Review Summary: Nineteen years and two members later, Slipknot are still the same band they always were. For better or for worse.
Musical evolution, generally speaking, is important. If popular bands cannot stay fresh, they run the risk of stagnating and eventually losing the fans that helped them to end up being a household name. Then there are the unusual cases, like
Slipknot. One foot is firmly planted in the past, and in their roots and the other is trying to go in a different direction, but usually to no avail. On songs like album highlight
Killpop, the band is trying to do something new in creating an atmospheric track that is full to the brim with depravity and desperation, and for the most part it works. But on the other hand, Corey’s lyricism hasn't evolved much from the band’s earlier material. Lines like “Cut, cut, cut me up and fuck, fuck, fuck me up” will make you wish you were listening to the lyrical sophistication of
House of Gold and Bones. You can certainly tell the band was trying to make an effort to get everyone involved again but some of the contributions are barely noticeable, or non-existent. The only track where it sounds like Clown is doing anything is on
The Devil In I during the bridge, where you can hear him pounding away at the tin cans. Maybe I heard him on
Killpop during the chorus but as mentioned, it’s barely noticeable. It’s a similar story with Craig, it would be futile to try and single out an appearance from him on the album because he’s completely absent.
So what is good about the album? Well as previously mentioned,
Killpop is an album highlight. Musically it is reminiscent of
Vermillion, but this song has a much more warped atmosphere, and you can really tell that the band is trying to do something different.
The Negative One, our first glimpse of the album back in August, also stands out as a fantastic track. It features all of the aggression that the band harnessed on their first two albums, and it would seem that Sid is finally using sampling in a more mature and interesting way. The song is very intense and it was exactly what the band needed to release as a promotional single to hail their return. When Slipknot try something new, it is always interesting (the main reason why Volume 3 is widely regarded as the band's strongest release).
If Rain Is What You Want is a morose and genuinely dark song that ends the album on a high note. It’s subtle and understated, proving that Slipknot doesn’t always have to be in your face and making it a choice cut. Unfortunately, these moments of restrained greatness are overshadowed by the dull repetition of filler tracks like
Skeptic and
The One That Kills The Least. It’s a real shame and in the future I would love to see them go in a more experimental direction.
While it isn't perfect,
.5: The Gray Chapter is still an enjoyable album that kept my attention, and it is certainly more consistent than 2008’s All Hope Is Gone. Drummer Jay Weinberg and bassist Alessandro Venturella both fit in well, and are worthy replacements to Joey and Paul. Hopefully the band does something different with their next release, which we can only hope won’t take another 6 years to arrive.
