Ten years ago Slipknot released their self titled debut album and made one hell of a splash. It may have taken them ten years to do it but they've finally become bonefide world straddling superstars. There crowning moment came earlier this summer when they got to headline the Download Festival at historic Donnington. Just one year before they were three from top at the indie heavy Reading Festival, so this eighteen legged monsters has come along way since it's humble begining in Iowa all those years ago. So today we are greeted with a special edition of their debut record and one question springs immediately to mind; does it still hold up? Well lets find out.
Slipknot - Slipknot
(Roadrunner 1999, Slipknot et al)
So listening to this record now alot has changed. It has not been a good decade for metal. Don't get me wrong there have been some fantastic acts, Mastadon are staking their claim towards critical immortality but few contemporary metal acts can be considered world straddlers. Nu-metal died a death as a trend, and metal still feels like it's recovering from it's long shadow. Perhaps it's ironic that when Metal finally shows signs of fighting its way back to mainstream credibility, Limp Bizkit and nu-metal come back out of the wood work for a reunion tour. So lets consider the current crop contemporary headliners, from the last ten years we have My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, Slipknot, Lost Prophets and System Of A Down. It's hardly the strongest list, MCR and Linkin Park are generally casticated and considered not proper metal, Lost Prophets are barely established and could easily fall from grace should the next record flop, System Of A Down are off doing there own thing, and that leaves Slipknot, a band born out of the Nu-Metal movement. So in many ways Slipknot are the only surviving genuinely accepted headliner of the 2000s. What makes this so surprising is that rapping is definitely out, Deejays in bands that's out too, infact aside from Nostalgia Nu-Metal is out. So Slipknot have evolved and proved that they are worthy headliners and an act that can change with the times, and last. But does the debut hold up today next to there later Materiel?
Many consider this record the holy bible of Slipknot but yet it's been awhile since most of us have listened to Slipknot in its entirity. When this record was first released many non specialized reviews characterized Slipknot and this record as a gimmick, a passing fad, a haloween prank. At the time this seemed a foolish and narrow minded criticism as Slipknot promptly blew up. However now Slipknot's sound has matured drastically, and with headliner status comes headline scrutiny, now that the whole world knows what Slipknot are all about, does this record still wow. Was it a moment in time, or a genuine classic that metal fans will be returning to for decade after decade? So we've spent alot of time framing the review, but it is nessecary as its important to understand what the key considerations are before we launch into the review, with that's said, in the words of Antony Keidis "let's go!".
When you haven't listened to a record for a while it's always great when it starts by unleashing a sure fire ace, and Slipknot starts with not one, not two but three stone cold classics. The most succesful of which was third track Wait And Bleed. I'm sure almost everyone reading this review is familar with the track. It grinds and buzzes at and unrelenting pace, and it would become the mold for many of Slipknot's biggest hit singles. It contrasts the primal raw of the verse with a mega slick chorus, and it's a track of such unrivalled quality that it could slot right in on any Slipknot record. This is how you make and impact, no wonder the world sat up and took notice when you fly out the gate with this brutal battering.
Slipknot was always about nine guys sharing there pain with the world and they made that clear from the outset, as the maniacle opening sample drops into the positively evil (sic) with the warning Here Comes The Pain! They weren't half kidding. (sic) showed Slipknot as more than hit makers like many of there nu-metal contemporaries, they were sick fuckers and the primal chant of "You Can't Kill Me, Cause I'm Already Inside You" before Corey goes postively insane screaming and cackling away. There are a few detractions, the obnoxious scratching by DJ Sid Wilson just feels incredibly dated and feels like a tacked on gimmick, however Corey's lung shattering and earnest rage sets off any gimmick novelty factor.
Sid is put to use more practicly on Eyeless where he samples in Drum and Bass loops, but looking back, it's just a distraction, from the poignancy of Corey's vocals and the otherwise extrodianary tightness of the band. The guitars have a great elasticity on Eyeless and they slide, bounce and then chug like real motherfuckers, everyone is on their game, and you end up phasing out the annoying squeeks and squeals from the turntables. The annoyiness of the turn tables threatens to overwhelm on Surfacing but a monster rhythem section caried by the thud of Joey Jordisons drums allows the track to bubble along nicely until Corey unleashes his epic anthem "Fuck It All, Fuck This World, Fuck Everything That You Stand For" Shakespeare it ain't, but their is a raw affecting honesty in Corey's voice that makes that visercal chant irresistable.
The album is not without it's weak moments and it's failed experiments, Tattered And Torn feels like it's supposed to be devling into deep internal pain and torture, but with it's sci-fi eske samples it falls flat, it's certainly a striking work, but it doesn't click. It's a failure, but it showed that Slipknot were willing to stretch and play with the formula. Unfortunately it also happens to drop into Me In Side that feels like the most generic and dated track on the album, a nineties hangover. Corey's vocal performance feels incredibly stale, an aborration of a by gone scene. Liberate also feels alot like filler, kind of like Pantera on crack, it falls into that catorgory of tracks that translate brilliantly live but on record just feel like bombastic padding. Worse still is No Life which has the unenviable task of following Prosthestices while the rhythem section do there best to carry the track, Corey's vocals are so horrible dated, and feel almost embarssing looking back.
However fear not Slipknot is not a record that fades into oblivion after a fast start, it of course has the monster live anthem Spit It Out, a record that I still have reservations about, but it's taken on a life of it's own; and then of course there's Prosthetices a track that strikes the perfect balence between experimentation and the formula which brought them success. It certainly feels like an old track, but it bubbles with ingenuity, it's brooding and creepy and it pounds the fuck out of you with it's sychofrenic rage. Prosthetices remains one of the most capitivating and engrossing tracks in Slipknot's back catalogue. Elsewhere, even in it's weakest moments Slipknot is unrelenting, it pummels endlessly, while still managing to throw out those nice little musical curve balls that make Slipknot so intriuging. Almost every track, even the weaker ones, have a raw primal energy that demands your attentions and Corey even at his corniest manages to conjure these incredible hooks and choruses and the album concludes with a strong final trio.
All in all, ten years on Slipknot still thrills, it's dark, agressive and unrelenting, this album is crammed to the brim with licks, grooves and some serious shredding. Joey Jordison lays down an unholy pounding on his drum set, and Corey, while occassional falling into eye rolling cliche, showed that he is a passionate and primal vocalist, with an incredible turn of phrase whether he's being blunt or maniacly sadistic. However what makes Slipknot great is the experimentation, the odd sample here or there, the nuts thuds and clanks from the five man rythem section, the sonically warped and torture riffs that spring up out of no where, or whether it's Corey spazmodically switiching up his vocal tone and delivery. There is always something going on on Slipknot, something to grab you, to thrill you, and to distinguish Slipknot from their more generic peers. Slipknot as a record holds up well, it's weaknesses are more pronounced now, than they were in 1999, yet this record still feels fresh, exciting and honest. And it's that ability to contrast the insane and experimental with the brutal, gritty, honesty of Corey's inner torment that has made Slipknot the 21st Centuries defining metal act.
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