Slipknot – The Gray Chapter

Slipknot -The Gray Chapter

Slipknot are overall the most consistent nu-metal act and have released perhaps my two favourite albums in the genre (Self-titled and Iowa). At their best they create intense, aggressive music with thunderous drumming, mangled guitar work and electronic experimentation beneath the chaos. The band is led by the guttural yelling of Corey Taylor who also has an ear for unforgettable hooks.

Despite the brilliance of those first two albums, I saw a decline in the quality of Slipknot releases after Iowa. The last two albums contained an overuse of gothic balladry embarrassingly close to emo acts like Evanesence and replaced the almost industrial sound of their early works with more of a conventional arena rock vibe permeating through most of the singles. Some of these (Dead Memories for example) are great pop songs but lack the experimental edge that made Slipknot such an interesting mainstream band.

I had the pleasure of seeing Slipknot live last year and it was one of my favorite concert experiences. One great moment was crowd surfing to ‘People = Shit.’ I remember watching other people jump up and thinking ‘man, I wish I could just jump up there,’ and than I did and felt glorious anthemic nihlistic music pulse through my body as I was floating on the arms of strangers. I was distant yet connected telepathically through the music. It was unforgettable.

But the concert was marred by tragedy as recently the bass player, Paul Gray, had passed away. This new 6th album by Slipknot is titled the Gray chapter as a tribute to their lost band mate and I imagine it will deal with themes of death erand loss more directly than usual.

Let’s do it

1.XIX

‘This song is for the dead’

Promising intro – industrial sounds and funeral bagpipes. This is unlike any Slipknot song ever. ‘Nothing appeals to me no-one feels like me.’ I’m unsure about these lyrics – aren’t these guys like 40 years old now? But I guess with nu-metal these lyrics are part of the aesthetics of the music, just like how Black Sabbath songs have gothic imagery and Led Zeppelin songs have fantastical imagery.

This is probably one of their best intros ever though.

2.Sarcastrophe
This title feels like what Weird Al would title his Slipknot parody. Disappointing for track 2 where you really want the album to kick you in the face. Compare this with the intensity of their first album and you can see this is the same sound but weaker and less effective. In fact, this just makes me want to pop in the self-titled right now and enjoy this music at its best. The only redeeming part of this is the use of squelching sounds near the end of the track.

3.AOV
It was ok until that Stone Sour ‘real’ singing came in and then it became embarrassing. There is some great textural guitar work on this track. But otherwise there’s nothing separating this from generic metal. The production is too clean cut and it lacks a crunch and a bite.

4.The Devil in I
Another unfortunate track. Basically any Slipknot song with actual singing is difficult to get through. Especially because Corey Taylor’s actual singing voice is ‘good’ in a conventional way or in a way. The great point about Slipknot was how raw they sounded at first.

5.KillPop
I’m kind of angry listening to this but the feeling, rather than induced by the music, is induced by how disappointing this thing is far. This track has some great guitar work but this is lite for them. The riffs are Sabbath esque and the chorus is sung for the third track in a row. This sounds more like a Stone Sour record than Slipknot.

6.Skeptic
‘The world will never see another crazy motherfucker like you The world will never know another man as amazing as you.’ The lyrics are difficult, mostly because it’s hard to angrily scream heartfelt reminisces to your friend and have the feelings come across. It feels like a remake of an earlier Slipknot song but with a more reflective tone, even if does get embarrassing places.

7.Lech
Another effective song with more energy. I would happily cut out the last 3 tracks and have the albums track 2 be skeptic and then this and it’d seem a valid Slipknot album. This track has a great fusion of riffing and dissonant elements.

8.Goodbye
Now I’ve mentioned previously the Slipknot ballads are problematic for me and whilst this track started out with a building moody atmosphere the Bowser’s castle guitar work make it difficult to take the song seriously.

9.Nomadic
I wish I could enjoy this one a little more but yet again it has a sung hook and lacks that demented frustration of earlier Slipknot. Plus, the guitar work seems more about showing virtuoso abilities and soloing than their earlier more intense work.

10. The One That Kills The Least
Another generic track despite some great turntable work midway through and an effective ending.

11.Custer
A reminder of how great Slipknot can be at their best – high-octane riffing, throat destroying vocals and some enjoyable electronics. The multi-tracked vocals almost make this one sound like a football chant of a song. The use of horror movie scream sampling is also an effective touch.

12.Be Prepared For Hell
More of an interlude like piece…

13.The Negative One
This track sounds like it could have been made in the Iowa era with excellent scratching and great use of vocal harmonies and thankfully a chorus without the emotive singing.

14.If Rain Is What You Want
Cool closer I guess.

Overall – I think the album had some great tracks near the end and ‘The Negative One’ and ‘Custer’ are the best two Slipknot songs since Iowa. But the balladry throughout this thing was embarrassing.