Aftershock Festival 2025 - Review 2-5 October @ Discover Park, Sacramento USA
Aftershock Festival
Discover Park, Sacramento California USA
October 2-5, 2025
Think you know festivals? You should see how the US tackles them...
For the past week, Wall Of Sound has been stampeding through Aftershock - America's largest West Coast music festival for heavy // alternative music fanatics and to say we are tired, rekt and the happiest we've ever been would be an understatement. Over 164,000 metalheads congregated into Sacramento, California for the annual Danny Wimmer Presents 4-day throwdown session which saw headliners blink-182, Deftones, KoRn and Bring Me The Horizon play massive sets which will be talked about for decades to come.
Each day at Aftershock is the equivalent to one year of heavy festivals for us in Australia and you really need to pace yourself in order to take in as much as you can - and believe us we were ready to bite the pillow and take it all in baby!
The sheer size of the venue is nuts, but everything is carefully planned out to accommodate the masses. The VIP section while largely populated at times, still had ample space to move around and not mention the air-conditioned toilets which were clean and cooling at drop off times. Soz not soz for the visuals. One BIG standout for us was the abundance of kids attending with their parents. Kids as young as 7, up to 12 and teenage years were having the times of their lives experienced live music with many of them attending for the very first time; walking away with huge smiles at the end of the evening. It was wholesome to see and really makes you realise just how much of a nanny-state Australia is with age-restrictions.
Accessibility has also been planned out with prime positions for those needing a little extra height or wheel-chair access to catch their fav acts. It was really one of the most inclusive events we have attended and praise needs to go to all involved for every intricate detail. When we weren't rubbing shoulders with fellow media peers in our own comfort-first section, we were dodging punters (and weed, so much weed) to dash between stages to witness as much live music as possible... here are out findings!
Day One (Thurs)
First up we ventured to the dm presents stage to catch Left To Suffer pulverise those who ventured in early. Opening with 'Set The World On Fire', the Atlanta-based deathcore act were quick to draw the chaotic energy radiating from a breakdown-hungry crowd by giving us the festival's first wall of death where Wall of Sound klutz... uh, I mean CEO, Browny, could be seen tripping and tumbling between the split crowd. The band ended their high energy set with a brand new song which sounded massive in a festival setting. Keen to see these guys in Australia and don't you worry, we pressed frontman Taylor Barber all about the delay in our interview which you'll be able to catch soon at WoS HQ.
Having now witnessed thrown three times in a live setting, it's safe to say they absolutely crushed the festival showcase with a frenzied crowd turning up to pit hard to some electronic Swedish beatdown core. Despite their short, fast and hyper-energetic tracks, no time was wasted as punters screamed back at the Swedes flailing their hands and fingers in the air with every crushing moment. Signature single 'on the verge' garnered the bigger reactions with plenty of screams as the hip-hop-esque intro played out.
Following this we caught the end sets for Hoobastank - who wrapped up with a heavier sounding rendition of 'Crawling In The Dark' which surprised me and then capped it off with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus powering through a somewhat unenthusiastic performance of signature song 'Face Down'.
After witnessing the live capabilities of Attila at Aftershock only two years ago, I knew I couldn’t let round two pass without seeing them. The rap metal extraordinaires capitalised on the high energy radiating from the crowd and scored the honour of having the biggest Wall Of Death of the festival (at the time), only to knocked off the top spot by Knocked Loose the following day (more on that soon).
In a backstage interview with WoS, frontman Fronz revealed what it would take for them to tour Australia, which will be available for viewing in the not-too-distant future.
We briefly ventured over to check out Cattle Decapitation who were solely responsible for all the chiropractor appointments at the end of the weekend with their headbang-inducing power. I spent the majority of their set watching one punter screaming the words with air guitar fingers in the sky and a big smile on his face proving even the heaviest of death metal fans love a good sing-a-long...
If you wondered if SPEED would do Australian proud, you better believe they annihilated their slot. Fans turned up in the tens of thousands as far as the eye could see to catch the Sydney hardcore heroes demolish expectations and bring both the heaviness and empowering messaging about friendship and hardcore. Frontman Jem Siow stalked the stage like a lion eyeing off prey and launched his vocal assault encouraging everyone to get in the pit to invoke chaos. For those who still question SPEED's successes outside of Australia, the vast majority of Hispanic, Latino and American fans who turned the fuck up in their signature SPEED HC merch brought a tear to this writer's eye. They truly are the kings of the scene and are flying the flag for the genre with positivity and a brutal nature that is being welcomed with opened arms and flailing fists on a global scale.
I'm not just saying this for the sake of praising Aussie bands, but SPEED seriously played the most intense and energy-fuelled set with the strongest most crowd participation of the entire day, hands down. Makes you proud. (Header image by Lexi Alley).
Alt-rock icons The All-American Rejects pulled one of the largest crowds of the day, proving they are far from their namesake. Their hit singles 'Gives You Hell' and 'Dirty Little Secret' quite possibly might have won them the title of 'most deafening sing-alongs' of the weekend.
Those, like me, who struggle to let go of the tight grip we have on the nostalgia of MySpace era deathcore found ourselves at the DW Presents stage again to catch the recently reformed All Shall Perish in all their glory. The excitement seemingly overwhelmed the crowd, with the set grinding to a halt within the first minute after a concert-goer injured themselves in the mosh area. Once the show resumed, it was clear that the Californian act's passion had been reignited as they ended their inactive status. After performing new and old tracks, I'm as wishful as ever for this band to announce an Australian tour soon.
Good Charlotte still know how to pull a crowd and play a damn good show as they tore through all the classics of their 30-year career. We got throwbacks to 'Little Things' all the way to 'Rejects' from new album Motel Du Cap. Joel and Benji Madden still performing in tip-top dad bod shape with hits like 'Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous', 'Dance Floor Anthem', 'Hold On' and 'I Just Wanna Live' drawing in the biggest responses... that was until Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 appeared on-stage to bash out a couple of Sum tracks with 'Fat Lip' and 'In Too Deep'. It was a totally unexpected cameo which sent Aftershock into a frenzy and was welcomed by the screams heard across the venue.
As the venue packed into the main stage precinct for headliners blink-182, there was an abundance of generations to be seen. Gen X'ers reliving their glory years, Millennials galore ready to bash out pop punk songs that shaped their lives and even kids were ready for the energy-fuelled set atop their parents shoulders as the new-age Mark, Tom and Travis show commenced.
Following on from a pre-recorded hype up intro featuring iconic wrestling announcer Bruce Buffer, the trio launched into a career-spanning set which kicked off with 'The Rock Show' and touched on almost every album between with a few surprises along the way.
As a long-term blink fan, hearing tracks like 'M+Ms', 'Josie', 'Online Songs' and 'Roller Coaster' was as cum-inducing as Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus' on-stage banter and quips. The surprises kept coming in between signature songs like 'First Date', 'Feeling This', 'Dumpweed' and 'Down', we were also treated to 'Wishing Well' from the infamous 2011 album Neighborhoods - which many fans around me loudly proclaimed was underrated and a hidden-gem in their catalogue.
But the biggest surprise of the night was when the band invited former member, Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, to join them for a foursome rendition of 'Bored To Death' which was received with applause as far as the ear could hear. Many diehard blink fans have pondered what the band would sound like as a four piece and to hear and witness this in a live festival setting was a borderline cup-filling moment. If you missed it, never fear, catch the video below and pretend you were there.
The set concluded with all the biggest bits with 'What's My Age Again?', 'All The Small Things' and Dude Ranch classic 'Dammit' (the latter featuring Mark scatting Chappell Roan's 'Pink Pony Club' during the stop down before the cum-fetti and streamers sent us off into the night to battle for an uber home.
All in all, a great introduction to how the US does festivals and got us eager for day two as we wandered the streets of Sacramento while battling with other festival goers for the nearest premium-priced Uber.
Day 2 (Friday)
The drizzling rain might have dampened the soil, but not our spirits. So we made it in early to catch up-and-coming Pittsburgh-based metalcore act 156/silence. It comes as no surprise that this act has garnered themselves a reputation as ones to watch. The presence of frontman Jack Murray made it hard for me to look in any direction other than his. With the trajectory of this acts success, combined with their undoubtedly impressive on-stage abilities, theirs no doubt that we'll be catching this act down-under in only a few short years.
Again, as a MySpace era deathcore fan, I naturally found myself gravitating toward the Shockwave stage where Winds of Plague's 20th Anniversary OG lineup was performing. With the rain yet to pass, we were getting drenched while witnessing the deathcore veterans perform as if no time had passed. Also, shout out to Batman, who could be seen in the crowd taking a break from fighting crime to witness this spectacle.
French metalcore superstars Landmvrks stepped up to the plate and hit a home run with their performance which fired up the pit-fiends in an instant. Covering songs from latest masterpiece The Darkest Place I've Ever Been and throwbacks, the lads kept the intensity building and even pulled out a sizeable Wall Of Death during 'Sulfur' for good measure. The set was rounded out with Resolve frontman Anthony Diliberto making a cameo for closing track 'Self-Made Black Hole' and if that didn't show that French core is on the rise, then you weren't paying attention.
It should be noted that a bunch of "Kyles" were on the sidelines bashing into circlepit runners as they ran around their anti-slip mats which resulted in one fan snapping his arm right in front of us. It was an intense injury which resulted in the set momentarily stopping while medics assisted the man, and had him taken into care all within a matter of minutes. Kudos to all involved with getting everything back on track again and a message to the rage bros - if you wanna forcibly shove fun-loving concert goers, maybe festivals like this aren't for you. Stick to Mum's basement or a gym to keep your anger issues at bay, or better yet, speak to a therapist.
Northlane were primed for their mid-afternoon set. The sun was shining and the lads took to the stage ripping into fan favs like '4D', 'Bloodline' and an ever impressive medley of early-era songs. Frontman Marcus Bridge's cleans were crisp and angelic, proving the seasoned musician has grown exponentially during his decade-long stint fronting the electronic metalcore machine.
The Sydney-based metalcore monoliths, who were touring the US festival circuit for the very first time, had no issues at all when it came to crowd involvement. Moshpits, circlepits (from which WoS bossman Browny could be spotted running in), sing-alongs and smiles were abundant, signaling that the Californian crowd will welcome Northlane back to Aftershock again, with open arms.
After smashing out a number of interviews, we raced back out through the already close to full main stage area to catch Knocked Loose perform in front of tens of thousands and it was a spectacle. We waited with baited breath for Poppy to pop out during 'Suffocate' but alas, she was nowhere to be seen. In saying that, hearing thousands upon thousands of fans belt out the band's iconic "ARF ARF" during 'Counting Worms' will go down as a core memory and Australia better try and up the ante when the band hit our shores at Good Things Festival in December.
The crowdsurfer influx was incredible and goddamn this band are going to be so huge in a couple of years.
Lamb of God delivered the heaviness including the live debut of new single 'Sepsis' and explosive performance of staples like 'Redneck' and 'Walk With Me In Hell', resulting in a gathering of us watching on the screens in the backstage/media area.
After wanting to catch TURNSTILE in the flesh all weekend time came for the hardcore rockers to hit the main stage and to say they put on the festival showcase of my (Browny) two day stint would be an understatement. The raw, intense energy was unrelenting as was the beauty and wonder of their slower paced melodic offerings including 'I CARE' from new album NEVER ENOUGH. A kaleidoscope of colours filled the stage and mosh throughout and the juxtaposition it created between heavy riffs and neck-snapping speed shifts proved this band are set to become one of the biggest new age acts to ever walks this earth. The set ended with 'BIRDS' and goddamn it was glorious.
I'll go on record and say TURNSTILE had the best set of the festival... well, the two days I attended at least...
After catching most of Turnstile's set, I (Adam) ran over to witness the final three tracks of Chiodos and I was unexpectedly impressed. Having never witnessed this act previously, I wasn't sure what to expect, however, watching Craig Owens, dressed in all-white, effortlessly switch between his clean and unclean vocals, while, under his instructions, the crowd sang-along until the point where of losing their voice, which resulted in half the venue wandering around, talking with a croaky voice like Marge Simpson. The ebb and flow between catchy, melodic hooks and blisteringly heavy breakdowns has won me over, marking this festival as the beginning of my fanship for them.
Now came time for day two headliner Deftones - and confession time - up until Aftershock I (Browny) didn't really understand them. I guess for me growing up, genres helped you get into the zone with a band and what to expect and their music. Because these guys evaded classification for 30 years, I found it hard to really appreciate them... that was until they hit the stage at their home town show on the 30th Anniversary of their debut release Adrenaline and holy shit am about to make up for lost time.
Chino Moreno's vocals were on point from start to climax (albeit on the quieter side during the set) and as I stood in awe of what I was witnessing play out in front of me - thousands of packed locals and fans from afar just totally zoned in and vibing HARD, I finally understood their appeal. Feeling the haunting delivery of "I watched you chaaaaaaange" invade my soul and won me over (to the point 'Change...' has been on repeat since) and new tracks like 'my mind is a mountain' and 'milk of the madonna' alongside 'My Own Summer (Shove It)', 'Around The Fur' and 'Sextape' will forever be the catalyst that made me a Deftones fan.
Due to prior commitments - aka seeing blink-182 do an arena headliner in Palm Springs - my time at Aftershock ended halfway through. However, Ricey was on hand to check out the following two days, even changing his own flights to accomodate the last and final leg of the massive four days. So take it away my boi.
Day 3 (Sat)
After a busy morning of conducting interviews backstage, I was able to make it out of the media area just in time to catch Dayseeker perform on the Shockwave stage. The crowd gathered in full force, braving the relentless California sun, just to show their devotion to their home state heroes. Singing the bands swooning lyrics from new and old tracks such as ‘Without Me’, ‘Neon Grave’, ‘Creature In The Black Night’, ‘Shapeshift’ and more back to them.
Before finishing their set, vocalist Rory Rodriguez took a moment to figuratively pinch himself, reflecting to the crowd of thousands that it wasn’t so long ago when the LA based four-piece was struggling to gain traction as they’d perform in half empty bars across Sacramento, and other cities across the state, expressing his genuine gratitude for all who support Dayseeker before closing the set with ‘Sleeptalk’.
I quickly rushed over to the main stage to catch Russia’s most successful deathcore act Slaughter To Prevail for the first ever time (I know they have toured Australia twice, it has just never lined up for me). As the masked musicians took to the stage, an eruption of cheers came from the crowd and I knew I was about to witness something special.
As the group began their set with ‘Kid of Darkness’, I was left figuratively picking my jaw up from the ground. The ferocious stage presence of Alex Terrible is unmatched by most, coupled with the aesthetic of the masked headbanging instrumentalists behind him, every breakdown was the signal for some of the wildest moshpits I’ve ever bore witness to emit from within the crowd, while maintaining momentum through to the end of final song ‘Demolisher’.
After taking some time out to grab some lunch and have a rest, I almost allowed myself to talk myself out of watching August Burns Red. It was hot, I was tired, and they were playing on the furthest possible stage away. As I forced myself to walk over there all I could think to myself was ‘I just want to sit down’, but as I approached the stage, I could begin hearing the riffs of JB Brubaker, and those thoughts quickly faded as the metalcore magnates fuelled me with liveliness and enthusiasm.
Ripping through tracks such as ‘Composure’, ‘Blood Letter’, ‘Marianas Trench’, and ‘White Washed’, in front of an ever-so-impressive display of animations and visualisations upon the stages visualiser, I was in awe of the Pennsylvanian five-piece. The experience of frontman Jake Luhrs shone through as he had the crowd in the palm of his hand, with every demand for circle pits and moshing, the crowd responded in full force, while the drumming capabilities of Matt Greiner made it hard for me to look anywhere but in his direction.
The time had come for me to watch the band I had been most anticipating all day, Bad Omens. As a new fan of the group (I know, what was I thinking?!), this act’s releases have played as the soundtrack to some of my life's most recent chapters, and I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to (poorly) sing these tracks along with Noah Sebastian as loudly as possible.
As the group lads with ‘Concrete Jungle’ shivers sent through my body, and the hair on my neck stood up, it was time. Joyful tears and heartful cheers mixed well with the ear-splitting sing-alongs which I personally contributed to, particularly on tracks such as ‘Specter’, ‘Impose’, ‘Take Me First’, ‘Limits’ and ‘Just Pretend’. Standing to the side, as the Virginian quartet performed under the night sky, I struggled to catch a glimpse of the moshpit, however, as I was speaking to festival-goers later on, I heard it was quite rough for the heaviest performed track ‘ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE’. Disappointment struck me at my core when the group walked off stage ten minutes early, but I was quickly relieved when they reappeared to perform ‘Dethrone’, amidst an impressive display of pyrotechnics and confetti.
With a full and content heart from the previous act’s performance, it was time to watch KoRn take day three of the festival to a close. After seeing them perform at Aftershock 2023 and Good Things Festival 2024, I had a fairly good idea of what to expect (and no, I’m still not tired of watching them perform).
As I took my time to wander over to the main stage, I was caught off-guard with just how many people had turned up for the nu-metal titans, which meant I was stuck towards the back of the crowd, and couldn’t see a whole lot of what was happening on stage. As I hung out at the back with some cool new friends from New Zealand who were staying at the same hotel I was (shoutout Jodi and Kelsey), we didn’t allow our position in the crowd to stop us from losing our voices to tracks such as ‘Here To Stay’, ‘Blind’, ‘Got The Life’ and more. After sticking around for about sixty minutes of the ninety minute long set, which included snippets of Metallica’s ‘One’, Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ and even a tribute to the recently passed Ozzy Osborne, we decided to head back to our hotel, grab some food and prepare (emotionally and physically) for the final day of Aftershock 2025.
Day 4 (Sun)
After initially planning to only spend three days at Aftershock this year, I began feeling like I had made a mistake after experiencing the most incredible three days at the best music festival I’ve ever attended. I knew I’d regret not changing my flight and booking an extra night at my hotel. So, despite my exhaustion, I braved the scorching Californian sun one last time to soak in an emotional farewell surrounded by new friends and unforgettable music.
After only being able to witness Sleep Theory perform two songs when I caught them for the first time last year at the New York stop of Beartooth's North American tour, I knew I had to witness them in full force this time around as they opened the main stage, and I’m glad I did.
Their multi-genre fusion of alt rock, metalcore and nu-metal mixed well with the early crowd, who set the tone for the day with a sizable mosh pit. Lead vocalist Cullen Moore’s ability to switch between his crips, clean vocals, his uncompromising unclean vocals and his performing of the harmonica presented in a way which was utterly captivating.
With a playing time of 1:00pm on the main stage, which was earlier than I would have expected, you better believe that I was front and centre for The Plot In You. As I count down the days to their massive Australian headline tour in 2026, I was utterly delighted to be able to catch this group sooner than I had expected.
Following an incredibly success string of EP releases last year, it was only fitting that the group belted out songs such as ‘Spare Me’, ‘Closure’, ‘Forgotten’ and ‘Left Behind’, to which the packed out music venue clearly gave their nod of approval to by dancing, moshing and singing. Upon request of vocalist Landon Tewers, who asked the crowd ”Who can show me some vape clouds? I want to see some big ones”, copious amounts of vapour filled the air momentarily before the group ended their set with ‘FEEL NOTHING’.
I for one am not much of a punk/pop punk fan, but as I’ll be watching Story Of The Year at Parkwaves Festival in Australia next year, curiosity of what I might be able to expect got the better of me and I found myself deep in the crowd to witness the Missouri based act.
With copious amounts of punk jumps and singalong moments, I can appreciate this band for what they are, but I quickly realised that they simply aren’t my cup of tea as my attention began to wander elsewhere, which left me chomping at the bit to catch Black Veil Brides in action. Having only just missed them on the recent Falling In Reverse Australian tour thanks to public transport delays, I had to catch up for lost time.
As the not-so-colourful group opened with ‘Knives and Pens’ the stage presence of well-rounded vocalist Andy Biersack caught my attention quickly as he paced the stage from left to right, then back again with the attitude of ‘you’re not giving me enough, I need more from you’, to which the crowd responded. Endless amounts of crowd surfers spawned from within the crowd, leaving people like myself, who were situated up the front with our work cut out for us. Having never seen this band prior to this moment, watching the performance of ‘In The End’, ‘Bleeders’ and ‘Coffin’ as cemented my fanship for the group.
After witnessing the spectacle that was Motionless In White’s headline Touring The End Of The World Tour in Seattle in 2023, I knew that what they had up their sleeve for Aftershock would be special. To my surprise, Motionless In White were locked in to perform on the mainstage at 4:55pm, meaning that the hot sun was at its peak. I would have imagined that this act would be performing as the sun was setting, or later in the evening.
Despite my hopes for Knocked Loose vocalist Bryan Garris to joining the Pennsylvianan metalcore act on stage for ‘Slaughterhouse’ being crushed when he didn’t, this festival set strongly stands as one of my favourites out of the four days. Lyric videos displayed on the screens visualiser meant that music fans who barely knew the bands songs could and were singing loudly. Renditions of ‘Sign of Life’, ‘Thoughts & Prayers’, and ‘Another Life’ scratched the itch that has been bothering me since seeing their full-scale production show just over two years ago. Counting down until that Australian tour in 2026 now...
Perhaps I was a bit harsh, but in my mind Marilyn Manson had hit his peak, and was on the decline. Friends I was with were excited to watch his performance, but I could have taken it, or left it… and I’m so glad I took it. Marilyn proved me wrong to the fullest degree. Proving he’s as sharp as ever on tracks such as ‘The Dope Show’, ‘The Beautiful People’ and his cover Euryrthmics ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), I was left eating my words, and looking forward to catching this class act next time.
As the festivities began coming to a close, and my sadness grew stronger, Bring Me The Horizon took to the stage, opening with ‘DArkSide’ and ‘Mantra, it was evident that the crowd who had been partying for four days weren’t done yet. The mere sound of Oli Sykes’ vocals was enough to set off copious amounts of jumping and screaming from the thousands in attendance.
Backed by an ever-so-impressive display of lights and imagery, watching this band surrounded by new found friends from all across the world was as close to a religious experience as I’ll ever have. At one point, my new English friend named Evie turned to me and stated that she had seen them perform countless times in her home land, yet this was amongst the best, I agreed, having seen them many times before.
As the set progressed with the end coming closer and closer, with emotions rising higher and higher, I knew it was time to say goodbye to Aftershock for another year - a moment I had dreaded since arriving.
As the band finished their set with ‘Throne’ and an explosion of confetti, I wiped away my tears, said goodbye to my new friend and went on my way, already thinking about how amazing Aftershock 2026 would be.
The Australian festival circuit is an immensely far way off from matching the caliber of a large-scale DWP Presents festival like Aftershock, so to be invited to do coverage at this event is a blessing that I am ever so grateful for.
To the Danny Wimmer Presents team and the festival staff and our new BFFs for life crew, thank you for such a welcoming and extraordinary experience which will be spoken about for years to come. See you sooner than later!
Review by Paul 'Browny' Brown @brownypaul and Adam Rice @riceyadam
Relive the play-by-play highlights via the WoS Instagram Highlights here
