Promoter A.J. Maddah has announced today that Dragonforce have been forced to pull out of Soundwave 2012 due to “recording delays”.
The British power metal band must have been quite a drawcard, because they’re replaced by not one but two acts: Doom metal icons Paradise Lost and pop band Switchfoot.
Paradise Lost released their debut album Lost Paradise in 1990 and for three albums were leaders of the doom scene in the 90s. After three records they began to experiment with other styles. In 2012 they will release their thirteenth studio album, Tragic Idol.
Switchfoot are an unusually commercial act to appear on Soundwave. While the festival hasn’t shied away from pop tinged music, this could be the first all out Christian-pop band to appear on the bill. Their carefully sculpted music is designed to be a slew of radio hits so it was no surprise when their painfully bland singles Dare You To Move and Stars climbed their way up the alternative charts. Maybe audiences will get lucky and they’ll just play their first almost-rock single Meant To Live over and over.
They join System of a Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Machine Head, Bad Religion, Lamb of God, Bush, Sisters of Mercy, In Flames, Angels and Airwaves, The Used, Unwritten Law and a whole bunch of other bands.
Soundwave 2012 will be at:
FEBRUARY
25 – RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane, QLD
26 – Olympic Park, Sydney, NSW
MARCH
2 – Showgrounds, Melbourne, VIC
3 – Bonython Park, Adelaide, SA
5 – Claremont Showground, Perth, WA
Follow the author Tim Cashmere on Twitter.
