The first ever Pulse of the Maggots free virtual festival is set to launch next week on Friday, 13 November. The exclusive online show is organised by the iconic Knotfest, created in 2012 by nu metal titans SlipKnot and held every year since that in the USA and later expanded across the globe. According to the official website, Pulse of the Maggots is created “in an effort to showcase emerging talent and fresh new contributors to the community of heavy music” and is a “free, virtual streaming event that will feature 20 artists that are all doing their part to move the culture forward“.
The virtual festival will take place and three separate digital stages, supported by the MusiCares charity, the Rock Against Racism initiative and the global guitar manufacturer ESP and is set to highlight the “top prospects from the various subgenres of aggressive music” from around the world. The event will start at 8pm GMT on 13 November and will run throughout the night with the main ESP stage starting at 1:30am on 14 November, all streamed exclusively at Knotfest.com.
Waving the UK flag from the virtual headline slot are Milton Keynes grime metal outfit Hacktivist that recently announced new material in production and a killer collaboration with Dropout Kings coming out in December, and might perform some fresh music next Friday. Joining them for Pulse of the Maggots Festival are Newcastle metalcore 4-piece October Ends fresh off releasing their debut album Zodiac on 30 October, Wargasm UK who recently dropped the shocking video ‘Backyard Bastards‘, and rising Liverpool nu metal/hardcore band Death Blooms.
On the international front, Pennsylvania quartet Tallah are sure to bring the heat up with their raw mix of energetic nu metal and relentless contemporary metalcore. One of the more curious acts on the bill are Vended, formed by the sons of Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan, and set to carry on the legacy of their fathers. The list goes on with PRXJEK (USA), Cerberus (Mexico), Orbit Culture (Sweden), dEMOTIONAL (Sweden), Year Of the Knife (USA), Introtyl (Mexico), Diamond Construct (Australia), VCTMS (USA), Death Tour (USA), Thrown Into Exile (USA), Once Awake (Norway), 156/Silence (USA), and I Revolt (Finland).
We’re headlining the first ever @knotfest: Pulse of the Maggots Fest!
A FREE virtual festival feat. unique sets from 20 sick bands across 3 digital stages.
BE READY! You might just hear some brand new music for the first time too.Fri 13th Nov: 12pm LA / 3pm NY / 8pm UK / 9pm EU pic.twitter.com/w1tIgM8A6x
— H Ʌ C K T I V I S T (@HacktivistUK) November 5, 2020
The original Knotfest was created in 2012 by SlipKnot for two exclusive shows in Iowa and Wisonsin, USA for a unique horror circus and dark carnival experience in celebration of their music and the relevant bands of the day. The inaugural event saw Deftones, Serj Tankian, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Gojira, Dillinger Escape Plan and Cannibal Corpse join forces with SlipKnot and establish the iconic festival that would later expand to Japan, Mexico, Colombia, France and Canada, and was expected to also hit the UK this summer but was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The new virtual festival for fresh metal music bands Pulse of the Maggots takes its name from the track off SlipKnot’s third studio record Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) from 2004. The song has become an anthem for the band’s fans and is a fitting title for a festival set to showcase the raw talent of young metal acts from across the world. Tune in next Friday 13 November via Knotfest.com to take part of what would probably be the largest virtual festival of 2020.
