Slipknot - Slipknot

[Guest A/D]

 

ok, I know chen and like 1 other person will read this, but whatever. I decided to write a big long piece on why I like this album so much. tl;dr/lots of too long sentences below.

 

 

 

Slipknot's self-titled album is my favorite metal album ever.

 

What makes this album so much fun to listen to is its great attention to composition. Each song is not a series of sections, it's a smart mix of ebb and flow. Nobody stays with one idea for more than a couple of bars, and if they do, it's because the song has been built up enough for the catharsis of repetition.

 

Like long-form classical stuff, the texture and structure of the whole disc is implicated in the earliest pieces. In the first few songs, we get breakneck speeds, syncopated, caught off-guard and rapidly changed up. In their high points, though, we get straight rhythms, more melody, energy channeled and pinpointed. This second group of elements opens up over the course of the disc, as songs become longer, more melodic, more attached to their themes, more traditional in structure.

 

What I like so much about it is that the transitions are cellular. Even as songs tend towards one extreme or the other, they incorporate elements of both seamlessly. They are all made of the same clay, twisted and shaped into related elements; part of a family, but each unique and considered carefully. The opening two songs are all frantic violence and tempo changes; Wait and Bleed features a melodic refrain and portends more traditional structure before dissolving back into the disjointed Surfacing. Purity's mostly straight rhythms and sung chorus give way to Prosthetics' slow fury and No Life's frenetic vacillations, which revolve around a pentatonic dirge that surfaces for a few bars and never returns. Scissors, the album's closer, takes every thematic edge we've heard and blends one into another, running us from its radio-play opening to sick, sludgy heights, nerve-wrenching droney screeching, and ending on a last gasp of vocal awfulness.

 

Each sonic element follows this idea as well. No idea is sacred - if an element is repeated, it's chopped up and rearranged, never getting too comfortable. Each instrument takes its turn rubberbanding syncopation off of a bed of building pressure. The excellent drumming somehow emphasizes offbeats while supporting every twist the songs take. The drums bind the ideas together - they balance and reinforce the grinding of the linked bass/guitars, allowing the vocal timing to swing comfortably offbeat. It's also the only metal album I know of to comfortably fuse tape elements into its songs - the Amen makes an appearance (Eyeless), and the scratching and sirens they use pay homage to drum and bass while actually adding to the material.

 

The vocals have more in common with hiphop and pop than metal vocals do, especially when Slipknot was released. What I mean is that assonance, texture, and rhythm preside over what you know he's going to talk about (pain, violence, insanity), with some notably unique touches ("You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"). There's great versatility and showmanship texture-wise; Slipknot's vocals mimic their guitars, screaming high or deep; or they tremble as a preacher fearing God; or call out in cop-through-a-megaphone contempt - sometimes all in the same song. A few songs (Scissors) have more in common with abstract radio plays than metal, featuring mostly sonic detritus and muttered, harried spoken word consisting mostly of imagery and screaming.

 

My love for this album has led me to investigate their later work but so far nothing I've heard comes close to this tightrope walk of compositional excellence. The writing feels a lot like good Chopin or Aphex, where I hang on every note as the next word in a beautiful sentence, rewarding cursory listening and deeper exploration equally. My only major complaint is that the album is overcompressed, which is surprising as it was supposedly mastered "by hand" by the drummer and producer.

 

I think musicians could stand to learn a lot from this album. I certainly have.

 

Thank you and goodnight.

 

 

 

PS

 

 

this is me lol

 

 

jk lol

 

 

 

 

[sneaksta303]

Ooh I hate Nardwar. His interview with Wesley Willis just pissed me right off.

 

I remember the 1st time i heard this album, I was in late high school, and in a metal band. The intro, then into the 1st song just made me So brutal. They haven't topped that moment for me, and I don't expect them to, but yes, that 1st album is a metal classic.

[cruising for burgers]

i like their masks.

[Guest Wall Bird]

I'm partial to 'Iowa' myself. But yeah. Nice album. I'll have to listen to it again sometime soon and see how well it's aged.

 

I'm partial to 'Iowa' myself. But yeah. Nice album. I'll have to listen to it again sometime soon and see how well it's aged.

[sneaksta303]

yeah, I haven't heard it in probably 10 years. Mayhap I'll check it out.

[beerwolf]

Never paid money to see this band but seen them live countless times over the years, due to being on a lot of festival line-ups and supporting Slayer. Though I don't really care much for them I reckon they do put on a good gig. Always more than happy to chill out and have a few beers and watch the spectacle unfold. It's sort of great entertainment and quite funny. I know scarier geezers who drink down my local boozer though.

[Guest Sir Winston]

They can make some awesome tunes, can't say I like everything on all the albums but some of it is absolutely stonking.

[Guest Fishtank]

I like Slipknot, if you pay attention to the lyrics they're better than most metal bands

[Guest AcrossCanyons]

no facepalms in this thread yet?

 

 

suppose i'll start

 

 

[Guest Fishtank]

my opinion is better than your opinion

[Boxing Day]

I used to love Slipknot , back when i was an angry 13-year-old with male-menstruation problems and the dick the size if a Cheetos (and could not fuck any decent pussy).

[thehauntingsoul]

Tbh I was hugely into them in my earlier music days. Them, Korn and Limp Bizkit were among the first bands I ever electively listened to.

 

Slipknot has some serious rhythm going on in their insane rageful vocals, and they play around with alot of interesting melodic stuff in the background. I would say the entire Nu-Metal genre is to regular metal as IDM is to regular electronic music.

 

Korn and Limp Bizkit had better atmosphere going for the most part though.

 

Although... Scissors was a really good track, and they have done a few tracks that almost cross the line into IDM territory.

[sneaksta303]

Tbh I was hugely into them in my earlier music days. Them, Korn and Limp Bizkit were among the first bands I ever electively listened to.

 

Slipknot has some serious rhythm going on in their insane rageful vocals, and they play around with alot of interesting melodic stuff in the background. I would say the entire Nu-Metal genre is to regular metal as IDM is to regular electronic music.

 

Korn and Limp Bizkit had better atmosphere going for the most part though.

 

Although... Scissors was a really good track, and they have done a few tracks that almost cross the line into IDM territory.

 

Imma argue the shit outta this post later, but I gotta run atm. DAMNIT THS!

[baph]

I would say the entire Nu-Metal genre is to regular metal as IDM is to regular electronic music.

 

So IDM is aesthetically- and artistically bankrupt prepackaged teen angst for the mall-going masses?

[thehauntingsoul]

Tbh I was hugely into them in my earlier music days. Them, Korn and Limp Bizkit were among the first bands I ever electively listened to.

 

Slipknot has some serious rhythm going on in their insane rageful vocals, and they play around with alot of interesting melodic stuff in the background. I would say the entire Nu-Metal genre is to regular metal as IDM is to regular electronic music.

 

Korn and Limp Bizkit had better atmosphere going for the most part though.

 

Although... Scissors was a really good track, and they have done a few tracks that almost cross the line into IDM territory.

 

Imma argue the shit outta this post later, but I gotta run atm. DAMNIT THS!

I assume you'll forget and this thread will forever remain a victory on my part

[beariksson]

[Mr12000]

I would say the entire Nu-Metal genre is to regular metal as IDM is to regular electronic music.

 

So IDM is aesthetically- and artistically bankrupt prepackaged teen angst for the mall-going masses?

[Guest tidbit]

does these guys(?) know how magnets work?

[cruising for burgers]

water light wheel

[Boxing Day]

Iowa is the state were Serial Killers are made.

 

"Come see my cage , built in my grave"

[SCONES TO DIE FOR]

 

I bought this Slipknot record in the early '90s. It sure sucks.

[tipper]

I would say the entire Nu-Metal genre is to regular metal as IDM is to regular electronic music.

 

So IDM is aesthetically- and artistically bankrupt prepackaged teen angst for the mall-going masses?

[purlieu]

Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses is their best album.

The last one had too many Nickleback songs and the first two are too whiny now.

[Guest PWSTEAL]

Slipknot's first 2 albums were fucking badass!

They were a really talented band.

[Hautlle]

I would say the entire Nu-Metal genre is to regular metal as IDM is to regular electronic music.

 

So IDM is aesthetically- and artistically bankrupt prepackaged teen angst for the mall-going masses?