This past Saturday (April 25th) in Las Vegas, a (fittingly) gray overcast sky greeted the tens of thousands of black-clad/angst-inclined humans that descended in droves upon the Las Vegas Fairgrounds. Which, of course, could only mean one thing: the annual Sick New World Festival was clearly back in town!
Indeed, after taking a brief hiatus last year, Sick New World returned with a lineup chock-full of diverse 90s-centric legends from the worlds of alternative metal, industrial, and even hip-hop. With over fifty high-octane bands performing across the festival’s four stages, Saturday proved to be a ridiculously rad marathon session of intensity that more than exceeded expectations for music fans who enjoy a healthy dose of dark and transgressive vibes to go along with their (adrenaline-fueled) good times. Here’s a recap of some of the many highlights from this year’s Sick New World:
Acid Bath
Although Sick New World’s absence from the festival scene was sorely missed last year, if one good thing came out of it, it was that it ultimately sparked the reunion of Acid Bath, the underground psych-sludge legends from Louisiana. Indeed, when last year’s (ill-fated) lineup was initially announced, the jaw-dropping inclusion of Acid Bath (a band that had been broken up for roughly 28 years) sent shockwaves through the metal community at the time. And while the band would ultimately go on to appear at a select few other festivals and undertake a headlining tour the following year, suffice to say none of that would have happened without the miraculous efforts of Sick New World to initially compel Acid Bath’s remarkably improbable reunion.
Which, of course, only made catching their early-afternoon set that much more satisfying and invigorating, as the band took to the Green Stage (which is one of the 2 larger/main stages at the festival) and proceeded to deliver a wickedly rousing set to a jam-packed Las Vegas crowd that was literally decades in the making. Acid Bath effectively conjured up their distinctively twisted, swirling stew of pagan-death-rock that had the crowd at large thrashing and head-banging with reckless abandon, particularly during a delightfully groovy rendition of “Tranquilized” (which opened their set), and a decidedly vicious performance of “The Blue” to close things out. Not a bad way to start the day by any means. Let the darkness roll on…
Mastodon
Immediately following Acid Bath on the adjacent Purple Stage, Mastodon kept the southern-metal vibes going as they righteously ripped through a killer set of powerful, hard-driving jams that definitely left an emphatic impression among the scores of fans checking out their performance. Perhaps most memorable were the special “guests” that joined the band live, which included a giant (costumed) technicolored monster who roamed the stage during a rad performance of “Mother Puncher”, and an appearance from Neil Fallon (of Clutch fame) who came out to assist with vocal duties during an awesome closing performance of “Blood and Thunder”. All in all, a certifiably kick-ass performance from Mastodon that would have no doubt made the late great Brent Hinds proud (R.I.P.).
Cypress Hill
In a bit of a vibe switch, West Coast hip-hop icons Cypress Hill soon followed Mastodon back at the adjacent Green Stage and proceeded to bring the BOOM by delivering an earth-shatteringly bassy set that probably gave at least half the crowd in attendance a mild case of cardiac arrhythmia. Which is to say the group’s beats were impressively thunderous in intensity, but considering this is a group that released an album called “Temple of Boom” back in the day, what else would you expect? Whatever the case, regardless of their sonic method of attack, Cypress Hill knows how to have a good time and throw one hell of a party, and they did so in convincing fashion throughout the entire duration of their lively set.
Highlights included the always menacing “How I Could Just Kill a Man” and a surprise cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Bombtrack,” which naturally got the pit stirred up in earnest. They closed things out with yet another cover via House of Pain’s “Jump Around”, in which B. Real instructed the crowd to crouch down until the beat dropped, which of course compelled everyone to, well, you know…overall tremendously vivacious and fun set from Cypress Hill!
Coal Chamber
As mentioned prior, SNW’s knack for conjuring up improbable band reunions in the past few years has arguably been even more impressive than their characteristically stacked lineups in and of themselves. Coal Chamber is another great example of that, not only because the band had effectively been on the shelf for roughly eight years before SNW booked them for their inaugural fest back in 2023, but also because their appearance at this year’s fest came despite a variety of health-related challenges for the band.
In addition to vocalist Dez Fafara’s health scare in 2024 that effectively sidelined him and the band for over a year, drummer Mikey “Bug” Cox also recently announced he has spent the past year battling Stage 3 cancer but is now fully cancer-free. All of this only seemed to enhance the intensity and celebratory vibes during Coal Chamber’s absolutely ripping set that had everyone at the Spiral Stage partying like it was 1997 all over again. Kicking things off with the always igniting (pardon the pun) “Sway” couldn’t help but get the party started as the band powered through their ridiculously fun and high-energy set chock full of fan favorites like “Oddity” and “Fiend”. They also threw in a deeper cut with a brutal rendition of “I”, but of course saved the best for last with a viscerally insane (again, pardon the pun) performance of “Loco”, which closed their set. Throughout it all, Dez and the band at large looked and sounded fantastic, delivering their patented brand of combustible “spookycore” that turned out to be one of the most outright fun performances of the entire festival for this reviewer. Long live Coal Chamber!
Marilyn Manson
As this writer made his way to the bar/food court section to enjoy a $20 “Phantom Bride” IPA (love the Deftones and everything, but ouch) and some grub from “Tacos Before Vatos” (great name!), you couldn’t help but take notice of the spectacle of Marilyn Manson performing to an absolutely massive crowd over at the Purple Stage. Granted, Mr. Warner has always reveled in making a spectacle of himself over the years, and although his days of conducting self-mutilation and other explicit acts on stage are long behind him, he apparently can still attract a sizable audience. Whether or not he deserves it is another matter entirely, for a variety of reasons, but at a festival loaded with (mostly) guilty pleasures, the fact that his writer was admittedly digging performances from afar of classic Antichrist Superstar jams like “Angel with the Scabbed Wings” and “Torniquet” seemed all too fitting. That said, hearing Manson scream certain lines from his infamous “Sweet Dreams” cover couldn’t help but feel particularly cringe in 2026, all things considered…anyway, moving along…
Ministry (Filth Pig)
Back at the Spiral Stage a bit later, it was time for the real (industrial) deal as Ministry indulged in a full album performance of their critically divisive 1996 record “Filth Pig”. And while the album may not exactly be a fan favorite by any means, most of the characteristically grating mid-tempo material nonetheless resonated in a live setting, particularly during performances of the abrasive “Reload”, the molten sounds (pun intended) of “Lava”, and the harsh headbanging grooves of “Dead Guy”. Throughout the performance, Uncle Al stoically and unenthusiastically announced each song from behind his cross-shaped podium, which, come to think of it, fit the vibe of the unflinchingly bleak material all too well. Overall, while the Filth Pig-centric set might not have been what most folks came to see, the real hardcore Ministry fans in attendance no doubt appreciated it (speaking for myself anyway). Respect.
Korn
After a very long day of checking out a slew of palpably aggressive, angst-ridden bands, it was time for the godfathers of that whole scene to take to the Green Stage at 9:00. Talking about alternative-metal legends Korn of course, who inadvertently spawned an entirely new breed of bands (many of which were on display at SNW) after the release of their game-changing self-titled debut album way back in 1994. The rest, as they say, was history: the band blew up beyond belief in the back half of the 90s and carried that success forward two decades later, as evidenced by the ocean of angsty humanity on hand to take in their Saturday night set. But considering the band has been bludgeoning audiences on the regular for well over three decades now, this writer couldn’t help but wonder if they could still deliver the type of explosively intense performances they became known for back in their 90s heyday.
Such dubious ponderings couldn’t help but be fully put to rest as Korn opened with the eternally combustible “Blind”, which rightly sent the crowd into a chaotic swirl of mayhem that effectively set the tone for the rest of the band’s hour and 15-minute set full of classic bangers. Needless to say, highlights were aplenty, but this old-school fan particularly enjoyed the menacing lurching grind of “Clown”, the infectious crunch of “Shoots and Ladders” (which of course included a rousing bagpipe solo from Jonathan Davis), and a nice surprise addition of the intense Life Is Peachy-era deep cut “Proud”. The band also threw in a new song for good measure, the promising “Reward the Scars”, which sounded right at home alongside performances of all the band’s classic songs. Overall, judging from Korn’s performance Saturday night, they have not lost an ounce of intensity or power in a live setting, and are clearly “Here to Stay” (had to).
System of a Down
Closing out the night on the adjacent Purple Stage was a band that needs no introduction, really, the mighty Armenian-American alt-metal legends System of a Down. Indeed, while following the likes of Korn is never an easy task, System of a Down were clearly one of the few bands of their ilk who were more than up for it, a fact that emphatically demonstrated thanks in large part to the tone-setting opening number “Suite Pee”. As you might imagine, with the anticipation building all day for their headlining set, kicking things off with “Suite Pee” couldn’t help but send the crowd into a delightfully unhinged frenzy. Things naturally did not let up from there, as the band treated the sea of humanity on hand to a wide-ranging set that really showcased the distinctively eccentric and diverse metal musical spectrum the band has to offer. That spectrum included everything from the absurdly fun “Bounce”, the pulverizing “Know”, quirky headbanging ragers like “Suggestions”, alongside relatively more melodic numbers like “Aerials” and “ATWA”.
But of course, what really separates System of a Down from the pack are their socially and politically-charged (not to mention kind of prophetic) lyrics and distinctive worldview that only made performances of absolutely rippers like “Prison Song”, “Genocidal Humanoidz” and “B.Y.O.B” resonate that much more powerfully live, all things considered. Indeed, it could be argued that over twenty-five years after the release of their breakout album “Toxicity”, the band’s music is more vital and relevant than ever before. But regardless of your political persuasions, guitarist Daron Malakian offered some unifying words of wisdom about midway through their set, as a steady light rain was winding down (paraphrasing):
“System of a Down is not a cult…we are four friends who have very different views and very different ideas/solutions to various issues/problems…but if we can be function together despite our differences, so can you…stop letting the media divide you…stop letting your government divide you…if you disagree with me, well, you can “Pull the tapeworm out of your ass!” And queue a fantastic performance of “Needles”, which put the proverbial exclamation mark on that point.
Speaking of proverbial exclamation marks, the band’s rousing closing performance of “Sugar” effectively served as an emphatic ending not only to the band’s epic set but also an incredibly raucous festival experience overall. There are a lot of great festivals out there, but few can match the high-octane fury and exuberance that always characterizes Sick New World. Here’s hoping the festival remains a mainstay in Vegas for years to come.
Parting tidbits:
Number of giant inflatable dongs spotted in the moshpit: 2
Best sweater spotted: “Anal Beed Tug of War Champion.”
T-shirt sighting that best encapsulates the Sick New World experience: “Angry Music Makes Me Happy.”
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