Slipknot, "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses" (Roadrunner)

[tamarisk]

http://www.livedaily.com/news/6587.html

by Don Zulaica
liveDaily Contributor

May 28, 2004 02:44 PM - Slipknot is one of the most brutal metal bands to have pillaged the landscape in recent memory. Live, they are utter anarchy, yet somehow the music has an almost machine-like precision about it. The band's earlier efforts, produced by Ross Robinson, captured much of that fury, but teaming up with Rick Rubin has brought a whole new dimension to the material the Knot lays to tape.

Before--with nine guys in a studio forging metal music--it was probably a given that there was going to be a lot of mud in the mix, but somehow, under Rubin's ear, the details stand out. Guitarists Mick Thomson and James Root are let loose for some positively terrifying lead lines in "Duality" (the first single) that jolt from memorably headbanging riffs to blurs. And just when you think things are about to derail, they slam you with the hook. Heady stuff.

"The Blister Exists" features what sounds like an "Empire Strikes Back" death march from hell, with multi-layered snare drums from Joey Jordison, Chris Fehn and Shawn Crahan pummeling the senses. The structured mayhem of "Pulse of the Maggots" is reminiscent of "People=s**t," from the band's 2001 album, "Iowa." God help any young metalheads that might actually want to cover this stuff.

[mp3master1215]

yes now i bought this cd and it is a very good cd i think it is there best one behind iowa. Good article man!

[Metalseeker 79]

That review completely ignored about half the album, only focusing on the heavier songs...They've got balls trying things like completely acoustic numbers, considering their fanbase. With this album, Slipknot have proven again that they aren't afraid of change. And anyone who thinks they haven't changed since their first album should hear their real first album, the indie release Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat , an album so different in nature it will completely change your conception of what they sounded like in the first place. The best description I can give is sort of Metallica meets Dire Straits - you'd have to hear it for yourself to really know what I mean.

[alliercollins]

I agree Metal. I actually saw these guys play the day duality hit the radio and they are still really good, but people need to hear the acoustic stuff on the album. I believe that Taylor did this because he enjoyed singing with Stone Sour so much, it may have even been a trade off to get him to come back. He said that he enjoyed singing with Stone Sour again so much that he really didn't know if he even wanted to come back to Slipknot.

[mp3master1215]

the acoustic stuff is really good! especially vermilion part 2!

[alliercollins]

I love Vermillion Part 2. Probably my favorite song on the album. I must say though, hearing Taylor do Duality live was amazing though. It sounded absolutely perfect.

[nasrules]

I agree Metal. I actually saw these guys play the day duality hit the radio and they are still really good, but people need to hear the acoustic stuff on the album. I believe that Taylor did this because he enjoyed singing with Stone Sour so much, it may have even been a trade off to get him to come back. He said that he enjoyed singing with Stone Sour again so much that he really didn't know if he even wanted to come back to Slipknot.

That doesn't surprise me, the Stone Sour stuff I really like. It just works, it's not so teenage/adolescent anger.

[Psilaxs]

Just umm received this album, it takes NINE guys to sound that shitty? I went in with an open mind and am still hoping i find something i like, but to call the Blister Exists "an "Empire Strikes Back" death march from hell, with multi-layered snare drums from Joey Jordison, Chris Fehn and Shawn Crahan pummeling the senses" Is pushing the known bounds of sanity.

No structure, no heavy riffs so to speak, It sounds like bad thrash/ grunge metal that never saw "post" production. Duality is crap also. OK, the lead singer can whisper and scream woo boy I'm sold. They also show there "talent" by having complete LACK of solo's, there solo's consists of some epileptic induced drumming, and some weak chugs on the guitar.



HOW THE FUCK DID THESE GUYS GET A CONTRACT?




Listening to pulse of the maggots right now, I hear nothing redeeming, no melodic qualities at all. it is not hard to arrange thrashing sounds, if these guys were actually able to compose even a BRAIN dead melody that cycles through basic keys i would have SOME respect for there music.

there acoustic shit consists of 4 or 5 notes repeated over the course of 5 agonizing minutes with ambient keyboard sound effects thrown in while Correy (or whatever his name is) whines into the microphone while distortion is added to his voice. Great idea, adding static and feedback to someones voice who already sounds like shit.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

LMAO. I can't wait for the feedback. Perhaps this is why I've never bought/downloaded Slipknot.

[bLoOdBaTh]

i realy like their new album ... on http://www.slipknot1.com/movs/audio/ u can download the song "scream" (only released in japan)

[Reverand]

Normally I totally hate slipknot, but I must admit Duality is a pretty good sounding tune. It's that main riff that I like. The bit where Cory sings "(I push my fingers into my) Eyes. It’s the only thing that slowly stops the ache".

Totally meaningless lyrics but the very second I hear that part of the song I have the tune stuck in my head for at least the next hour or so.

And Psilaxs, just out of interest, is there anything you do like?

[alliercollins]

I wasn't even going to respond to what was said, but I guess I might as well give my two cents.

To each their own for who they like. You may not like Slipknot, but others may. I mean I don't see many concerts that sell out three times over in good sized arenas, but Slipknot sure as hell did. They got a record contract for the same reason you hate them... That would be that there are nine of them and 8 of them are making a lot of noise, while the 9th is doing a shift between screams and solid vocals for that type of band. They got that contract through relentless touring and by the time they made their first record, they already had this huge following. I consider that quite an accomplishment myself, but who am I to know...

[Psilaxs]

Normally I totally hate slipknot, but I must admit Duality is a pretty good sounding tune. It's that main riff that I like. The bit where Cory sings "(I push my fingers into my) Eyes. It’s the only thing that slowly stops the ache".

Totally meaningless lyrics but the very second I hear that part of the song I have the tune stuck in my head for at least the next hour or so.

And Psilaxs, just out of interest, is there anything you do like?

Of course :-) there is TONS of music that i absolutely love and could not live without.
Too many to name but i have a rather large collection.

One thing that bothered me most besides the complete and utter lack of ANY melody was that their music doesn't even have rhythm, at least fear factory has good rhythm in a lot of their songs with segues of singing. Not that i am a HUGE FF fan, just pointing out another metal band.

Would love to chat with you more about music, hit me up sometime.

[ditto_n]

Slipknot has been sounding like shit for a while. They are an image band, you need to understand this. Psilaxs, I'm with you for the most part, they aren't a band of any quality other then image. These 9 guys try to do what slayer did with 5 members less, if you can't make music without adding another person, then you can't make that music. The problem is, some of these guys actually do have talent, and they waste it trying to put together a band of shitty music. They are getting better though, ditch the masks, drop a few members, and try and write some decent music and you might have soemthing. As for Corey's vocals, a couple days ago I compaired it to a guitarist "throwing his guitar across the stage to get a sound" This guy atleast has half a voice, why waste what already little you have on sounding as shitty as possible?

Please, Slipknot fans, try some real music guys, theres much better stuff out there.

[alliercollins]

Ditto, lets not go with the try real music approach. I listen to everything and I am a fan of many things. It just so happens to be that I saw a post about Slipknot and happened to respond. You shouldn't post about what you haven't researched.

First of all, Slipknot is a band of friends that started in Iowa. You don't just drop friends out of a band. They also have a huge fan base for their music, that has always sounded the way you seem to hate it. They also are under contract for two more albums, which means that they will have to continue to be together for the rest of that, before they can officially break up. That was the only reason they even made this last album. They have to keep going under that contract.

Also Psilaxs, it's funny that you mention Fear Factory. I thought they sounded pretty good when they were opening for Slipknot on the Jaggermeister tour. I never said Slipknot sounded all that great, but they put on great live shows and they are a unique sounding band. I would go to another show by them, without a doubt, just for the atmosphere that they create with their 9 man stage presence. I wouldn't compain too much though if they broke up and all headed back to their side projects. Joey plays guitar for Murderdolls and also produces and helps out on drums for Otep, Corey and Jim both belong to StoneSour, along with the DJ who helps out sometimes. Other members have their own side projects, which I am not familiar with, but they seem to have their own followings.

[Reverand]

Of course :-) there is TONS of music that i absolutely love and could not live without.
Too many to name but i have a rather large collection.

One thing that bothered me most besides the complete and utter lack of ANY melody was that their music doesn't even have rhythm, at least fear factory has good rhythm in a lot of their songs with segues of singing. Not that i am a HUGE FF fan, just pointing out another metal band.

Would love to chat with you more about music, hit me up sometime.

Melody and rythm is subjective. What you consider melody and rythm might to the next person be considered totally lacking of such.

Musically, it DOES have a melody, and does have a rythm. The melody and rythm have the occasional fill, and variation, but this is just to keep the listener interested.

Personally I beleive that for a person to like a song, he or she has to already like that sort of "sound" before he or she even hears it. Music is all about stimulating pleasure and excitement, and people respond to many different stimuli. To condemn a piece of music as talentless, rythmless, melody-less, or lacking in all 3 is not a particularly educated direction to take - while you may dislike a song or find it not to be to your tastes, saying that no talent went into its' production, or something similar, is simply incorrect.

There is of course the rather gray occasion when a song is bad by nature. This may be due to novice production, lack of talent/skill, or even the entire tune just not even classifying as music - just as noise. I personally think it is very easy to detect the fact that slipknot is made up of some very talented and skilled musicians.

Many people incorrectly beleive production to be some form of "wizardry" which makes something sound better than it should, but being a producer myself I can tell you that there is actually very little we can do to improve a song played by bad musicians. Production is there to add things to the song which the individual musicians cannot add, such as layered vocals, effects, fades, filters, echos, etc. Production also allows the tune to be mastered correctly, to ensure that it will sound as it is intended to on all sound systems.

Slipknot is definately not "airbrushed", "talentless", "lacking melody", and "rythmless". While the band themselves are not exactly desireable as a result of the large number of complete idiots who like them, they do make their music with a degree of skill, and pull it off nicely. Their sellout popularity and undereducated fanbase most certainly does not serve to change their music.

[Psilaxs]

Melody and rythm is subjective. What you consider melody and rythm might to the next person be considered totally lacking of such.

Musically, it DOES have a melody, and does have a rythm. The melody and rythm have the occasional fill, and variation, but this is just to keep the listener interested.

Personally I beleive that for a person to like a song, he or she has to already like that sort of "sound" before he or she even hears it. Music is all about stimulating pleasure and excitement, and people respond to many different stimuli. To condemn a piece of music as talentless, rythmless, melody-less, or lacking in all 3 is not a particularly educated direction to take - while you may dislike a song or find it not to be to your tastes, saying that no talent went into its' production, or something similar, is simply incorrect.

There is of course the rather gray occasion when a song is bad by nature. This may be due to novice production, lack of talent/skill, or even the entire tune just not even classifying as music - just as noise. I personally think it is very easy to detect the fact that slipknot is made up of some very talented and skilled musicians.

Many people incorrectly beleive production to be some form of "wizardry" which makes something sound better than it should, but being a producer myself I can tell you that there is actually very little we can do to improve a song played by bad musicians. Production is there to add things to the song which the individual musicians cannot add, such as layered vocals, effects, fades, filters, echos, etc. Production also allows the tune to be mastered correctly, to ensure that it will sound as it is intended to on all sound systems.

Slipknot is definately not "airbrushed", "talentless", "lacking melody", and "rythmless". While the band themselves are not exactly desireable as a result of the large number of complete idiots who like them, they do make their music with a degree of skill, and pull it off nicely. Their sellout popularity and undereducated fanbase most certainly does not serve to change their music.


Blah blah; they suck. people take the whole subjective bullshit to the extreme. I could bang on pots and pans, and when people bitch that it sucks, simply point out it isn't my lack of talent, or the fact that what i create IS shit. No it is the listeners fault for not "getting it" Whatever.

If you are a producer then i have some material you will think is unfucking real if you think slipknot is good stuff. And yes the STUDIO IS wizardry. I was messing around with some recording programs and shocked the hell out of myself by how decent i sound with all the filters, special effects echo, re-verb, pitch assistance etc.

You must be a young producer only in the industry since the mid 90's only someone from that era would think Slipknot is good. Sorry if i come across as offensive, it isn't my fault, interpretation is entirely subjective you fuckwit. See, that was clearly offensive, same as how slipknot is clearly shit. "Subjective" my ass.

[Reverand]

Blah blah; they suck. people take the whole subjective bullshit to the extreme. I could bang on pots and pans, and when people bitch that it sucks, simply point out it isn't my lack of talent, or the fact that what i create IS shit. No it is the listeners fault for not "getting it" Whatever.

If you are a producer then i have some material you will think is unfucking real if you think slipknot is good stuff. And yes the STUDIO IS wizardry. I was messing around with some recording programs and shocked the hell out of myself by how decent i sound with all the filters, special effects echo, re-verb, pitch assistance etc.

You must be a young producer only in the industry since the mid 90's only someone from that era would think Slipknot is good. Sorry if i come across as offensive, it isn't my fault, interpretation is entirely subjective you fuckwit. See, that was clearly offensive, same as how slipknot is clearly shit. "Subjective" my ass.

If you continue to attack people totally unprovoked like this then they will leave and go to another forum where they aren't in danger of getting abuse hurled at them every time they offer their opinion.

I'm going to report this post and hopefully a moderator will remove it, or at least tone it down.

[The Hunter]

Personal attacks are not permitted, and as this thread is going nowhere Im closing it. If another mod wishes to edit the thread, and reopen it no problem.