One of the biggest stories of the year broke yesterday, with Soundwave Festival boss AJ Maddah revealing that the metal juggernaut would not be returning in 2017.

Between mixed and vocal reactions to line up announcements, ongoing ticketing issues (as you can see on the event Facebook page) and the recent comments by festival headliner Bring Me The Horizon, it’s not surprising festival boss AJ Maddah is ready to give it a rest.

But overnight Maddah dropped another bombshell by revealing that Soundwave Festival is over for good after the 2016 event, and that he’ll be shutting down Soundwave Touring and quitting promoting music altogether as he’s “over” getting “hate and stupidity” after putting in “hard work, stress, and risk”.

There was an outpouring of support for the beleaguered festival promoter, with many fans taking the opportunity to thank him for bring such an incredible number of heavy music artists to Australia.

If you go back through Soundwave’s history, it is indeed a veritable who’s who of metal and rock royalty with Metallica, Slayer, Green Day, Linkin Park, Blink-182, Slipknot, Faith No More, Iron Maiden, Nine Inch Nails, and more.

So what exactly would a man like AJ Maddah who’s been promoting gigs almost his whole life turn to next? Even the man himself isn’t quit sure.

At this point Soundwave 2016 looks like it’s still going full steam ahead, despite some concerns over whether headliner Bring Me The Horizon are still coming after the band took the unusual step of informing fans that they were in fact not 100% locked in.

Even Maddah is being coy to ticket holders, informing some that “we’re not totally gone yet. There is 1 more to go” only to tell another that “[I’m] doing my darnest [sic] to make sure shows go ahead. Once I know position, will let everyone know.”

For the time being, with Soundwave 2016 scheduled to kick off next month with the likes of Disturbed, The Prodigy, Deftones, and NOFX all heading down under for Australia’s premier hard rock and heavy metal, it looks likely this will be the last chance heavy music fans get to experience the festival.

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