Slipknot Has Never Been More Themselves with “We Are Not Your Kind”
Slipknot released their sixth album, We Are Not Your Kind, on August 9th, and with it celebrated 20 years. That is no small feat for a group that started as outcast midwestern kids shocking the mainstream with scary masks, jumpsuits, and furiously innovative music.
From their beginning, Slipknot has represented those members of society who are, for one reason or another, viewed as “different”. They embraced it, personified it, and ended up changing the game. Their career has been marred by tragedy, their music criticized by politicians and parents for inciting violence, and the band has been jeopardized by the members themselves. Despite all that, they now seem to have shed all expectations, whether internal or external and released their most authentic album to date.
Slipknot released their self-titled debut in 1999 and joined the burgeoning nu metal movement that dominated (or plagued) the radio. Nu metal draws from genres like rap, alt-rock, funk, grunge, etc. The late-90s were the height of rap metal, which may have been better off ending with Rage Against the Machine but instead paved the way for Limp Bizkit to top the Billboard 200 with Significant Other.
Vocalist Corey Taylor’s take on the genre was different. Instead of separating clean, rapped vocals and screamed vocals, Taylor frequently screams his raps over blisteringly fast beats. Slipknot set themselves apart musically by having enough members to form a ska band but focusing on percussion instead of horns; and completely different styles of music. The furious drumming and additional bangs off kegs and trashcans from percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan made for an absolute roller coaster of a record among a sea of generic sounding, soon to be forgotten nu/rap metal bands.
In 2001, the band released the highly anticipated Iowa. Slipknot had to follow up their frenetic debut amidst what as arguably the most tumultuous time for the band. Each member was going through their own hardships, some with drugs, some with alcohol, all of them succumbing to the pressures of going from the exhaustive touring right into recording. Still, Iowa came out a near-masterpiece, led by the anthemic “Left Behind” and receiving two Grammy nominations, one for “Left Behind” and one for “My Plague” the following year.
Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses saw Slipknot working for the first and only time with legendary producer Rick Rubin. This experience was met with polarizing views. Corey Taylor felt Rubin did not put in enough time in the record, telling Revolver, “We were being charged horrendous amounts of money. And for me, if you’re going to produce something, you’re fucking there. I don’t care who you are,”. Conversely, Jim Root said his presence was felt even when he wasn’t there, and Clown believed him a “guru”. Vol. 3 also marked a more notable departure from earlier sounds, leaning into the anthemic and melodic songs they had touched on before.
Songs like “Duality” and “Before I Forget” are two of the band’s biggest songs. “Before I Forget” landed them their first Grammy win. Though decidedly heavy, the album lacks the off-kilter innovation of their first two records. Vol. 3 saw Slipknot move into more mainstream, polished metal sounds, pushed even further with 2008’s All Hope Is Gone.
All Hope Is Gone also ended up marking the end of an era, as it was the last album to feature the full (mostly) original lineup. Founding bassist Paul Gray died of an overdose in 2010, followed by founding drummer Joey Jordison’s abrupt and ambiguous departure/firing. The recording sessions for All Hope Is Gone again found the band working among various life pressures and continued infighting, but even so found them nominated for yet another Grammy, this time for “Psychosocial”. All Hope Is Gone is their most radio-friendly metal album. It precedes their longest gap between records to date, and a slow return to their chaotic, free-wheeling sound.
Six years passed before .5: The Gray Chapter was released. The title is a dedication to the late Paul Gray and the album is one of their deepest, most personal albums to date. Highlighting that loss, but also acknowledging the band’s resiliency is the song, “Goodbye”. Taylor sings over the slow tune, “A long time ago we discovered that nothing could stop us/This hasn’t torn us apart, so nothing ever will”. The Gray Chapter was nominated for Best Rock Album and third single, “Custer” was nominated for Best Metal Performance.
The brief hiatus combined with years of turmoil yet continued maturation led Slipknot to their most original and innovative output to date: We Are Not Your Kind. On Halloween 2018, they released the standalone single, “All Out Life”. “All Out Life” builds up before exploding with the rabid force that rocketed Slipknot into fame. The fire continues throughout, with the bridge chanting the anthem for all the outcasts the band has represented, shouting, “We are not your kind”.
We Are Not Your Kind is both vicious and gentle. It has the bloodthirsty percussion that only Slipknot can pull off, eerie samples that feel at place in an Eli Roth film, and even some good old-fashioned record scratching from Sid Wilson in, “Not Long For This World”.
“Spiders” channels early songs like “Tatter & Torn” or “Scissors”. “Solway Firth” carries with it some of the oddities found on their first EP Mate/Feed/Kill/Repeat. “Unsainted” opens with ominous church bells and that feeling continues into a triumphant chorus backed by a gospel choir. Taylor’s voice soars over it all, “I didn’t come this far to sink so low/I’m finally holding on to let it go”. These are the words of a band who has been through hell and continues to raise it nonetheless.
With We Are Not Your Kind, Slipknot successfully harnessed the sound and energy that defined them in the beginning and pushed it further, rather than regressing. Artists are always changing and evolving and this is a double-edged sword. There are fans that push back, not liking a new sound and preferring the “old stuff” (See: Fall Out Boy). On the other hand, if a band releases the same album over and over again their sound can get stale and alienate fans as well. While Slipknot has never sounded exactly the same on any album, We Are Not Your Kind captures the style and technique they’ve perfected and smashes it all through a much more matured lense. They’ve ditched the “mainstream” and dived into the avant-garde to fantastic results.
Slipknot started in what had been a fringe genre that left most of its members in the early 2000s. Throughout 20 years they solidified themselves as metal legends, becoming a household name. Nu metal has not been entirely forgotten with hardcore bands like Vein and SeeYouSpaceCowboy incorporating nu metal flavors into their music.
Slipknot paved the way for new ideas in metal and music in general. They remained together despite almost constant friction and used their experience to do what everyone should be encouraged to do: be unapologetically, 100% themselves.
