The enthusiasm of Knocked Loose that conquers, even from Metallica

From Milan to Bologna within forty-eight hours. June 1st i Knocked Loose (here is a profile) will be among the protagonists of the Slam Dunk Festival at Circolo Magnoliawhile on June 3rd they will take the stage at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium in front of tens of thousands of people opening for Metallica (here’s more information and what to expect from the lineup) together with Gojira. It is the most obvious sign of growth of a band which, starting from the Kentucky underground and the small American hardcore clubs, managed to establish himself as one of the most influential names in contemporary heavy music. What until a few years ago seemed like a phenomenon confined to the most extreme niches is today a reality capable of conquering international festivals, nominations at the Grammy Awards – with “Suffocate” as “Best Metal Performance” in 2025 – and even the stars and stripes generalist television as guests of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live“, without ever giving up one’s identity.

Knocked Loose, the hardcore that conquers

When in 2013 Bryan Garris, Isaac Hale and co formed Knocked Loose in Oldham Countyin Kentucky, they would hardly have imagined finding themselves opening for Metallica’s concerts. Nevertheless their rise was built with coherencefueled by a musical proposal that he knew combining the brutality of hardcore, the precision of metalcore and a contemporary sensibility capable of speaking to a new generation of listeners.

After the debut of “Pop Culture” and the consecration that came with “Laugh Tracks”, the group progressively expanded their language until arriving at “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To”, published in 2024 and considered by many to be their most accomplished work. An even darker, more direct and suffocating record, in which anger becomes a narrative tool to address issues such as pain, fear and the sense of alienation.

The definitive turning point also came outside the traditional circuits of heavy music. The single “Suffocate“, made together with Poppy, obtained a nomination for the Grammy Awards in the Best Metal Performance category, while the appearance on the television program “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2024 turned Knocked Loose into a media sensation, dividing the audience between those who celebrated their energy and those who were shocked by the sonic violence of their performance.

The start of 2026 confirmed that the band has no intention of slowing down. The new single “Hive Mind”released together with rapper Denzel Curry, once again showed the group’s willingness to overcome the boundaries between different genres.

What to expect from Knocked Loose: the possible setlist

The European dates of these weeks offer rather precise indications on what the Italian public can expect both at Slam Dunk and in opening for Metallica. The setlist of the concert on May 29th at the Oberhausen Slam Dunk Festival and that of the live show on May 27th at the Zurich stadium showed a very similar structure, built above all around the songs from “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To”.

Opening the dance should be “Blinding Faith“, one of the most ferocious manifestos of the band’s new direction, followed by “Don’t Reach for Me” and from “Mistakes Like Fractures“, which has now become an essential classic of the repertoire. In the central part there are songs such as “Piece by Piece”, “Moss Covers All” And “Take Me Home”, capable of alternating moments of growing tension with devastating breakdowns.

Great attention will naturally be paid to “HiveMind”, the new single released this year, while “Suffocate“it now represents one of the most anticipated moments of the live show, also thanks to the popularity obtained after the Grammy nomination. There is also no shortage of headline dates”Oblivion’s Peak”, “Belleville”, “God Knows” And “Sit & Mourn“, while the ending is now almost always entrusted to the sequence composed of “Counting Worms”, “Deep in the Willow” and “Everything Is Quiet Now”, three songs that perfectly condense the fury and emotional intensity of Knocked Loose.

For Metallica’s audience the set will probably be more compact, but no less devastating. In Zurich the band concentrated some of its most representative pieces in just over half an hour, demonstrating how their music manages to maintain the same effectiveness both in clubs and stadiums.

The return to Italy

The one in 2026 will be the fifth passage of Knocked Loose in our country and represents a new chapter in a relationship built step by step with the Italian public. The Italian debut dates back to 14 December 2019when the band performed at the CS Rivolta in Marghera, near Venice, in front of an audience made up mainly of the most attentive fans of the hardcore scene. Since then the returns have been concentrated in the Milan area, accompanying the constant growth of the group. In 2022 the show arrived at the Circolo Magnolia, while in 2024 the quintet returned to Lombardy for a date at the Live Club in Trezzo sull’Adda, confirming an increasingly numerous following.

The Slam Dunk event at Magnolia therefore represents the band’s return to one of the symbolic places of their recent Italian history, on the other hand it precedes the great showcase of the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium by just two days. If Metallica remain the main attraction of the Bolognese evening, Knocked Loose arrive in Italy in the most important moment of their career. The feeling is that their race is only just beginning and that the fury born in the Kentucky countryside still has a long way to go.