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Slipknot's mix of grinding, post-
Korn alternative metal,
Marilyn Manson-esque neo-shock rock, and rap-metal helped make them one of the most popular bands in the nu-metal explosion of the late 1990s and early 2000s. But even more helpful was their theatrical, attention-grabbing image: the band always performed in identical industrial jump suits and homemade Halloween masks, and added to their mysterious anonymity by adopting the numbers zero through eight as stage aliases. Add to that a lyrical preoccupation with darkness and nihilism, and an affectionately insulting name for their fans ("Maggots"), and
Slipknot's blueprint for nu-metal success was set. Emerging in 1995, the Grammy Award-winning band issued their eponymous debut album in 1999 and went mainstream with subsequent gold and platinum efforts like
Iowa (2001),
All Hope Is Gone (2008), and
We Are Not Your Kind (2019).
Slipknot were formed in late 1995 in the unlikely locale of Des Moines, Iowa; after some early personnel shifts, the nine-piece lineup settled around (in order from number zero to number eight): DJ
Sid Wilson, drummer
Joey Jordison, bassist
Paul Gray, percussionist
Chris Fehn, guitarist
James Root, sampler/programmer
Craig Jones, percussionist
Shawn "Clown" Crahan, guitarist
Mick Thomson, and lead vocalist
Corey Taylor. The music scene in Des Moines wasn't much to speak of, and the band's big-time ambition was usually met with disbelief and ridicule, which provided the initial spark for its mostly anonymous stage visuals. On Halloween 1996,
Slipknot self-released an album called Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., which began to build a buzz around the group once it found its way to several labels. It was picked up for distribution by the Nebraska-based -ismist label, and also caught the attention of Roadrunner Records, which signed
Slipknot in 1997. Working with producer
Ross Robinson, the band recorded their official self-titled debut album, which was released in 1999. They gradually built an audience through near-constant touring, working their way up to the summer Ozzfest package tour, which really expanded their audience. Their live shows were a much-discussed hit with metal fans, and the band performed with such energy that
Crahan gashed his head open on his own drum kit twice that summer, requiring stitches both times. The tracks "Wait and Bleed" and "Spit It Out" got the band some airplay, but most of the buzz came from touring and word of mouth. Finally, in the spring of 2000,
Slipknot was certified platinum; the first such album in Roadrunner's history.
The anticipation for
Slipknot's follow-up was intense, and many industry observers predicted that it would debut at number one; however, faced with some stiff competition that week, the band's sophomore effort,
Iowa, bowed at number three upon its release in 2001. More heavy touring followed, including another, more prominent slot on that summer's Ozzfest. After a long spell on the road,
Slipknot took a break while the members worked on side projects. The band set up its own label, Maggot Recordings, and signed a band called
Downthesun, whose lead singer had served as
Crahan's drum technician.
Wilson, meanwhile, began DJ'ing solo under the name
DJ Starscream, and
Root and
Thomson both worked on solo material. Drummer
Jordison worked with a side group called
the Rejects, where he'd actually served for quite some time as guitarist.
Taylor, meanwhile, started a side band called Superego, and also contributed a solo song, "Bother," to the soundtrack of the 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man. That May, the band got some amusing press when some of its fans discovered the website of a British crocheting group also called "Slipknot" and flooded the members' in-boxes with excessively rude e-mails.
Guitarist
Joey Jordison and
Static-X guitarist
Tripp Eisen teamed up that summer for the
Murderdolls project, while
Taylor re-formed his old band
Stone Sour and released an album. By \winter,
Slipknot had still not reunited, and
Taylor wrote a commentary on the band's website stating that they had not spoken in months, and that they'd rather break up than become "the next
GWAR." The statement sparked a quickly resolved mini-feud between
Taylor and
GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus, but it also sent many of the Maggots into a tailspin. By early 2003,
Taylor had retracted his comments, and announced plans for a new
Slipknot album. That August, the entire squad decamped Iowa for L.A., where they began work on the new record with producer
Rick Rubin. "Pulse of the Maggots" appeared in early 2004 as an exclusive download; it was followed by a full track listing for
Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses.
Slipknot then embarked on a brief tour as a warm-up for their dates headlining Ozzfest that summer. (The group also debuted a fully redesigned third generation of their famous masks.)
Subliminal Verses was released in May 2004. It peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, and the band toured steadily for the next year-and-a-half in support. They released a two-disc live album in November 2005, followed by a slew of side projects (
Taylor and
Root formed
Stone Sour, while
Jordison sat in with
Ministry and
Korn) before releasing their fourth full-length album,
All Hope Is Gone, in 2008.
Slipknot made a number of festival appearances during summer of the following year, and also embarked on their
All Hope Is Gone world tour. On May 24, 2010, the body of bassist
Paul Gray was discovered by a maintenance worker in an Urbandale, Iowa hotel room; he was 38 years old at the time of his death, which was later revealed to have been the result of an accidental drug overdose. The band decided to carry on without him, saying it was what he would have wanted. Two years after suffering the tragedy of losing
Gray, the band released their first compilation. Spanning 13 years of output,
Antennas to Hell: The Best of Slipknot brought together the best studio cuts from
Corey Taylor and co., along with a selection of bonus material, including their full performance at 2009's Download Festival.
In 2013
Slipknot started work on what was to become their fifth studio album. During the recording process, it was revealed that drummer
Joey Jordison had left the band under murky circumstances which were widely thought to be acrimonious, and that the band had recruited a new rhythm section. Both drummer and bassist were still anonymous at the time of the album's release, but were rumored to be, respectively,
Jay Weinberg, formerly of
Against Me, and
Alessandro Venturella, formerly of
Cry for Silence. Titled
.5: The Gray Chapter in honor of their fallen bandmate, the album was slated for release in October 2014. Marking a return to a more raw, brutal, dissonant sound reminiscent of their earlier work, it was promoted with the singles "The Negative One" and "The Devil in I," which featured music videos directed by
Shawn Crahan. 2017 saw the release of the
Crahan-directed film
Day of the Gusano, which documented
Slipknot's first trip to Mexico and accompanying Mexico City Knotfest concert in late 2015.
Also around 2015, the band hinted that they would return to the studio. It wasn't until late 2018 that they delivered on the promise with the standalone single "All Out Life." The band's critically acclaimed sixth studio album, the
Greg Fidelman-produced
We Are Not Your Kind, arrived in August 2019 and debuted at number one on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and the U.K. Albums Chart. Original drummer
Joey Jordison died on July 26, 2021 at the age of 46. ~ Steve Huey