June 29, 1999 - Slipknot and Slipknot

A day after my last release a new band joins my library when Slipknot released their debut album "Slipknot" on June 29, 1999. But who is Slipknot? They are a nine-piece (yes nine!) nu metal band from Des Moines, Iowa and on this album each member was only referred to as a number originally. There's #0, Sid Wilson (turntables), #1, Joey Jordison (drums), #2, Paul Gray (bass), #3, Chris Fehn (percussion), #4, Josh Brainard (guitar), #5, Craig Jones (samples, keyboards), #6, Shawn "Clown" Crahan (percussion), #7, Mick Thomson (guitar) and #8, Corey Taylor (lead vocals). With nine members, including three drummers, Slipknot have a very loud and aggressive sound and they have a very distinct look as well as all members of the band wear creepy, horror-movie level masks! Nu metal was really taking off around this time, but no one else has the intensity and heaviness that these nine guys bring to every one of their songs. After almost the whole album was recorded, guitarist Josh Brainard left the band abruptly. He is replaced by new guitarist Jim Root and Root plays on one of the album's tracks that was recorded in a later session. Let's see what Slipknot is all about! 

The album begins with a 36 second intro called "742617000027" and it's just some trippy noises and a woman saying "the whole thing I think is sick" on repeat. Her voice distorts and warps and it leads us right into the album's first real song "(sic)". It starts with a nice heavy guitar riff and Jordison comes in with some great fast drums. We hear someone say "here comes the pain" and then Wilson shows off the turntables for the first time with some pretty cool scratching. The guitar picks up even more and then Taylor enters for his first verse and he has a pretty incredible voice that sounds really emotional and really heavy as he screams his head off very nicely overtop the heavy music. His fast screams sound so good and the guitars and drums sound pretty great as well with two percussionists there's lots of cool drying going on. Corey screams "you can't kill me 'cause I'm already inside you, SIC!!!" and when he belts out the name of the song he gives it his absolute everything and things sound pretty fucking heavy! What an insane introduction to this crazy band and they end the song with a quiet but epic keyboard part by Jones. Track 3 is "Eyeless" and Wilson gives us some more cool record scratches, Jordison starts up another fast drum beat and either Brainard or Thomson comes in with a great lead guitar riff that sounds pretty sweet. Everyone else builds nicely around this until they're all jamming pretty hard and finally Taylor comes in to scream and sing an angry and heavy verse. He does a really good job of mixing in bits of singing with mostly screaming and it's Corey who really carries this song with such a great vocal performance, he sounds phenomenal! There's a cool, quieter middle part and then they build up to one dirty breakdown that begins with Corey holding a nice long "MOTHERFUCKEEEEEEEEEER" before they slow things right down with a heavier, dirtier version of the main riff. While the guitars are slow and heavy, Corey continues to just let loose with some great screams and the three drummers all go crazy which makes for some insane listening. What a fantastic way to end this fantastic song! The next track was the big hit single "Wait And Bleed" and Corey sings the chorus right from the get-go and he shows that he has a pretty solid singing voice as well. The guitars ramp up as they move into the first verse and Corey screams a nice heavy and fast verse that matches the mood perfectly and it clashes beautifully with the singing chorus. Corey screams a short new verse that sounds pretty sweet and then we hear the chorus sung and screamed at the same time which sounds pretty cool to close things out. This is as close to a single as Slipknot gets, and it was pretty freaking awesome! Track 5 is "Surfacing" and it starts with a pretty crazy sample by Jones on repeat and everyone builds a heavy riff around it that includes some cool bass and drums, some pretty sweet turntables, and of course a nice heavy guitar riff. There's a ton of cool percussion mixed in as well and altogether these nine guys create such a heavy and unique soundscape that words do not properly do justice, there's just so much cool shit going on! I couldn't possibly write about all the little details that make this such a complete song. There is absolutely no let-up on this album so far and that continues with another one of the singles "Spit It Out". It's got an upbeat and pretty catchy main riff and Corey is pretty much rapping this whole song, singing very quickly and also screaming very quickly and both sound pretty good, with the heavy parts of course being my favourite. After a couple quick verses and choruses we get a super trippy middle part with some cool drums in the background and then Taylor spitfires some great lyrics overtop a great heavy riff that leads perfectly back into the chorus. The bar is set pretty fucking high man, every song is an absolute banger so far! Track 7 is "Tattered & Torn" and it has a slower, and pretty creepy sounding keyboard riff that pervades the air while we hear all kinds of trippy and crazy noises overtop some low bass and some fantastic drumming by Jordison. His fills are so fast and so good and Taylor sings and screams intermittently to add to the crazy atmosphere of this song. After a crazy first couple minutes they switch to a more typical Slipknot sound to heavily jam out the last bit and although this was way different than the other songs I thought it was really cool in it's own way. The end leads into a short 45 second track called "Frail Limb Nursery" and like the opening track we hear a woman talking overtop of some trippy noises. It's a weird rant we hear and she sounds sad that someone has died. The drums that start at the end become the beat for track 9 "Purity" which is the only song on the album with Jim Root on guitar. Wilson plays some more great turntables that give things such a fresh take on this nu-metal sound and Jordison continues to play some fantastic fast drums. Corey sings beautifully when things get quiet and he screams wonderfully when the guitars get louder and nicely take over. The blend of the two parts makes for a fantastic verse and then we get our first fairly mainstream chorus with Corey singing one line over and over. After another great verse and decent chorus we hear a cool new guitar riff as they shift to a new part and Corey screams the name of the song with all of his breath. This one was slower but still pretty good. Up next is "Liberate" and it has some pretty sweet guitar by both Brainard and Thomson, some cool turntables and Taylor sounds so good screaming at the top of his lungs. He mixes the singing and screaming in the fast-paced verse and screams a repetitive but nice and heavy chorus. They build and build until the drums are absolutely insane and everything nicely breaks down into a slow, chugging riff. More great drums follow and they end the song with one hell of a breakdown that is pretty fucking, soul-crushingly heavy. I fucking love these guys! Up next is "Prosthetics" and it has a pretty slow pace compared to most of the album driven by a slow and distorted guitar riff. Jordison, Fehn and Crahan each come in with a different drum beat and on this track they really use the three drummers to their most potential as they all play different things, but together everything sounds great and it doesn't sound noisy or competitive at all. Jones adds some crazy sounding keyboards and samples as well and everything sounds pretty creepy and slowly chaotic. Taylor sings very softly to start the verse but eventually ramps into some more typically awesome screaming. This is a much trippier side to Slipknot, and I quite like it honestly, they do a really good job at playing psychedelic metal! Corey let's out all his emotions in his last few screams and he sounds so good. Keep 'em coming! Track 11 is "No Life" and we're back to the fast stuff again as Taylor raps/screams pretty quickly to kick us off overtop a nice heavy main riff. Corey carries this song with some really great vocals and I love how he snaps instantly from rapping into a terrifying scream! There's some pretty cool drums as well and Corey sings a nice middle section before they return to the main riff to jam things out. Short, sweet, and in your face, I like it! The next track is "Diluted" and it's driven by a repetitive but solid guitar riff. Taylor sings quietly at first, but as the verse goes on he gets louder and more epic and when the chorus hits he sounds awesome belting out "what the hell did I do to deserve all of this?" They repeat the quiet-to-loud verse and chorus and then Corey very quickly raps a cool new part and they tie it perfectly back into a final chorus to finish things off. There really are no weak songs, another really good effort! Track 13 is "Only One" and you just gotta listen to it to really get it. In two and a half minutes Corey spits out some really great rapping verses, he screams a great chorus overtop some nice heavy music and there's even a trippy, echo-y little drum solo! Every second was off the wall craziness and it's yet another fantastic song. This amazing album finally wraps up with "Scissors" and although it's listed at over twenty minutes long, almost half of it is silence and this track is really about eight and a half minutes. It starts with some percussion and one by one other members start joining in as we hear two guitar parts, bass, drums, samples, and more percussion. Corey eventually comes in and sings quietly to match the mood, until they nicely shift to a much heavier riff and Corey's transition is really fucking good. Everything stops and Corey starts to sing "biding my time until the time is right" and eventually it becomes such a loud scream and he sounds so fucking heavy! The music is also pretty damn heavy and insane and I can't properly describe all the cool drums and general madness that goes on in this long song. Towards the end it is absolute drumming insanity as they are just flying everywhere and Corey continues to sound phenomenal screaming with all of his heart. Just when you thought it was over, there's 30 more seconds of goodness before the long silence begins. With just under three minutes left we finally reach the bonus track "Eeyore" and this just might be the craziest song on the album! They come out firing with some super fucking fast guitars and drums and things sound pretty fucking awesome! Corey uses a ton of profanity on this track and this is just an absolute heavy overload! At the end Corey is just screaming "stupid fuck!" at the top of his lungs and Jordison is just going absolutely insane on the drum kit! What a fucking way to wrap things up! I'm ready to fucking go!

That is the end of "Slipknot" and if you couldn't tell, I thought it was a phenomenal album, made even more impressive by the fact that this is their debut! I think I already said enough in the review but to sum it up: Slipknot are fucking awesome! What an incredible debut! I can't wait to see them try and top this!