Slipknot Album Review - Revised

Slipknot, the self-titled debut album from metal god Slipknot, is outright one of the most influential albums ever to come out of the nu metal genre, and possibly even the 90s for that matter. As the nu metal genre was quite new at the time, and even the idea of rapping over metal, Slipknot decided to try and add a heavier element to the mix: screaming and rapping over the verses and clean singing during the chorus (for the most part). Using the now extremely popular idea Korn used in their debut album of extremely down-tuned guitars and major use of the first five frets, Slipknot came out with one of the hardest and heaviest albums ever released. The mix of rapping over a light beat and then all of a sudden screaming over a heavy bass and killer drums instantly boosts the heart rates of anyone listening. This soft to heavy and back again type of metal revolutionized the entire genre of rock and heavy metal forever.

Listening to any Slipknot album is an experience in itself, but their debut can honestly be described as a violent audial assault, so be prepared. Since the first few songs off this album all became synonymous with Slipknot, I will go a little bit into detail with them and omit the latter songs as the sound was well established by that point. After a brief electronic intro, you are instantly thrown into "(sic)," one of the fastest paced songs on the entire album, where you are introduced to the heavy bass playing of Paul Gray, and the insanely quick drumming of Joey Jordison. Not too long after do we hear the first screams of vocalist Corey Taylor, instantly increasing your heart rate at least threefold. "(sic)" remains one of Slipknot’s most played songs in live shows, used as the opener in their earlier shows but became the finale when they began gaining mainstream popularity. Next, we hear "Eyeless," again a fast paced song with the big line from the chorus being:

                                “you can’t see California without Marlon Brando’s eyes”

a line Taylor got when he heard a homeless man shouting at him as he walked the streets of California and decided to put it into a song. Next, we get to hear Taylor’s clean vocals in the chorus of "Wait and Bleed," arguably the band’s most popular song and achieved some of the highest placements on the Billboard music charts. Next we get what Slipknot dubs “America’s National Anthem,” "Surfacing." "Surfacing" is you would think of when you think “scene emo goth teenager.” With vulgar lyrics filling out the entire song, one of the Slipknot catchphrases is the chorus “fuck it all, fuck this world, fuck everything that you stand for, don’t belong, don’t exist, don’t give a shit, and don’t you ever judge me.” Teenage angst much? Maybe, but who’s complaining? Right after surfacing, Slipknot’s “live” song, "Spit it Out," and my personal favorite song ever, consists of Taylor going from rapping to screaming, to singing, and back to rapping to repeat the process several more times. The reason it is dubbed their “live” song, is because of the influence they had on the metal concert. Right before the breakdown where Taylor shouts “fuck me, I’m all out of enemies,” he tells everyone in the crowd to bend down, while he starts rapping and then screams “jump the fuck up,” and has the entire crowd jump up and continue moshing and jumping to the song. 

For me, at least, this after this song is where the album starts to become repetitive and break down. Most of the songs start to sound the same, with Taylor going from rapping to screaming, over DJ Sid Wilson using the turntables to create an eerie vibe, while the heavy guitar and bass sound comes in once the screams start, and seem to sound the same in every song. Not that this is bad, the songs are really great to listen to and I enjoy each one, but I think better placement of the first six songs that all sound different throughout the album would have been better to keep casual listeners entertained throughout the album’s entirety.

An album defined as nu metal, but really carved out its own path by infusing elements of nu metal, death metal, and hip hop all together, led to the eventual formation of several other popular rock and metal bands, like Papa Roach and Disturbed, who cited this album as heavy influences on their music and debut albums. Slipknot changed how people looked at nu metal and the entire genre of metal, through an extremely profane audial assault from start to finish, not taking a single second to rest and unlike their newer albums, not containing any filler tracks. If I were to recommend a heavy album to anybody, it would be Slipknot without a doubt.