The end of an era, Slipknot’s final album on Roadrunner Records has arrived. The seventh studio album from the 9-headed monster comes 3 years after We Are Not Your Kind and may be the most divisive to date.
Slipknot arrived in my life with the self-titled album in 1999 and gripped with the raw aggression and crippling emotion that was in those first few albums. Then as we all know tragedy struck with the passing of Paul Gray, then there were line-up changes and it seemed to develop the Slipknot sound into something different.
Many call this an evolution and if you read social media and forums, anyone who is a fan of Slipknot, Iowa or Vol.3 The Subliminal Verses is a dinosaur whose opinion is no longer relevant unless you like the new offerings as well.
So, for the record, I quite enjoyed We Are Not Your Kind, in fact, I enjoyed it enough to purchase it and am keen to review this for what it is, not compared to those original albums.
What I will say, however, is that if you are one of those people who turned off after the third offering, the chances are that this album is not for you. But, if you want to persevere don’t let the opening track put you off.
As you listen to ‘Adderall’ you could easily forget what band you are listening to and as the already released ‘The Dying Song (Time to Sing) lands, we start to get some of the heavies that is experienced with more recent Slipknot along with a clean sing-along chorus.
The then also released ‘Chapletown Rag’ which I rather enjoy is followed by ‘Yen’ a track that again is not so much anger or emotion but another join-in track.
One of my favourite tracks on the album is ‘H377’ which feels like a bit of a throwback. You feel that the anger and frustration is still there and that old feel is there. Corey spits his lyrics with some venom and the music is spot on. It has the balance that I am a fan of, mainly pissed off with potentially a little harmony.
The End, So Far continues that trend of mainly harmony with arty music and the odd inclusion of anger and heavy music that we remember from days of old. This is not me being old and not prepared to accept evolution, far from it.
The best way I can sum up this album, is Mrs F doesn’t like Slipknot as it’s too angry, and noisy and you can’t understand most of it, but she said she’d go and watch them on this album.
I would suggest that fans of popular radio stations will enjoy hearing Slipknot more on the airwaves, whereas others will have hoped for more umph.
The End, So Far is released Friday 30th September Via Roadrunner Records.
Review: Ed Ford
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