SLIPKNOT Vinilo y CD

Review: Taken from the New York City date of Slipknot's fourth full-length tour in support of All Hope Is Gone, Live At MSG delivers an encapsulation of what would serve as one of the final live runs from the original 9-man collective. Recorded in Madison Square Garden on February 5, 2009, the setlist features an onslaught of every integral cut from the band's back catalogue up to that point, including 'Wait & Bleed', 'Spit It Out', 'People = Shit', 'Left Behind', 'Before I Forget', and 'Psychosocial', to name just a handful. Before the untimely passing of bassist Paul Gray and drummer Joey Jordison, as well as the questionable turnover and revolving door nature that has plagued the line-up in the last decade, this collection transcends standard live album definition, rather serving as a time capsule of one of the final statements from the core line-up many will forever consider as the definitive Slipknot.

Review: With reissues of their entire back catalogue of full-lengths dropping throughout 2022, it was all but hinted that Iowa's masked metal entity were hard at work behind the scenes. 'The End, So Far' will serve as the seventh Slipknot album, set to capitalise on the momentous rebirth of 2019's, 'We Are Not Your Kind', which marked a ferocious return to form after the mainstream success of 'All Hope Is Gone', and the sonic uncertainty that meandered through '.5: The Gray Chapter.' Now fully comfortable and adapted to their current line-up, cuts like the simultaneously pummelling yet anthemic, 'The Dying Song (Time to Sing)', or the deranged, 'The Chapeltown Rag', seem to be indicative of an utterly new era for the 9.

Review: The much anticipated follow up to 2003's, 'Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses', almost painted Slipknot into an uncertain corner, but once the now iconic 'Psychosocial' dropped, essentially all reservations were laid to rest.

Continuing to stray further from the bile and limescale grit of their earlier work, 'All Hope Is Gone', took the melodic lessons of its predecessor, and expanded upon them with dynamic and controversial results. From the crushing breakdowns and visceral fury of 'Gematria (The Killing Name)', to the Stone Sour leaning, big melody hooks of 'Sulfur' and 'Dead Memories', all the way to arguably one of the strongest points of contention, the utterly vulnerable and melancholic 'Snuff', would reveal dimensions of the Iowa 9-piece some never thought possible.

Possibly the most misunderstood entry in the collective canon, the project has garnered its own cult status in recent years, and also poignantly marks bassist Paul Grey's final effort with the group before his untimely passing in 2010.

Review: Upon the strange reception received by the creatively uncertain, '.5: The Gray Chapter', many wondered where the Iowa collective would set their sights to next. Processing the lingering grief of losing their bassist, Paul Gray, proved a major undertaking that many naturally assumed would be the final output from the 9, but 2019's, 'We Are Not Your Kind', proved to be a malodorous mission statement, reminding all just how and why Slipknot are one of the biggest metal acts in history. With utterly intense cuts such as 'Nero Forte' and 'Unsainted', this sixth full-length proved to be the revitalised rebirth many anticipated from its predecessor, while foreshadowing a creative future seemingly impossible a few years prior.

Review: Continuing the onslaught of Slipknot back catalogue reissues, '0.5: The Gray Chapter', saw the collective channel the shared grief and inner turmoil of losing their bassist Paul Gray, into a dynamic, vicious fifth full-length that served as a twisted follow up to 2008's global success, 'All Hope Is Gone.' Harboring some of their darkest singles in over a decade, such as the blistering, 'The Devil In I', or the claustrophobic assault of, 'Custer', many may consider the project to be the outlier within the 9's canon, but with drummer Joey Jordison's last recorded performance, and before the rebirth of 'We Are Not Your Kind', this work served as a complicated reflection of artists lost in a deep state of bewilderment and trauma; utilising their connection and artform to process and heal in ugly, chaotic abandon.

Review: At the turn of the 21st century, Slipknot opted to take the newfound fame and success rewarded by their self-titled debut, and run it into the ground in, what has to be, one of the most intriguing examples of chaos and inner band turmoil lending to an integral work.

Named after their home state, 'Iowa', still remains an utterly frightening project, driven by addiction, depression, and encompassing negativity. Refusing to pursue a more accessible route regardless of the ensuing momentum around them, the collective would lash out with an extremely severe batch of material that remains challenging even by today's standards.

While the now iconic leads singles, 'My Plague' and 'Left Behind' remain embedded in the metal spectrum, deeper cuts such as the caustic 'People = Shit', nihilism rally of 'The Heretic Anthem' or the decrepit defeatism of 'Skin Ticket' offer the bleakest look into the band's psyche at their most temperamental of conditions.

The fact that frontman Corey Taylor has confessed that the 14-minute closing title-track was recorded while highly inebriated and cutting himself with a broken liquor bottle, should be all the background one could need when approaching this complex, unforgiving beast of an album.

Reissued after far too long an absence, this beautiful new rendering finally allows for a timeless endeavour to be rediscovered in all of its violent glory; rarely bridging the vast dichotomy between mainstream and extreme metal.