SLIPKNOT

Jeez, these guys are sure sick boys. I mean, do their mummies know what they’re doing. Anyway, Slipknot are fun. And I mean uninhibited, hilarious and belly-deep fun. And they have some fat production on their side- of course, Ross Robinson – which will rock you as the last album by Marilyn Manson did. Or “White Pony” by the Deftones. You see, once in a while in every genre, there is a record, that epitomizes its genre so much, that it has to be viewed as the current cornerstone, around which every other band in this genre has to turn, to reach new ground. With their second album, Slipknot have build their cornerstone.

True, with all these bands that are nowadays covered in the term “new metal”, there seems to be a new cornerstone every month. And with all those hybrid bands like Linkin Park or Papa Roach its hard to tell, which ones to like. Well, Slipknot don’t have rap-vocals, they have no dual singing-screaming except for some times where it fits, and they are quite fast and hard-hitting. They use a lot of hyperspeed double-bass-drum. That is good. And “Iowa” is a thick monster-bastard of a record, that will freak you out sometimes. The singer keeps screaming and growling all the way through to the epic title-track at the end of the record. Which band dares to write a 15 minute-long metal-track? Maybe the Melvins or Fantomas, but they are in a different liga, aren’t they.

Slipknot express the very fashionable teenage-angst / anger / explosion very well. In the moments I like best, they come close to middle-phase Neurosis, if you know what I mean, only faster. The lyrics are all about paranoia, schizophrenia and all the other regular stations of modern, urban life. So this record has everything a good metal-record is supposed to have nowadays and then some more, which makes it very good and deserving to appear in these sites. (If haven’t realised, we do have some quality control.)

Still there are two reasons that make liking this band very hard. First, there are Slipknot themselves, with their built-up image, those stupid masks and their fronted attitude. I never know if they are bullshitting me or not. Maybe they are some talented pro-musicians who decided to do this “project” without dangering their profitable jobs with AOR-stars like Mariah Carey or Phil Collins. Moreover, I don’t like being called “maggot” even if its meant nice.

On the other hand, liking Slipknot means getting in line with some millions of teenage pseudo-rebels and middle-class goth-metalheads, who have no grasp on what life is really about and who are mainly attracted by the negative attitude that Slipknot are spreading. I can’t remember ever having been that way, but I guess my childhood ain’t to similar to anyone else’s in all ways (except for my age, of course). I can imagine lots of teenage girls buying this record without actually ever listening to it. Must be those same girls I always see running around in death-metal t-shirts, with upside-down crosses around their necks and teenage-girlie-magazines hidden in their rucksacks.