Las Vegas’ festival calendar has seen better days. This year alone, we saw the postponement of three annual live music events, and while When We Were Young, Punk Rock Bowling and Best Friends Forever all catered to different tribes, it still stings to see live music fans go through a festival drought.

That’s what makes Sick New World’s return to the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on April 25 all the more significant. It may not be the festival everyone wanted, but right now, it might be the festival that matters most.

Nostalgic nu-metal is what Sick New World promised when it debuted in 2023. And though Korn and System of a Down are still the bedrock, this festival’s shown a propensity for crossovers.

Three acts that once anchored the now-defunct Psycho Las Vegas—darkwave duo Twin Tribes, the stoner rock pioneers of Clutch and darksynth producer Carpenter Brut—have found a new home here. Even legendary hip-hop crew Cypress Hill couldn’t resist SNW’s gravitational pull. And then there’s the returning Danny Elfman, who ripped through his iconic film scores and Oingo Boingo tracks in a festival-defining performance in 2024. What hard rock fest flaunts its own film composer?

Sick New World is bridging genres. It’s absorbing overflow. It’s rekindling the spark of sweaty, intricately performed live music. It’s nu-metal. It’s West Coast rap. It’s goth. It’s shoegaze. It’s hardcore punk. It’s … well,sick.

How well do you know the Sick New World lineup?

1. Which Sick New World artist was previously a mortician in training?

a) Kat Moss (Scowl)

b) Jonathan Davis (Korn)

c) Dax Riggs (Acid Bath)

d) Amy Lee (Evanescence)

2. Which of these bands has not been featured on a video game soundtrack?

a) Health

b) Lords of Acid

c) Carpenter Brut

d) Vowws

3. Which band’s name was inspired by a line from the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl?

a) Bloodywood

b) Violent Vira

c) Bring Me the Horizon

d) She Wants Revenge

4. The supergroup Better Lovers features members from which highly influential metalcore band?

a) Atreyu

b) Killswitch Engage

c) Every Time I Die

d) As I Lay Dying

5. Which of these ’90s rap artists has Korn not collaborated with?

a) Limp Bizkit

b) DMX

c) Nas

d) Ice Cube

6. This Sick New World artist starred in the 1999 comedy crime film Jawbreaker. Who is it?

a) Marilyn Manson

b) Matty Matheson (Pig Pen)

c) Troy Sanders (Mastodon)

d) Danny Elfman

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