Review Summary: Reminiscent of the good old days but polished like new, Slipknot could almost call this a return-to-form.
Finally back with their fifth full length album .5 The Gray Chapter, Iowa-based group Slipknot has proven that they are more than able to overcome the substantial obstacles that barred their path over the last few years. From 1999, the same nine members made up the band until bassist Paul Gray died in 2010, hence the name of the album. Later in 2013, drummer Joey Jordison was dismissed from the band for reasons yet to be disclosed. With the six year gap between albums and the lineup changes, all eyes were on Slipknot. Being Slipknot, the album is bound to be successful commercially. Looking from a critical standpoint, .5 The Gray Chapter was impressive aside from a few missteps.
The first tracks released were “The Negative One” and “The Devil In I,” the former being a taste of what the record was supposed to sound like and the latter being the radio single. “The Negative One” was a strong, heavy, and fast track with no clean vocals. Slipknot added a high-pitched screech to this and a few other tracks which might come across as annoying at first, but it added so much to the mood of the album as a whole. “Be Prepared for Hell” is an almost 2:00 long track which does nothing but to enhance this factor: the mood. With an atmospheric feel and spoken lyrics, you can feel the darkness the band is attempting to portray. This is also felt in the slow-moving album opener that slowly builds as the track goes on.
With “The Devil In I,” fans were afraid Slipknot was going a more mainstream route. Since vocalist Corey Taylor also sings for his side project, the mainstream rock band Stone Sour, the comparisons between the two bands were everywhere. Clean vocals were much more prevalent in this song, and the chorus was catchy in the sense that it was made for radio play. Aside from this track and perhaps the skillfully pulled off ballad “Goodbye” most of the album is heavy enough to deter most of these unwarranted comparisons.
Slipknot has been listening to the fans. “Custer” is reminiscent of their self-titled debut album, containing the nu metal stylings most of the fans fell in love with. The angsty, senseless lyrics are riddled with profanity, but the energy is intense. “Sarcastrophe” can be compared to “Disasterpiece” from their second record Iowa. Iowa could be considered the highlight of Slipknot’s career, being described as the heaviest and most chaotic. The song starts out where the opener left off and builds in an intensity that doesn’t relent throughout the rest of the track. “AOV” is most comparable to “Sulfur” from their last album and it works just as well. The bass solo in the middle of the song is easily one of the highlights of the album.
Unfortunetely, there are a few issues which aren’t easily remedied, the worst being Taylor’s voice. He’s been actively screaming for over a decade now and it’s taken a major toll on his voice. If you were to listen to his screams back in ’99 and compare them to now, they’d sound like they were coming from a different person. The heaviness they used to have is gone, and his decline isn’t going to get better.
The drummer replacing Jordison is competent, and the guitar riffs are catchy, but nothing here is really new or memorable. The solo on the self-titled track from All Hope Is Gone remains among guitarists Mick Thomson and Jim Root’s finest moments, and saying the riffs are catchy on this album is about the highest compliment one would be able to rightfully give. This is due to a hugely overproduced record, which ruins the heaviness in a way. The percussion, especially noticeable at the beginning of “The Devil In I” is so clean and polished that it ruins the chaos and heaviness. This problem plagues the album, from the vocals to the guitars and percussion.
Overall, this was a good return-to-form for the band especially considering all their losses. Even missing a dirtier, grittier sound, this might be the best thing that’s happened to the band since 2001’s Iowa.
