Slipknot – Slipknot (1999)

July 18, 2020

Slipknot is one of those albums that I have absolutely played into the ground. My introduction to – and infatuation with – Slipknot began with the follow-up record; 2001’s impossibly heavy Iowa album, something which I do not take for granted. The impact that such a record would have had on a 12 year old me cannot be put into words. I have tried and tried and tried to listen to Iowa again, imagining that I am 12 years old and have no idea what I’m in for. At the time, there was nothing more terrifying, there was nothing heavier, there was nothing worth listening to, except Iowa.

Of course, I eventually went out and bought Slipknot’s first album. I was surprised at first how loose it was, it seemed rougher around the edges, and with flutters of hip hop and nu metal. However it was still Slipknot, and it was still a force to be reckoned with. The first five tracks of this will stick with me forever, how the intro unrolls into “(sic.)”, and follows up with the head-melting “Eyeless”, the anthemic single “Wait And Bleed”, and of course, the fist-pumping “Surfacing”.

I could go on for some time about the rest of the tracks on the record (the secret and bonus tracks have aged fantastically!), and when I personally preferred the terrifying sounds of Iowa, I must have listened to this album hundreds if not thousands of times. I had an old Aiwa (not Iowa? Ha!) portable tape player and had the album dubbed onto a beaten cassette that saw more action than I’d care to admit. Good times.