1.-[515]
2.-People = Shit
3.-Disasterpiece
4.-New Plague
5.-Everything Ends
6.-The Heretic Anthem
7.-Gently
8.-Left Behind
9.-The Shape
10.-I Am Hated
11.-Skin Ticket
12.-New Abortion
13.-Metabolic
14.-Iowa

  

   Slipknot release their sophomore album. To get things straight once and for all, I review this album out of "professional" duty. I confess that once I was a Slipknot fan. I loved the first album, and to some degree, I still respect that effort, because, and as much as I hate to admit it, it had some creativity. And yet, the sophomore from these guys is a horrible mistake. First of all, and I can tell you first-hand, with my being a fan in a remote era, Slipknot became a sell-out after their Self Titled was released. The success was crushing and too much to bear, so they just took the pose and they stripped the dignity away. With the release of IOWA, the sell-out is very clear. Of course, the Nu-metal is now (or has always been? I wonder...) stripped from all dignity. The difference with Slipknot was that their first album was almost an underground event that reached mainstream ground. In IOWA, they just became what they were meant to be: a mediocre band. But let's see why. At the first listen, it is a nice album, but after analyzing it carefully, we can find a shallow work, no real depth. "People = Shit" is an intense chantic, "Disasterpiece" is well built. If it weren't for the lack of seriousness and the palpable vulgarity, they could have been good songs. But after that the album goes down almost totally. "New Plague" became a single, and sadly, reminder of the sell-out Slipknot is becoming. Even if the original track was badly done (lack of wit in the chorus, repetitiveness and again vulgarity) the remix, softer and cut, is disgusting at best. "Everything Ends" is characterless, without innovation. "The Heretic Anthem" is simple and repetitive. "Gently" is boring, and I've always thought that this song is overrated since the "Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat" times. "Left Behind" was the first single. At best, a caricature of "Wait & Bleed", this song is one of the most solid proofs that it was an image band and nothing else. The video, featuring them playing senselessly in a horrible set and a stupid story of a kid, was one of the worst disappointments for me, for I was accostumed to see a menacing Slipknot, darkly illuminated and insane. With this song, and this video, they just made me pity them. I still wonder what the hell were they thinking letting Dave Meyers (director to such "artists" as Pink, Creed or N'Sync) to shoot their video. "The Shape" rises a little bit the level, at least featuring heavy riffs and a witty chorus. "I Am Hated" is a song where the urge to rap surfaces again. Disgusting. "Skin Ticket" may be the best track, creating a dark enviroment, full of madness. "New Abortion" showcases good choruses, but still without enough motivation. "Metabolic" has, too, catchy parts, but badly set. "Iowa", the closer for this album, is a fourteen-minutes track that consists of a bass line throughout the song. Really weird, but sadly, a remake of the song "Killers Are Quiet" from "Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat" too.

  

   I don't know. Slipknot is a band full of empty promises. If only these guys set out for the real thing, they could be as solid as a Pantera or Sepultura, but they chose the Nu-metal way. Corey Taylor is one of the best growlers I have ever heard, or ever will hear. The drumming is pretty solid. The guitars have the power. Still, they lack the proper motivation to produce good music.

 

58 OUT OF 100