3.5/5 “Iowa nine piece reward long time fans and grow their sonic palette with monumental sixth album”
US metal titans Slipknot are clearly no strangers to tragedy – 5th album “The Grey Chapter” dealt with the loss of founding member Paul Grey, whilst new album “We Are Not Your Kind” channels it’s angst and rage from a multitude of facets. Frontman Corey Taylor’s messy public divorce, guitarist Mick Thompson being stabbed by his own brother, the tragic loss of founder Shawn Crahan’s young daughter, and finally the lawsuit against the Iowa nine piece by former member Chris Fehn – who claims financial income was hidden from him for a number of years and he was often referred to as “not a real band member”. So naturally, there’s a lot of dirty laundry to air out courtesy of some detuned metal riffage and some vocal rage and aggression.
Despite this sixth album having all the ingredients for quite possibly the heaviest album ever to grace my Spotify premium history “We Are Not Your Kind” actually houses some of Slipknot’s calmest and most tranquil material to date. The intro to “A Liar’s Funeral” and “Not Long For This World” are truly haunting pieces of music that transport the listener into a special frame of mind and the polyrhythmic “Spiders” is quite possibly the strangest song I’ve ever heard this band produce. It may be my favourite track from the album. There are even some interludes I’d go as far to say are beautifully ambient soundscapes.
Now before the Bjork comparisons come flooding in and the first album purists (guilty) grab their pitchforks there is something I need to clear up… Despite the lighter ballads, this is a VERY HEAVY album.
Fans of earlier Slipknot material will not be disappointed here. Tracks “Critical Darling” and “Red Flag” absolutely reek of the fan favourite album “IOWA” with brutal riffs and Corey Taylor’s classic screaming and rapping hyprid. While “Unsainted” and “Nero Forte” bring back the best aspects of “All Hope Is Gone” and “The Grey Chapter”. Special shout-out to 1:52 of “Solway Firth” for being my new benchmark in gurn inducing breakdowns. We Are Not Your Kind is a fantastic call back to earlier, rawer, and more aggressive Slipknot material, get this on in the gym and watch the weights fly up in no time.
To conclude – “We Are Not Your Kind” is a great Slipknot album. It captures elements of your favourite past tracks plus further enriching the band’s sonic palette with new sounds and textures. There are some great moments littered through this record. Some parts feels unnecessary and drawn out, perhaps even weird for the sake of it, but existing Slipknot admirers will let them off for the throwbacks to earlier and rawer previous albums.
