Slipknot -- Slipknot

8/10

Slipknot's self-titled debut album is all about aggression. Call it "nu-metal," call it whatever you want, but at its core, this is heavy, angry, percussion-led rock music, with mostly screamed vocals. The drummer is joined by a couple of quite active percussionists, and the three hammer out some unique rhythms in perfect, cacophonous harmony. The guitarists shred ferocious, down-tuned power chords, and the bassist follows suit. With the changing, fun, and innovative rhythms, and the vocalist's injection of melody in songs like "Wait and Bleed," where the melody seems geared more toward feel and diversity of sound as opposed to cash-opportunity, Slipknot is never in danger of becoming rote. With that said, the main drawing-force here is the band's all-out fire and expulsions of extreme bleak emotion. This is music to purge negative feelings by if ever there was, and vocalist, Corey Taylor, absolutely lets it rip."Surfacing" minces nothing in Taylor's absolutely straightforward declaration: Fuck it all!/Fuck this world!/Fuck everything you that you stand for! Yes, that is an absolutely awful sentiment. However, we all have buildups of negative emotion. There's a reason the members of this band wear masks like those seen in 2013's The Purge (which Slipknot predates by several decades). It's better to get it all out in the car on the way to work, than on Stan, the guy who keeps accidentally making 500 copies of his TPS report when you need to print something for a meeting that starts in five minutes.
Purge negative emotions. 
Not Stan.
Vote The Nicsperiment for President, November 3, 2020.


1999 Roadrunner Records
1. 742617000027 0:36
2. (sic) 3:19
3. Eyeless 3:56
4. Wait and Bleed 2:27
5. Surfacing 3:38
6. Spit It Out 2:39
7. Tattered & Torn 2:53
8. Me Inside 2:39
9. Liberate 3:04
10. Prosthetics 4:58
11. No Life 2:47
12. Diluted 3:23
13. Only One 2:26
14. Scissors 8:23
15. Eeyore 2:47