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Review Summary: An identity crisis: conflicting maturity with juvenile nu-metal roots Slipknot has never been the easiest band to like. Under Shawn Crahan’s totalitarian reign there’s been documented questionable decisions such as masked identities, a fanbase referred to as ‘Maggots’ and camel sh it fragrance. Expectedly, this has all worked against any progression towards maturity. The band cannot be faulted for it- it’s clearly working in their favour- however, .5: The Gray Chapter feels like a wider symptom of an identity crisis, conflicting maturity with juvenile nu-metal roots.
Context looms high over the shoulder of .5. Implicit tensions resulting from Paul Gray’s passing, Joey Jordison’s ejection and Jim Root’s departure from Stone Sour have all dogged the album’s release. On a publicity level, it’s going to help rocket the album to the top of the charts, because the songwriting certainly isn’t as focused or attention-grabbing as said headlines. That’s apparent in both of the questionably chosen lead singles. Commercial Stone Sour-isms prevalent on “The Devil In I” are forgivable when aided with a mildly memorable hook, however, the regressive core-chug modified upon standard Slipknot generics that is “The Negative One” prove that songwriting has improved little over 6-years of incubation. The sense of immaturity prevails throughout, with blastbeats and breakdowns awkwardly muscling their way into “Sarcastrophe”, an unsatisfying hate anthem that will likely rally battle cries across high schools globally. It’s not just the musical backdrop that’s disappointing, either; Taylor is hardly Sartre with his existentialist prose, declaring rather crudely (among others), “I know why Judas wept, motherf ucker!” (“Lech”). Caught somewhere between Stone Sour and Iowa-era Slipknot, it seems the band aren’t keen on any cohesion, juxtaposing spastic grind (“Nomadic”, “Custer”) with Foo Fighters-aping stadium anthems (“Goodbye”, “The One that Kills the Least”). Make no mistakes, .5 is not a career-encompassing panorama in the ilk of All Hope is Gone. Rather, it's a difficult gluttony that’s hardly going to satisfy the appetite of every last Maggot on the market.
You can’t deny the cold, hard facts; no matter how flawed, stifled and confused .5 is an album, it’s going to succeed massively. However unsure of whether it’s about getting back to roots or maturation, .5 is one of the most frustrating and inarticulate Slipknot albums yet. Hopefully, 6-years won’t pass before these mistakes manifest themselves further.
other reviews of this album |
Simon K. STAFF (2.5) Not a return to form, but a hopeful future lies ahead...
BassDemon333 (4) walk with me...
TheFirstTimHurst (3.5) Reminiscent of the good old days but polished like new, Slipknot could almost call this a ...
Tunaboy45 (3.5) Nineteen years and two members later, Slipknot are still the same band they always were. F...
DropTune (2.5) Nothing to see here...
Mall (2) We have made the present obsolete...
Froot (3) Hey guys, did you hear about Paul? Boy, was that sad a day, really. I mean, man, that was ...
Necrotica (1.5) Regression in the worst sense....
fullautorpg (3) Filled with some of Slipknot's greatest songs up to this point in time, the album finds it...
Oneiron (2.5) All hope is still gone...
William17 (3) Despite some flaws, this album proves all hope isn't gone after all....
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don't know if i'll check this, don't want to sit through an hour of slipknot lol
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Good review, pretty much agree with everything you said
| | | Good review, buuuuud. I decided I don't really like this much, but it isn't terrible. Probably their worst album. AHIG is just slightly better than this.
| | | Under Shawn Crahan’s totalitarian reign there’s been documented questionable decisions such as masked identities, a fanbase referred to as ‘Maggots’ and camel shit fragrance.
Sentence feels really long and kinda clunky. How about something like: "Under Shawn Crahan's totalitarian reign, there's been plenty of strange, awkward, and downright questionable decisions. These include masked identities, a fanbase referred to as 'Maggots', and camel shit fragrance." Idk, just an idea worth considering. "Documented questionable decisions" is a really weird phrase, though.
however .5: The Gray Chapter
Throw in a comma after "however".
however the regressive core-chug modified upon standard Slipknot generics that is “The Negative One” prove that songwriting has improved little over 6-years of incubation.
BIG SENTENCES. In all seriousness, "standard Slipknot generics" is kinda..... Eh. Try rewording that. Also, throw in a comma after "however".
Make no mistakes, .5 is not a career-encompassing panorama in the ilk of All Hope is Gone, instead a difficult gluttony that’s hardly going to satisfy the appetite of every last Maggot on the market.
BIG SENTENCES [2]. Place a period after "All Hope Is Gone", then start off with "Rather, it's....." or another transitional phrase, because that's definitely a glaring run-on.
cold-hard facts
*cold, hard
Overall, good review. Second paragraph feels really long compared to the others, but I can understand why.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Yeah this is around a 2.5
| | | "You can’t deny the cold-hard facts; no matter how flawed, stifled and confused .5 is an album, it’s going to succeed massively"
This sentence reads awkwardly, maybe you meant to say 'it's an album that's going to succeed massively'.
| | | Agree 100%. Great review.
| | | "questionable decisions such as masked identities, a fanbase referred to as ‘Maggots’"
Both of these things being MASSIVELY beneficial toward their early popularity. Their visual image was huge in gaining them support in the early days, and the "maggots" thing turned into a calling card for them. People LOVED it.
It's kinda weird to start off a review by slagging on a guy for doing the very things that made the band big.
| | | ^agreed, though later in the paragraph he points out that it did indeed work in their favour. he was just trying to use it to set up how it might have been detrimental to their maturity over time
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Worst album cover I have seen in a long time.
| | | I enjoy "The Devil In I", and the video for it is excellent. I don't expect to check out the rest.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I think most people will agree at the surprise of how good "Killpop" was. Probably my favorite on here tbh
| | | The Devil in I is one of the weaker tracks here, Guest. You might like this.
| | | Ugh.
Okay, I'll give it a spin sometime this week and come back with some thoughts on it.
| | | It can't be any worse than that Weezer release.
| | | I mean yeah. But I'm just surprised that guest enjoyed that track
| | | Musically, the song is nothing special save for that blip of blastbeats. But lyrically and visually the video was really good to me.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
great review man.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
what is corey doing? his cleans sound like he trys hard on american idol. bring some dirt god damn
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Yeah this is pretty not good. They found some kind of nu-metal magic and really hit a loveable exciting sweet spot for me with Vol. 3.
But that was then and this is now, and right now band is meh.
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