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Slipknot
Any half-observant person traveling through small towns across the U.S. will see recurring themes. Like a novel in need of some serious editing, the same characters in the same situations present themselves time and again. Everything is as dull as death. With dads long gone and moms at work, kids climb the embankment under a freeway overpass to escape the summer heat, have a couple of beers and a smoke. Above they hear the traffic speeding somewhere else. Below, on a two-lane road, the local traffic crawls by.
Here the pressure to accept the status quo or adhere to the norm is even more pronounced and suffocating than in big cities. And it's not all that different in any other hot, dusty, conservative agriculture oriented place. Enter Slipknot.
Using numbers rather than names to identify members (a comment on individualism), Slipknot, who hailed from Des Moines, Iowa, dressed in jumpsuits and scary masks as they drilled the Alt. Metal mine to the hilt.
Forming in '95, Slipknot's self-released debut "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." arrived a year later. That opening salvo got them signed to Roadrunner Records where they launched "Slipknot" ('99), the live "Spit It Out" ('00), "Iowa" ('01) and "Vol. 3 - The Subliminal Verses" ('04). Rick Rubin produced the latter. Both "Iowa" and "Vol. 3 - The Subliminal Verses" were major commercial successes.
In the summer of '08, Slipknot performed at the inaugural show of Rockstar Mayhem Festival tour in Auburn, WA. It became a memorable concert, for the wrong reasons, when Sid Wilson broke both his heels while jumping offstage during the first show. On subsequent tour stops Wilson performed in a wheelchair.
"I think it's the best thing I've ever made," said Corey Taylor, talking up the group's fourth album, "All Hope Is Gone." "And I challenge anyone to prove me wrong."
Though the group began work in the album in October, '07, recording didn't really get rolling until early '08. Working for the first time with producer Dave Fortman, the album was seen as being more experimental, using such 'unconventional' instruments as acoustic guitars, hi-hats and cymbals - and even trying for melodic vocals. The '08 disc's first single was "Psychosocial."
Prior to the album's release Slipknot headlined the Mayhem Festival and had plans to appear at the Reading and Leeds Music Festivals in England (sharing the stage with Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Avenged Sevenfold and Queens Of The Stone Age). But drummer Joey Jordison's broken ankle (yeah, another injury - hope they have a good health plan) forced Slipknot to cancel the remaining shows on their European tour, including the Reading and Leeds dates. "Doctors have advised Joey to stay off his leg for 4-6 weeks to prevent further injury or permanent and more serious damage," said a band statement.
The day after the cancellation was announced Slipknot collected the Kerrang! Icon trophy at the 2008 Kerrang! Awards in London. "I'm speechless," said Taylor who dedicated the award Jordison. "I wish there was more of us here. I just showed up for the booze." He pledged to return (with Slipknot) to the UK and make up for the missed the festivals. "We will be back as soon as the wound heals."
Slipknot attacks songs with nihilistic brutality. Their self-titled Roadrunner debut containing "Wait And Bleed" is a scorcher. The guitars, bass and percussion create an incendiary blast that is aided and abetted by Corey (8) Taylor's guttural vocals. While "Spit It Out," with live tracks, is more of a placeholder, the '01 release "Iowa" delivers with "The Heretic Anthem."
Nobody buys a Slipknot disc for the ballads. But after a couple studio efforts a group needs to try something different, even if it doesn't particularly work. "Vol. 3 - The Subliminal Verses" has the ballads "Circle" and "Danger-Keep Away" but they can be excused since Slipknot returns to its violent, aggressive core strengths on songs "The Opium Of The People" and "Vermilion."
Maybe "All Hope Is Gone" but Slipknot prevails. The furious, vengeful vocals; rampant guitar shredding; and bass/drums used as an assault weapon rather than simply providing rhythm, are all here.
"Pyschosocial" employs the tuneful verse/bellowing chorus template effectively. "Dead Memories" and "Snuff" show flashes of melody but the remainder of the album drives relentlessly. Unless Slipknot fans disappear in droves, this is another platinum-worthy album.
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