some sidewaves when they head down under.

CHUNK! NO CAPTAIN CHUNK!

The guys will join All Time Low at a few sideshows when they tour for Soundwave.

MEMPHIS MAY FIRE!

The band will play a handful of sidewaves with Sleeping With Sirens and Woe, Is Me.

THE DEAR HUNTER

The indie rockers will support Garbage at their upcoming sideshows.

PUSCFIER

Awesome last minute announcement for Soundwave, Puscfier will play at the Sydney and Adelaide legs.

The news wasn't too shocking though as the band is out here already for some theatre dates.

Imagine if you could see every single one of these artists in an epic festival marathon? Our Festival Maven is a wishful thinker and we have to agree, this would be the grandaddy of all setlists!