Just like their comrades in Anonymous, there seems to be more to Slipknot than meets the eye. Beneath the maniacal grotesquery, some perverted sense of self must be decipherable only through buying albums. There must be some hidden agenda behind the band’s “maggot” mosh pits, which can only be uncovered by buying concert tickets. And finally, there must be a reason why the cover of their second album is a giant triceratops.
All of these mysteries and more just must be in “.5: The Gray Chapter,” the band’s fifth album, because, nearly two decades into their career, they can’t just be doing it for the money…right?
As usual, Slipknot makes their best impression when vocalist Corey Taylor transforms into his Cookie Monster rapper alter ego, spitting rapid-fire growls over guitar riffs. One such moment occurs in “The Negative One,” when Taylor insists “the centipede’s pulling on the mechanism/ unearthing scars of the cataclysm.” Here, metal flexes its muscles of metaphor; Taylor may well be the next Shakespeare.
Even if listeners can’t understand these phrases, they taste good like cookies, and that’s all that really matters. But when Slipknot softens up, they resemble PBS, trading the gnarly Cookie Monster for less appetizing veggies.
“AOV” could have been the explosive single of “.5: The Gray Chapter” if not for the hollow chorus. Taylor’s crooning about a “watered-down excuse” seems oddly poignant; the track lacks the climatic melody of “Psychosocial” and fails to capitalize on its verses. In this song and others, it is unclear whether more guitar presence would enhance or detract from Slipknot’s conflicting qualities of creepiness and melody, elements which demand different instrumental strengths.
Redemption takes the form of the hurricane-like chorus of “Nomadic,” in which the aggressive winds of vocal growls and drum crescendos intricately surround and balance the message of emotional uncertainty conveyed through Corey’s pensive lyricism and a brooding guitar riff.
This balance is increasingly what Slipknot and other metal groups need to maintain large but polarized fan bases. Slipknot ventured from rage-riddled riffs and roars on their sophomore album “Iowa” to anthemic melodies on “Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses.” Their latest two releases see the band trying to please fans of each album.
Though there may be mellow or cheesy moments in songs like “Killpop” and “The Devil in I,” Slipknot’s dark-carnival identity remains entrenched throughout “The Gray Chapter,” resulting in a fairly cohesive, but varied identity.
Keyboards and turntables, half-human, half-monster growls, and methodically chaotic song structures all contribute to the oxymoron which is Slipknot. Though events like the annual carnival-concert Knotfest represents the band capitalizing on their fans’ wallets, profit is deserved when a sound like Slipknot’s survives a decade-and-a-half without becoming diluted or skin-deep. Masks are not just fronts for the Iowan metal-heads; the music itself is teeming with layers of cryptic, creepy fun.
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