Review Summary: We have made the present obsolete
It's been a fair bit of time since All Hope Is Gone, so news that Slipknot were in the process of making a fifth album was bizarre. With two members of their classic lineup gone, how would they please long time fans while staying relevant? Well they answered the first one very quickly, keeping the replacement members' identity's a secret and having them wear the same generic mask (so as not offend the all important status of the sadly deceased Paul Gray). The latter was tougher.
Lead single The Negative One is extremely atypical of this record. The massive drum sound and focus on experimental percussion are the only things this song has in common with its lighter, more radio rock friendly counterparts on the full album. Additionally, while this song sees vocalist Corey Taylor sounding more like his old self, it clearly drained him of all his energy because the snarl found here is substituted for a pained whimper on the album's other thirteen tracks. When combined with the use of turntables and samples (and thus involving two of the oft neglected members of the band) by the band for the first time in years, it becomes blatantly obvious how desperate they are to cling onto their old fanbase (most of whom are too fanatic to see the faults in their idols' music).
Opener XIX is a perfect example of Taylor's vocal inadequacy. His singing is horribly off here, and minus the vocal effects cropping up on later songs he's doomed to be put to shame like the other eight prongs on The Nine's menacing pitchfork. This is a perfect metaphor for the band's thrusting, jabbing riffs, working with a synchronicity unseen since the immortal(ly average) self-titled. Ironically, of all the Slipknot albums to come before this one, it is the debut that bears least resemblance to The Gray Chapter musically. Instead, this sounds more like a heavier Vol. 3 spliced with a (very small) hint of Iowa-esque aggression.
The attempt to sound like they did back in 2001 is really transparent. Sarcastrophe (really?) continues the 'Disasterpeice' theme, but it is literally the opposite of that song musically. Whereas the 2001 Iowa highlight opened with an (at the time not that cringe-inducing) cry of 'I wanna slit your throat and *** the wound', this new interpolation of nu-metal angst sounds a little uninspired with a vague chorus chant of 'prepare for judgement day' and 'we are kill gods'. This track is actually very reminiscent of Gematria, the tacky All Hope Is Gone single that showed their lyrics slide from pathetically juvenile to forced maturity. Thin guitars, almost non-existent bass and very minimal turntable and sample usage makes the song such a pale imitation of their past work that it's almost insulting to their almost overly dedicated fan base to release such a tepid piece of work as this (especially after the promise of The Negative One).
The aftermath of the almost industrial stomp of second single The Devil In I signals a point in the album where everything slows down. For a few songs it seems like the band have reignited the fire that dwindled after Iowa, and in doing so made a couple of their best songs in a while (AOV's unstoppable groove and soulful chorus and the aforementioned track's infectious clean vocals and churning bass). But at the point that Killpop (aka Vermilion part 3) arrives, the band run out of steam with soppy, melodramatic singing that works awkwardly alongside the overwrought, appallingly wishy-washy, MySpace-era lyrics. There's certainly a correspondence between the quality of track names and music therein here.
People appear to be hailing this album for its diversity after slating All Hope Is Gone for its inconsistency. This confuses me, because this sounds like more of a mixed bag than anything the band have done to date. Custer evokes the self-titled with it's dreadful, profanity laden hook (think Surfacing with zero self-awareness), while Goodbye is a more boring Snuff with an an unwelcome focus on heaviness in the latter half. Worst of all is Skeptic, sporting a hilariously macho chorus that wouldn't go amiss on a Black Stone Cherry record. Taylor's frantic rapping and malevolent whispering is sure to appeal to rabid self-titled fanatics, but these songs are yet more examples of songwriting laziness and painfully obvious song recyling.
And when the whole thing ends, even the usually excellent Slipknot closer disappoints. The epic Scissors and the Iowa title track were creepy and lyrically apocalyptic, while Danger was the definition of eerie, unsettling music. Even the title track of AHIG was such a behemoth that it remains a fan favourite despite being at the back end of the record and never getting a music video. But If It's Rain That You Want is just bland. Like the entirety of The Gray Chapter, it lacks what made Slipknot such a hit all those years ago, and serves as a great example of a band losing relevancy fast, despite possessing one of the most loyal fanbases in the world and the ability to write truly great songs (as evidenced by about 20% of the material here).
