Review Summary: Despite some flaws, this album proves all hope isn't gone after all.
Slipknot has always been a bit of a mixed bag for me in some respects. They've almost always been able to create some good heavy rock/metal music, but their lyrics back in the day were pretty ridiculous and lacking in maturity. Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses was a change in that respect, because that album showed a lot of maturity both musically and lyrically. All Hope Is Gone, however, was a massive decline overall.
And now we've had to wait six years for the Gray Chapter. And what do we get?
Well, it does seem like there should be something for everyone. We get songs that admittedly do sound quite a bit like something from the last album ("The Devil In I," "The One That Kills the Least"), but there's also a few songs that could've been off Iowa or even the first album ("The Negative One," "Lech," "Skeptic"). So this album is a little more diverse--much like Subliminal Verses, actually (only that album was exploring a bunch of new territory, while this one really doesn't).
The lyrics aren't exactly the stuff of legend. I've heard worse from them in that department, and for the most part it's pretty bearable but at times you had to wonder. "AOV," for example, is a heavy rocker guaranteed to make most happy, but those looking for substance in lyrics won't be impressed with it. "Lech" opens with a scream of "I know why Judas wept, motherf--!" and tends to plod along with stuff like "To hell with your intelligence/Just figure out your common sense." "Custer" is an epic failure of a song overall, repeating "Cut, cut, cut me up and f***, f***, f*** me up!" over and over until your brain is ready to hit the skip button.
Despite some of the lyrical issues, there's still a fair amount to like about the Gray Chapter. "The Negative One" is probably the main highlight of the album, hearkening back to the older days of Slipknot musically. "The Devil In I" is a fairly good song as well. "Sarcastrophe" is one of my personal favorites, having a somewhat irresistible chant of "We. Are. Kill. Gods" as well as some strong guitar and drum work. I also enjoyed "Skeptic" a lot, which was clearly a tribute to the late Paul Gray--as was "Goodbye" (another highlight) and the album title itself, really. Some of the later songs on the album tended to drag on a bit, however--such as "The One That Kills the Least" and the painfully long "If Rain Is What You Want."
This really isn't a bad album--some may not be impressed with the sloppiness on the writing front, but the musical front is for the most part pretty pleasing. It may not be perfect for many--it's a little too diverse for that--but it is still nevertheless an enjoyable listen overall. I just hope we don't have to wait six years for the next album and to see if they can get back to the heights of the Subliminal Verses.
