Love them or hate them, you can’t deny the impact Slipknot had on the metal scene. Their image of a “circus of the weird and wonderful of society” is really striking and they put on a killer Live show. They also have not forgotten that good metal music has to groove and make you want to move. A lot of metal bands today seemed to have lost the ability to do that – especially black and death metal ones – which mostly I find totally pointless.
This is a really good record, and after the intro, the opening track and lead off single, Unsainted, is a total slamming groove fest – it’s one of the best things the band have done. Birth Of The Cruel is a slower paced track but the groove is deep on this one. I love all these creepy little pieces they put between tracks as it adds to the atmos. The riff to Nero Forte is evil and huge and the beats are killer. I love the fast paced almost rap vocal delivery. Critical Delivery is a D-tuned chunk of awesome and I love the way this track swings – great harmonies as well. Red Flag just explodes out of the gate and this is all about the percussion – an insane rhythmic onslaught. Orphans is another rhythmic blast that slays. There are a couple of slower pieces on the album, the best of which is My Pain – a very eerie piece.
This is one of the better Slipknot albums and has a killer groove throughout.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
