Culture
Sonic Temple announces 2024 lineup featuring The Misfits, Judas Priest, Anthrax
By: Nicholas Kobe
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOUB) – Sonic Temple is a hard rock festival happening May 16-19 and it just announced its 2024 lineup. As I had the privilege of attending Sonic Temple for WOUB in 2023, here are my initial reactions to the Sonic Temple 2024 lineup.
Sonic Temple has received some major upgrades, most notably a fourth stage, which brings the total band count up to 120. With 120 bands, Sonic Temple has much more wiggle room than in 2023. It appears that the increased number of bands allowed Sonic Temple to double down on acts geared towards their core audience of ’90s Nu-metal and alternative fans while leaving room for cutting-edge new blood, as well as a few legendary names. We get to have our cake and eat it too.
The 2024 lineup features lots of ’90s and ’00s radio alternative rock, particularly when it comes to this year’s headliners. Disturbed, Staind, Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Mudvayne, and Theory of a Deadman are just a few of the major names coming to Columbus for Sonic Temple this year. For anyone nostalgic for this type of music, I’m not sure what more you could ask for from a festival lineup.
There are a lot of crossovers between many of these bands and the more dedicated Nu-metal acts like Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, and Evanescence. These types of bands dominate the upper echelon of this lineup. For some people, this will be heaven on earth. For someone (like me) who strongly dislikes this particular era of heavy music, the focus on nu and alt-metal is Sonic Temple’s greatest weakness.
There is, however, a lot of representation for the new blood of the rock world. However, some of these picks – such as Tik-Tok sensation TX2 – are undoubtedly some of the worst names on the lineup. Sleep Token, In This Moment, and New Year’s Day are among my most anticipated acts. Avatar’s return to Sonic Temple is a huge win, considering they were one of the best acts of last year. Polyphia and Electric Callboy are also big gets, considering how massive of a following they have been gathering over the years
Luckily for the more dedicated metalheads, Sonic Temple has turned up the heat. While I think placing Pantera so high in the lineup is a miss; it’s made up for in spades by the inclusion of Anthrax, former-Slayer guitarist Kerry King, In Flames, Machine Head, Nita Strauss, and the greatest metal band to ever walk this earth, Judas Priest.
The leaning into metal from Sonic Temple is exactly what I was hoping for in 2024, and this lineup delivers in spades. This lineup also gives a hearty dose of metalcore new and old in the form of bands like I Prevail, August Burns Red, and Code Orange. Sonic Temple even had room for some hip-hop influence including Cypress Hill and Tech N9ne. They also lean further into punk with bands like Drain and Sum 41, even dedicating a main headline slot to The Misfits, a very welcome surprise.
Looking back on my preview for 2023’s lineup, I similarly felt mixed about what I saw, not a big fan of the alt and nu metal, but excited for everything else. Going to the festival, however, I had a blast, even with the bands I was distinctly less excited for. My biggest complaint with Sonic Temple 2023 was a lack of variety that wore thin throughout the weekend.
This year, Sonic Temple festival producer Danny Wimmer seems to have addressed that particular issue in spades. While there are plenty of artists on Sonic Temple 2024’s lineup that are a disappointment to me, there are just as many I am beyond excited to see. There is truly “something for everyone” at Sonic Temple 2024.
Having more options at your heavy metal buffet is never a bad thing, and with the right planning, I think each festival goer can cultivate their own experience seeing bands they love. This lineup goes toe-to-toe in variety and star power with all of the biggest rock festivals this summer, and having that right here, in Columbus, is exciting.
Sonic Temple comes to Columbus’ Historic Crew Stadium (1 Black and Gold Blvd.) May 16-19, 2024. General passes are on sale starting Friday. Find more information on the festival’s website.