Louder Than Life returns to the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center September 18-21, bringing over 175 bands/artists to its seven stages, which is absolutely insane! Some of them are well known, but many have not reached that level yet. Unfortunately, with as many as five bands playing at the same time and/or overlapping, far too many acts will be skipped by the masses out of necessity. But I, being the dedicated festival-goer that I am, have sifted through all 175+ bands/artists playing Louder Than Life (or at least the ones I wasn’t already familiar with) to pick out 10 that you, dear LEO Weekly reader, shouldn’t miss!
(Lineup and set times subject to change)
And check out our “10 Under-The-Radar Bands/Artists Not To Miss at Louder Than Life” Spotify playlist (above) featuring a selected track from each band/artist on this list. (Please note: XCOMM does not have anything streaming on Spotify, so in their place I subbed in Big Ass Truck I.E., who are playing LTL Thursday at 2:10 p.m. and were the last band I cut from this list).
Gates To HellSilly Goose Thursday, September 18, 2025 | 2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.Kingdom Stage
Of course Silly Goose was going to end up on the bill for Louder Than Life again this year. At this point it wouldn’t be LTL without them! The Atlanta-based nu-metal rap rockers are technically making their fourth straight appearance at LTL, (their set last year was cancelled due to severe weather, so they did a free show at Mag Bar that night instead). The band, which initially gained notoriety for playing impromptu shows in random places via a portable stage, has built up a rabid fanbase due to their high-energy performances, genuine, down-to-earth vibe, and never taking themselves too seriously. The band kicks off the newly-appointed seventh LTL stage at Kentucky Kingdom Amphitheater Thursday afternoon. Photo credit: Mat SchladenXweaponX Thursday, September 18, 2025 | 8:15 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. Kingdom Stage
Headlining the Thursday night slot on the Kingdom Stage is Louisville’s very own straight-edge hardcore supergroup XweaponX, who have the latest set time of this entire list. Featuring Bryan Garris and Isaac Hale (both of Knocked Loose), Trey Garris (Gates To Hell), Bo Lueders (of Chicago hardcore band Harm’s Way), and Dave Baugher, XweaponX deliver a much more raw, aggressive, to-the-point, hardcore beatdown sound than the members’ main bands. Seeing as how Kentucky Kingdom Amphitheater is a seated venue, it’s going to be real interesting to see how XweaponX’s set plays out, as sitting/standing still is not really an option during their shows. Expect one of the wildest pits of the entire festival!XCOMM Friday, September 19, 2025 | 11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Big Bourbon Bar
If you’re looking for a reason to be there when gates open Friday morning, XCOMM is it! The band features drummer Revel Ian; the 14-year old son of Anthrax’s Scott Ian, (who has said before that Revel was conceived following a 2010 Anthrax show in Louisville). The band is rounded out by Michael Gatto (vocals, guitar), Jay Vargas (guitar) and Adan Escoto (bass) – all teenagers themselves. And musically, XCOMM does not fuck around! This is straight up hardcore skate punk in the vein of early Suicidal Tendencies, Minor Threat, and Black Flag. They had an EP out called Westside Punks, but it appears to have been pulled from all streaming services recently in favor of their upcoming Ross Robinson-produced debut LP. I expect this will be a hell of a great set! Photo credit: Travis ShinnThornhill Friday, September 19, 2025 | 12:45 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.Loudmouth StageIn spite of receiving immense praise and rave reviews from the press, and millions of streams on almost every song on their three full-length albums and two EPs released over the last decade, Melbourne, Australia’s Thornhill have yet to break through in America, (as evident in their early Friday time slot at LTL). However, that may soon change as they’ve been tapped to open for Sleep Token on their upcoming, completely sold out US arena tour. Thornhill’s latest album, BODIES, is heavy, sultry, dark, powerful descent into angst, anger, and desire that bring to mind the likes of Deftones, I Prevail, and Nine Inch Nails. If you’re not already listening to Thornhill, you need to be. Photo credit: Jon PisaniLeft For Last Saturday, September 20, 2025 | 11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Big Bourbon Bar
Don’t let the youthful looks of Louisville/Southern Indiana alt-rock/metal band Left For Last fool you, these guys have the chops to hang with any band, locally or nationally. This was proven in their recent hard-fought Loudest in Lou battle of the bands win that got them their spot at LTL. Originally forming as Operation Loudmouth (OPLM) in the summer of 2023, Left For Last draws influences from the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones, Trivium, and Bullet for my Valentine for a sound that is nothing short of a perfect fit for Louder Than Life. Their debut single as Left For Last, “Grave Digger,” is streaming now, as is their previous single “Mad Hatter,” which is streaming under the Operation Loudmouth band name. Without a doubt, this is a band with big things on the horizon. Photo credit: Mat SchladenSpiritworld Saturday, September 20, 2025 | 2:10 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.Decibel Stage
When you see a band sporting cowboy hats, pearl-snap shirts, and sequined Nudie suits, metal definitely isn’t the genre you’d expect to hear them play. But you don’t know Spiritworld. The Las Vegas-based band melds thrash riffs and beats that would sound right at home on Slayer’s South of Heaven with Hatebreed-like hardcore breakdowns and chorus gang vocals, only to break for the occasional dirt-and-grime alt-country, creating a genre all their own: horror-western. Their conceptual lyrics, images, and music videos owe as much to Evil Dead as they do A Fistful of Dollars. Their live shows usually start with a crowd of dumbfounded metalheads staring incredulously at the living spaghetti western standing before them, but end with even the most arduous hater headbanging and moshing along. Spiritworld’s set at LTL is one you definitely do not want to miss! Photo credit: Jasmine GarciaSnot Saturday, September 20, 2025 | 2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Reverb Stage
“Say something for the record; tell the people what you feel.” “Fuck the record! And fuck the people!” The intro to Snot’s 1997 debut album Get Some lets you know exactly what you’re in for, and fuck, do they ever deliver! Although lumped into the nu-metal genre, Get Some is a full-frontal assault of 90’s SoCal punk mixed with groove-laden thrash and alt-metal funk that hits the mark on every level. Sadly, vocalist Lynn Strait was killed in a car accident a year after the album’s release, bringing Snot to an end for several years. Although the band reunited for a few tours in the late 2000’s, the Snot camp has been quiet over the past decade, until now! Back with a new singer and a new album in the works, Snot is ready to fuck your shit up once again! Come get some! Photo credit: Michael PizzoliChained Saint Sunday, September 21, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. Reverb Stage
Aside from XCOMM, Chained Saint is easily the youngest band on this year’s LTL bill. Although they are barely out of high school, these South Florida teens pack a hell of an old-school punch with a sound that combines the late 80’s/early 90’s-style thrash riffs of bands like Slayer, Sepultura, and Sacred Reich with the modern-day brutality of life for today’s youth. Their crushing debut album Blindside, produced by William DuVall of Alice In Chains, was recorded and mixed to analog tape with no computers involved whatsoever in the recording sessions. No AI. No studio trickery. No bullshit. Just real music made by four musicians bashing it out in the same room together. In short, Chained Saint is the future of metal! Get familiar with them now so you can say you were there from day one. Photo credit: Javiel Centeno Jr.Gates To Hell Sunday, September 21, 2025 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Loudmouth Stage
Having already toured with the likes of Machine Head, Fear Factory, Kublai Kahn TX, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Acacia Strain, and upcoming tours with Dying Fetus and Sanguisugabogg lined up, Gates To Hell are well on their way to becoming Louisville’s next Knocked Loose in making their mark on the worldwide metal scene. With an uncompromising blend of death metal and hardcore and songs that generally clock in at under three minutes in length, Gates To Hell keep it short and bullshit-free, wasting no time pummeling the listener with vicious riffs, blast beats, and stomping breakdowns that fall within the lines of classic Obituary, Death, and Hatebreed. Their sophomore album Death Comes To All is out now on Nuclear Blast Records and is 22 minutes of pure, unadulterated brutality that every metalhead needs to experience! Photo credit: Ian XengerReturn To Dust Sunday, September 21, 2025 | 3:40 p.m. – 4:10 p.m.Kingdom Stage
Returning to LTL for their 2nd year in a row is LA-based, (by way of Midlothian, TX), alt-rockers Return To Dust. How I overlooked this band last year is beyond me, but they certainly have my attention now! Combining the sounds and image of heavier 90’s grunge bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, then infusing it with a modern alt-rock sheen, Return To Dust are everything you’ve been waiting to hear in hard rock again. With excellent musicianship, superb song writing skills, and extremely catchy tunes, they have brought a hell of a lot to the table in the three short years they’ve been around. After an EP and full-length record, the band signed with major label LAVA/Republic Records and recently released their 2nd EP Speak Like The Dead. Catch them this year at LTL so when they’re huge in a few years, we will be able to look back and say we saw them play at Kentucky Kingdom before anyone knew who they were. Photo credit: Lexi Abarca
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Jeff Polk is a contributing music writer for LEO Weekly. A Louisville native and grizzled old veteran of the local music scene since the early ‘90s, he has played drums in several bands that you’ve...
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