When the seed was planted two and a half years ago, nobody thought the virus that has become Slipknot would infect so many. With the release of Iowa, the Knot have officially begun their quest to take over the world and beat the living hell out of anything in their path.
Barely one minute into “People=Shit”, the album’s first track, you’ll know they have lost nothing, actually churning harder, faster, and heavier than they ever did before. The blast beats from drummer Joey Jordison are reminiscent of Morbid Angel and old Slayer. The guitar work is incomparable, and singer Cory Taylor’s vocals have gotten even harsher. And that’s just the first track. The rest of the album careens through brutal slabs of metal precision, drawing influences from far outside the nu-metal genre. Iowa is this year’s heaviest album, and the chorus of “The Heretic Anthem” explains why: “If you’re 555, I’m 666!” The Knot didn’t sell out to anyone, except for maybe the devil himself, which is why this release stands miles above the recycled garbage that is being dished out by major labels. Their ‘fuck you’ attitude has taken them to the top of the heap, yet they don’t even really belong there. The sound that they have established can place them in the company of two or three bands in the last ten years that can honestly claim to be the heaviest. Now it’s Slipknot’s turn at being the most bad-ass band on the planet, and they plan on letting everyone know just how sick they truly are.
Something has finally come along to blow away Slipknot’s debut album, but it’s come from the masked men themselves. Everyone has been trying to do it for two years now, and now everyone will realize why they couldn’t hang. The Knot has the real sickness, and Iowa is the cure for the lame state of metal today.
+ rick hinkson
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