Slipknot are a bit of an odd case. Most metalheads hate them for not being "true metal" and claiming they're nu-metal, which I don't entirely believe because there isn't a big nu-metal influence in their general sound, and I personally like them, or at least this album, I haven't really heard the rest yet. Surprised I like subjectively bad music? I doubt it.
Slipknot are a bit strange also, with how they don't have four members, five, or even six, but nine members, and how they all go by numbers. There is, taken from Wikipedia:
(#8) Corey Taylor – vocals
(#7) Mick Thomson – guitars
(#6) Shawn "Clown" Crahan – custom percussions, backing vocals
(#5) Craig "133" Jones – samples, media
(#4) Jim Root – guitars
(#3) Chris Fehn – custom percussion, backing vocals
(#2) Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals
(#1) Joey Jordison – drums
(#0) Sid Wilson – turntables
As read above, they basically have three drummers, meaning there's some pretty nice drumming to be found here, but then there's Craig Jones, who is hardly ever used, which makes me wonder why he's in the band in the first place.Most of the songs here are about hating people, and other subjects typically found in tales of teenage angst, not a whole lot of variety as far as song subjects go.
The guitarists are alright, but there's no guitar solos, so don't expect any. The bassist, Paul Gray, can hardly be heard at times, the percussionists are alright, Sid Wilson is okay at his turntable set, Craig Jones, like I said, I wonder why he's even there, and Corey Taylor is a surprisingly capable vocalist, able to scream, rap, sing, and even scream-rap, if that makes any sense, where he raps, but he screams all of the words. It must hurt his throat a lot after performing, and it's impressive to hear him in 'Spit It Out' because it practically sounds like he's tearing open his vocal cords from all the work he's making them go through, but no, the album isn't very hip-hop influenced, he hardly raps.
The album does have a few low points, after the ninth track, 'Liberate', I feel like the songs after that aren't really that terribly great. Maybe one or two are decent, but nothing past 'Liberate' really caught me. Considering the album has 14 tracks, that's a bit of a problem, because that's four tracks I can't really care for much at all.
The album has a bit of variety, too, surprisingly, from the screamed rap vocals in 'Spit It Out', to the insane sounding 'Tattered & Torn' which is basically a look into the mind of Shawn Crahan, complete with strange screaming going on throughout the track that sounds like someone being tortured. Also noteworthy is the single 'Wait and Bleed', which became the top-charting single from here, with Corey switching from screaming for the verses, and clean vocals for the chorus.
Overall, I feel this album gets a lot of hate for just coming out during the nu-metal phase of music, when it's not exactly technical death metal or anything like that, I feel it's just metal for the most part, with maybe a few nu-metal parts.
But I can still see where people wouldn't like it, the songs can get a little old after a while, but it's good while it lasts. Ignore the haters and their at times terrible fanbase, it's worth a try if you have an open mind about metal.
6/10
Recommended Track(s): Spit it Out, Eyeless
