Ramble-Review: Slipknot 2008-2015

Overview

Welcome to part 2 of my slipknot reviews. Today I’ll be covering the next three albums which have some of the best and worst of Slipknot in my opinion. I’ll be doing the same for these albums as I did the last 2, an overview along with 4 standout tracks of each. 

The Subliminal Verses: Dull The Ache

In my opinion, The Subliminal Verses represents the end of the first era of Slipknot. Their self-titled album through this one is an amazing run of three 10/10 albums. This album is a departure from Iowa and the self-titled in that it gets much softer. Whereas Iowa takes the aggression of the self-titled up to 11, this album keeps up the anger but also highlights the calmer and softer moments like the intro to Wait and Bleed from their first album. I adore this album so let’s get into the standouts. 

Standouts

Duality

A classic, and currently Slipknot’s top listened to song on Spotify, Duality is a great example of the more radio rock elements the band toys with on this album. The song utilizes the soft versus loud dynamic to its full extent, even starting with a whisper turned scream. The song is also a great first Slipknot song to listen to. It never gets incredibly heavy, but introduces a lot of classic Slipknot elements, making it a good gateway song. 

Favorite lyric: “I have screamed until my veins collapsed/I've waited as my time's elapsed/Now, all I do is live with so much hate”

Vermillion 1&2

The two parts of Vermillion are two different versions of the same song. The first is a heavier metal version and the second a soft acoustic version. The heavier version is the weaker of the two in my opinion. While normally I like Corey’s whispered growls, it never quite feels right. Part 2 is much better in my opinion as it utilizes the softness of the vocals mixed with an acoustic instrumental to fully realize the potential of the song as a ballad. The harmonies make the song absolutely beautiful and the guitars and strings really make it a full masterpiece. I love part 2 and have listened to it many times since finishing the album. 

The Nameless

Now to get into some of my favorite lesser appreciated tracks, The Nameless is a brilliant fast song. It jumps right in with strong lead vocals and backing vocals echoing in the background. The choruses stripping back to acoustic is a choice the band doesn’t often make, but it serves the song incredibly well. This song is just so fun to listen to as it keeps you on your toes. The bridge is also amazing as it the drum fills build around the riffs and yelled/screamed vocals. All around one of my favorites that deserves more love. 

Favorite lyric: “never wanted anybody more than I wanted you/The only thing I ever really loved was hate”

Danger - Keep Away

Now for a weird one. When I did my full listen through of this album, it was getting pretty late at night by the end, and this song came on around midnight. The weird atmospheric background mixed with layers of Corey singing over a piano made it an extremely strange and haunting experience. The song has so many pieces of it all working in tandem, and it uses all of them well. It honestly ties with Vermilion Part 2 for best soft moment on the album in my book. Corey’s vocals in the second chorus sound absolutely heavenly, allowing the song to seamlessly fade out over that piano. 

Favorite lyric: “What If I never saw you again/I'd die right next to you in the end”

All Hope Is Gone: Aching for Change

Alright now I’m unsure of how controversial of an opinion this is, as I don’t frequent too many Slipknot forums, but this is my least favorite of Slipknot’s albums. Released in 2008, the album feels like the band balancing precariously on the edge. It features a lot more of the same radio rock elements that they flirted with on the last album, dials back up the aggression, but also tries to keep some of that softness. All that is to say, it feels like they hadn’t really made up their mind about where to go. This album to me is a mess of contradictions. They both want to recapture the magic of their first two albums, but also want to move in their own direction separate from being a nu-metal legacy act. While the album has its moments, to me it feels as if its simply retrodding ground already covered in a slightly worse way. 

Standouts

Sulfur

A great example of where the heavier parts of the album shine, Sulfur has those growled half screams on it that really feel like Corey is barely holding back. The track also features a radio rock chorus that really makes the whole thing soar. In my opinion, this track is an excellent example of what the album was going for. 

Favorite lyric: “There's something inside me that feels/Like breathing in sulfur”

Psychosocial

Psychosocial is Slipknot’s second most streamed song on Spotify. It feels like a slightly softer version of Sulfur, with a heavy emphasis on the chorus. The clean vocals are brilliant and the song overall is very good. It definitely falls more into the radio rock/butrock category, but it keeps up that Slipknot aggression and flair throughout. Both this track and Sulfur have a good guitar solo in them which definitely adds to both songs. The repeated “psychosocial” after each chorus is also great. 

Favorite lyric: “Go drill your deserts/Go dig your graves/Then fill your mouth with all the money you will save”

Dead Memories

This song opens with an unsettling guitar part that sets the mood for the track immediately. Dead Memories has some amazing clean vocals on it, and has absolutely fed my obsession with Corey’s voice. In fact the entire track is clean vocals, which is unusual for Slipknot. The way his voice sounds on this song actually reminds me a bit of TOOL. It's definitely a radio rock track, but it fully commits to it, which makes it great. Because it isn’t trying to both be insanely aggressive and be radio friendly and it fully commits to one, it works incredibly well. 

Favorite lyric: “But you asked me to love you and I did/Traded my emotions for a contract to commit”

Snuff

The ballad of the album. Snuff is one of my favorite tracks of all time. It makes me sob if I’m already in an emotional mood, and the vocal performance on it is just ethereal. The song starts acoustic and slowly builds up to a heavier sound over its runtime. The song just vibes. Absolutely cannot recommend it enough, I even got my Mom to like it and she does not like most Slipknot songs. 

Favorite lyric: “My smile was taken long ago/If I can change I hope I never know"

The Gray Chapter: Not for the Living

The Gray Chapter is an extremely interesting album. It’s divisive, and was the first album to feature significant lineup changes. I like the album quite a bit, but it doesn’t come close to the first three in my opinion. It does feel like the band found their voice again, however. It has a distinct cohesive sound to it and it is definitely an improvement over All Hope Is Gone for me. It continues that feeling from AHIG of Slipknot being their own distinct genre separate from nu-metal, which was pretty unpopular as a genre at the time. The album opens with a spooky intro track and then goes ham with Sarcastrophe. 

Standouts

Sarcastrophe

A great opener. It brings the heaviness and keeps up the momentum all the way through. The guitar riff is also just so groovy and makes me wanna head bop. Corey goes back to his almost rapped screams which I always love on this track as well. The background gang vocals also add so much to the song. All around just a good way to kick off the album. 

Favorite lyric: “Burn up in your atmosphere/Burn up in your utmost fear/Desecrate your temples/Only hell and hate remain”

The Devil in I

Starting with an absolutely nasty drumline, this song will always go incredibly hard. It just makes me want to get up and thrash. For me, this and Custer, which we’ll get to, are the best examples of this album. When the vocals come in and the instrumentals calm down, the song builds back up with that creepy unsettling feeling that permeates the whole album. Then the chorus comes in and goddamn. Just a masterclass in how to build good tension and resolve it. 

Favorite lyric; “Sensation, deprivation/You should've burned when you turned on everyone/”

Killpop

Now as I’ve stated before I don’t frequent too many Slipknot forums, but from what I have seen this song is also divisive. It’s a calmer track with a bouncy bassline under that same moody atmosphere the rest of the tracks have. The chorus is a great example of that same beautiful hauntedness that the whole album does so well. Corey has stated the song is about his relationship with his music and the music industry in general. Knowing that allows the song to highlight the growth of the band since Iowa. Whereas on Iowa they show clear disdain for the music industry with tracks like The Heretic Anthem, this song shows a love-hate relationship with that same industry, who is personified as the ‘she’ in the song.

Favorite lyric: “It's cold and lonely, but that's because she told me/Lost inside her dirty world, no one hurts this pretty girl but her”

Custer

Another of Slipknot's most listened to songs on Spotify, Custer starts with a fun little spoken intro. Part of why this song is so popular is it had a moment on TikTok recently. It starts with a spoken word portion before the screams start. It pulls off a fun dynamic where Corey is screaming even as the rest of the music is calmer. The chorus is iconic of course, with it being whispered before bursting into the full sound. This song is so good. It has just as much aggression as some of their earlier albums, but it slots well into this album by keeping up the atmosphere. According to Corey, the song is about people trying to decide who the band is without knowing them. The band’s response to this is of course, to say ‘fuck you.’ Highly recommend giving it a listen. 

Favorite lyric: “Half-alive and stark-raving free and maligned/For encroaching on the purpose of this commercial-free interruption/Due to the prolific nature of this statement/Listener aggression is advised”

Alright! There we go! Have a nice long one. I'll be back soon with my reviews of We Are Not Your Kind and The End, So Far!