It’s an insane concept. Nine people on stage at one time play incredibly heavy music. Those who aren’t playing instruments wrestle/fight/mosh onstage, creating an atmosphere that’s purely chaotic. The lead vocalist spews lyrics of anger, begging the crowd to get on his level. Is this blasphemy? Is this madness? Nope, this is Slipknot.
The nine-piece heavy metal band from Iowa released their new album, All Hope is Gone, Aug. 20. Their previous three albums, along with their unforgettable live performances, have put Slipknot on the top of the hard rock universe.
Slipknot is anything but your normal heavy metal band. For one, there are nine people in the group, each member wearing a mask that is washed just once or twice through two years of touring. They also like to refer to themselves by number. For example, the band refers to Corey Taylor, the lead vocalist, as No. 8. As if the band members weren’t crazy enough, Slipknot also has one of the more rabid fanbases in rock, dubbed “The Maggots.” Personally, I thing it’s a lot better than calling people “Parrot Heads,” but that’s just me.
All Hope is Gone begins with the hard-hitting thrash anthem “Gematria (The Killing Name)”. In this track, and throughout the album, the percussion section of Slipknot gets to show off its chops. Their primary drummer, Joey Jordison (No. 1), along with percussionists Shawn “Clown” Crahan (No. 6) and Chris Fehn (No. 3), provide dizzyingly heavy thunder that fits the band like a glove. “Gematria” is a declaration of the band’s goal: to take over the world of heavy metal. Taylor screams in the song, “The time of the nine has come / Get out of the way or you will suffer as one.” It’s hard to be clearer than that.
All Hope is Gone contains many noticeable instances in which Taylor introduces melodic singing between his usual gutteral growlings. The mixture works on some songs better than others. The album’s second single, “Psychosocial,” has Taylor proclaiming in the chorus that “the rain will kill us all,” reminiscent of Travis Bickle in the Martin Scorcese film Taxi Driver.
The song “Snuff” is a stand out track on the album. Not only does the track feature all melodic singing, it doesn’t sound like anything Slipknot has done before. While I don’t want to say Slipknot is going mainstream, I will say some songs have become more accessible to listeners other than The Maggots.
While the growling/melodic singing mixture works in many spots on the album, it doesn’t work on all of them, especially “Gehenna.” In the chorus, Taylor tries to hit a note that he just can’t hit — it’s out of his range, but he tries anyway. It’s painful to listen to, sort of like a kid learning to play the intro to “Stairway to Heaven” on guitar.
Following the trend that began on their last album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), the new album features many guitar solos by talented axe-men Jim Root (No. 4) and Mick Thomson (No. 7). Songs like “Psychosocial”, “Dead Memories” and “Butcher’s Hook” show the shredding skills of Slipknot’s guitar corps.
For all of the metal heads, rockers and maggots out there who love something to bang their head to and sing along with, All Hope is Gone will be right up your alley.
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