Music Review!
(I'm writing this today for two reasons - 1. matron_jojo is not at home so I can listen to this loud without disturbing her, and 2. tomorrow I won't be listening to this at all...)
Lets start things off with the assurance that I like this album. A lot. This is the new album from Slipknot.
The second single from the album, "Psychosocial", promised more of the heavy that we have come to expect from the boys from Iowa, and the beginning of "All Hope Is Gone" does not disappoint, or for that matter surprise. ".execute." (a typical Slipknot "noise" intro track), "Gematria (The Killing Name)", "Sulphur" and the aforementioned single rip into the first 15-odd minutes with barely a pause for breath.
That is aside from an interesting sung chorus line in Sulphur.
Machine-gun pace, deep grinding rhythm, Sid's DJ scratches for colour and sublime duelling solo's are all Slipknot's bread and butter and they are delivered with aplomb. The head nods in automatic and undeniable approval. While it is nothing particularly new, the basic aggression please hardcore fans while the underlying skills on display keep the more refined listener interested.
The subject matter is outlined early on, and generally held thru the whole album. A general mistrust of "The Man", whose persona can be easily attributed to white middle America:
"Where is your glory now, people?
Where are your gods and politicians?
Where is your shame and salvation?
You rage for no reason because you have no reason..."
This line of thought runs deep through the album. A battle cry for the lower middle-class white fanbase that have been been at the core of Slipknot's success since the mid nineties. Added to that is a pronounced sympathy for the US Armed Forces, painting the troops in the Middle East and Europe as modern equivalents of the forgotten fighters of Vietnam, which would make Corey Taylor a modern Bob Dylan?
The album then takes starts to make some real progress. "Dead Memories" could best be described as a ballad, especially given the context. A highly introspective not-quite love song, which is most notable by its complete lack of the genre-trademarked screaming vocals. While still being a intensely heavy song, the pace and feel allow some beautiful guitar expression that would not normally be a feature of Slipknot's work.
"Vendetta" and "Butchers Hook" step up the pace again, the former featuring a Marilyn Manson-esqe chant, the latter with violently syncopated verses and a heavily harmonised sung chorus. Again with the interesting vocals. Later "This Cold Black" and "Wherein Lies Continue" tread similar heavy and paced paths with similar high levels of success. But before that there is "Gehenna".
Treading some deep and personal and potentially dangerous paths, "Gehenna", much like "Dead Memories" and the later "Snuff" and "Child Of Burning Time", push the emotional buttons. When combined with the musical approach of Slipknot, and while succeeding to remain on the safe side of cheesy, Corey delivers a set of songs that go to places normally associated with murder ballads.
"I cannot maintain a semblance of Normal anymore
I'd rather feel pain than try to fit in with you anymore
I'll throw it all away, like everybody else
I can finally be myself
Cuz I don't want to be myself..."
What is left are some profoundly sad songs which you cant help but enjoy on a musical level, but I can't get too intellectually involved in. Much like your basic pop ex-love song: hey hey, you you, I don't like your girlfriend but actually I'm married so it doesn't really apply to me.
"Child of Burning Time" demands special mention, both for the closing lines: "Burn me away, I won't become your hero just to fight the life I saved" and the double-time drumming which rumbles and crashes unabated and untamed below the flow of the typically superb vocals and alongside the tight rhythm of the heaviest of guitars.
Finally, the title track rounds of the album with a warcry sure to be repeated in stadiums round the world in the coming months "We'll end the world, when all hope is gone!".
All in all, "All Hope Is Gone" succeeds in showcasing Slipknot's ever-expanding skill and willingness to push the boundaries of Heavy Metal to greater, if unsuspected, heights.
Lets start things off with the assurance that I like this album. A lot. This is the new album from Slipknot.
The second single from the album, "Psychosocial", promised more of the heavy that we have come to expect from the boys from Iowa, and the beginning of "All Hope Is Gone" does not disappoint, or for that matter surprise. ".execute." (a typical Slipknot "noise" intro track), "Gematria (The Killing Name)", "Sulphur" and the aforementioned single rip into the first 15-odd minutes with barely a pause for breath.
That is aside from an interesting sung chorus line in Sulphur.
Machine-gun pace, deep grinding rhythm, Sid's DJ scratches for colour and sublime duelling solo's are all Slipknot's bread and butter and they are delivered with aplomb. The head nods in automatic and undeniable approval. While it is nothing particularly new, the basic aggression please hardcore fans while the underlying skills on display keep the more refined listener interested.
The subject matter is outlined early on, and generally held thru the whole album. A general mistrust of "The Man", whose persona can be easily attributed to white middle America:
"Where is your glory now, people?
Where are your gods and politicians?
Where is your shame and salvation?
You rage for no reason because you have no reason..."
This line of thought runs deep through the album. A battle cry for the lower middle-class white fanbase that have been been at the core of Slipknot's success since the mid nineties. Added to that is a pronounced sympathy for the US Armed Forces, painting the troops in the Middle East and Europe as modern equivalents of the forgotten fighters of Vietnam, which would make Corey Taylor a modern Bob Dylan?
The album then takes starts to make some real progress. "Dead Memories" could best be described as a ballad, especially given the context. A highly introspective not-quite love song, which is most notable by its complete lack of the genre-trademarked screaming vocals. While still being a intensely heavy song, the pace and feel allow some beautiful guitar expression that would not normally be a feature of Slipknot's work.
"Vendetta" and "Butchers Hook" step up the pace again, the former featuring a Marilyn Manson-esqe chant, the latter with violently syncopated verses and a heavily harmonised sung chorus. Again with the interesting vocals. Later "This Cold Black" and "Wherein Lies Continue" tread similar heavy and paced paths with similar high levels of success. But before that there is "Gehenna".
Treading some deep and personal and potentially dangerous paths, "Gehenna", much like "Dead Memories" and the later "Snuff" and "Child Of Burning Time", push the emotional buttons. When combined with the musical approach of Slipknot, and while succeeding to remain on the safe side of cheesy, Corey delivers a set of songs that go to places normally associated with murder ballads.
"I cannot maintain a semblance of Normal anymore
I'd rather feel pain than try to fit in with you anymore
I'll throw it all away, like everybody else
I can finally be myself
Cuz I don't want to be myself..."
What is left are some profoundly sad songs which you cant help but enjoy on a musical level, but I can't get too intellectually involved in. Much like your basic pop ex-love song: hey hey, you you, I don't like your girlfriend but actually I'm married so it doesn't really apply to me.
"Child of Burning Time" demands special mention, both for the closing lines: "Burn me away, I won't become your hero just to fight the life I saved" and the double-time drumming which rumbles and crashes unabated and untamed below the flow of the typically superb vocals and alongside the tight rhythm of the heaviest of guitars.
Finally, the title track rounds of the album with a warcry sure to be repeated in stadiums round the world in the coming months "We'll end the world, when all hope is gone!".
All in all, "All Hope Is Gone" succeeds in showcasing Slipknot's ever-expanding skill and willingness to push the boundaries of Heavy Metal to greater, if unsuspected, heights.