Nine Freaks From Iowa Banded Together in Hatred

By Jeannette Madden
Staff Writer

Slipknot, AKA “The Knot,” features nine band members wearing elaborate masks and jumpsuits with identical UPC codes and they play metal, hard metal.

Slipknot’s most recent album, “All Hope Is Gone,” was released August 20, 2008 and peaked at number 1 on Billboard’s 200, the first Slipknot album to do so. The album is not only their heaviest but also their most experimental, combining acoustic guitars and melodic vocals with their always aggressive brand of thrash metal. They also co-produced the album with Dave Fortman and according to bassist Paul Gray, “There wasn’t a lot of changing that needed to be done…maybe a harmony line…and in some ways we’ve been hard to work with sometimes but we’re all really nice people…we’ve always been very involved in every aspect even since the first album where we had ideas and we kind of let loose and for us, we’re control freaks…” “All Hope Is Gone” is diverse, combining “very, very heavy stuff” with “stuff that’s different…the more experimental music. No one’s going to expect it.” says lead singer Corey Taylor.

When it comes to writing songs, Gray says usually “everybody separates and then you sort of get together…it’s like a little bit of everybody… everybody actually has part in there, their say, and that’s how we do everything. Everyone has their ideas and brings them to the table…if they worked, they worked, if they didn’t, they didn’t…it helped that so many of us were able to spend time doing our own thing, too. Just writing with different people really makes a difference in how you think about music. When we finally came together, we were able to bring that into the mix.” And when asked if Slipknot is planning to record their next album in Iowa as they did “All Hope Is Gone”, Gray says “Don’t get me wrong…I dig staying at the big mansion in the Hollywood Hills…but I like sleeping in my own bed every night, too. I would rather be at my house, watching my tv, eating my food out of my fridge.” Recording in Iowa allowed more time for experimenting in the studio resulting in an album Gray says is his favorite yet. Said Gray, “I think it’s the best record that we’ve done so far…even though it’s been four years since the last record came out, this one came together easily. We just jammed and got it done.”

And where did Slipknot’s brand of angry, obnoxious, hate spewing metal come from? Who ordained these nine guys in masks and coveralls the gods of heavy metal punishment? Guitarist James Root explains how Slipknot “took a lot of shit from other bands…I [have] heard a lot of condescending remarks from other musicians. They were saying, ‘Slipknot won’t sell enough records, they won’t survive, they’ve got too many people, nobody’s gonna get it, they’re all about image.” Now, the “haters” are gone, disappearing into the land of has-beens and never-weres. Slipknot, however, kept working and gainining momentum, and now they find themselves more popular than ever, not because of what they wear on stage but because of their music. Of their four albums and two DVDs, five have gone Platinum, one Gold. Slipknot’s diverse style on “All Hope Is Gone” has been called both a return to their roots and an exploration of the melody that began on their first record and an album that completely invalidates any and all comments about heavy metal cliches and tells everyone else to “f” off. “The album goes in so many different directions,” says Gray. “but it’s all still Slipknot. It still sounds like Slipknot, it still feels like Slipknot…we never wanted to paint ourselves into a corner. We’re always going to do what we want to do and not worry about what anyone else thinks.”

Slipknot started out playing any show they could find, driving from their hometown of Des Moines to Chicago and Omaha. They played tiny venues where guitarist Mick Thomson remembers that “It was 8,000 degrees, you’re bumping into people, you’re tripping over equipment. Those small stages have low ceilings, so the heat’s trapped real low—right at your head. Those shows are about survival, not about playing.” The band members would sometimes take turns playing in the audience or not playing at all because there was no room for all nine guys on the stage. Throw in Slipknot’s famous masks and coveralls, which upped the heat index another 100 degrees, and the end result was an uncomfortable, angry band channeling their energy not into performances but what Thomson likes to call “...sporting events: we’d put everything into them and then afterwards, we’d be fucking exhausted.”

With their strong personalities, multiple side-projects and history of on-stage fights, Slipknot’s ability to to stay together is considered to be a supernatural phenomenen. “We’re banded together in hate.” Says drummer Joey Jordison. “Sometimes we hate each other, sometimes we hate the world, sometimes we just hate our own lives. But when we get together, something monstrous happens and we pull this amazing sound out of all that energy.”

“We went from being some local band in a basement to selling millions of records,” says Gray. “It going to be [over] a decade since the first album came out. I’m so happy and amazed and proud and thankful for where this band has gone. I’ve gotten to see the world…and I get paid for it! I’d have done it for free.”

What can fans expect from a Slipknot show? “150% of us.” Says Gray. “It’s somewhat crazy, you know, but 150% of us throwing down…we have that spark that we had when we came out. It’s back like that, and it’s tenfold. We’re playing harder than ever and it’s great…when we play we’re playing in front of 20,000 people every night. Slipknot’s bigger than ever. I’m so f**king proud and happy to be in this band. I’m so thankful for the fans that have stuck by us through all these years. We have the most loyal fans in the world and we’re gaining new ones every day.”

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