Review Summary: Hey guys, did you hear about Paul? Boy, was that sad a day, really. I mean, man, that was just, goddamn, I mean, wow, what a great guy. Could you even imagine? Man, goddamn. Like, wow. What a great guy. I mean, really, I don't know how I'd cope. What a gr
Never has an album screamed “obligation” more than Slipknot’s latest studio effort. Putting into perspective some of the less-than-flattering comments that members have thrown each other and notable bandmate departures in the years since their last offering,
All Hope Is Gone, the very existence of
.5: The Gray Chapter speaks volumes for band kingpin Shawn Crahan’s unwillingness to get the picture and admit that the band has outlived its creative fidelity. Either that or his delusional conscience hasn't quite caught up with the fact that it’s now four years too late to pay tribute to deceased bassist Paul Gray.
In an ideal world, the most effective way to deal with a bandmate’s death would be to remember them in a song or perhaps mention him in a lyric or two. Unfortunately, given that quaintness was never one of Slipknot’s high points, the presence of Gray’s death hovers over the aptly-titled album like his zombified corpse had a role in production. Over the course of
.5: The Gray Chapter’s hour-long runtime, the themes of loss, death and remembrance take up most of the subject matters, coming across as depressingly forced and almost feeling like some sort of agenda that the band wants to push on the listener at all times. The most egregious example comes in the form of the track “Goodbye”, a flaccid ballad feeling like a re-tread of “Snuff” as frontman Corey Taylor spoon-feeds us a more direct discussion about Gray’s amazingness that has the all subtlety of a wrecking ball with how it attempts to feel angst, as if the album forgot about the other half-dozen times it dedicated itself to our tragically fallen hero.
It’s a shame really, seeing as how the majority of the album’s instrumentation and performances are ultimately solid, albeit not enough to look past the blunt and pathetic songwriting. The album sees the band be more at-ease with the new groove metal sound their last LP found them covering, with our guitarists Mick Thomson and Jim Root offering up their fair share of punchy thrash riffs to keep the listener moving regardless of what they’re being told lyrically, Thomson in particular taking heed from Root’s electric, more complex performance on
House of Gold and Bones. What’s also refreshing to see is a larger involvement of sampler Craig Jones and turtablist Sid Jones, who make their presence felt more than All Hope is Gone’s largely guitar-based feel, occasionally creating electronic tidbits that harken back to the nu-metal vibes of the self-titled album. Elsewhere, Slipknot’s signature percussion mini-band of Crahan, Chris Fehn and newcomer Jay Weinberg deliver the usual pounding, earth-quake like performance that holds many of the tracks together and are often the most recognisable factor in tracks such as “Custer” and “The Negative One”.
But the real star of the show, as always, is Corey Taylor and his raw, unbridled, venomous vocals, that feel like a fusion between
House of Gold and Bones’ passionate roars and
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)’s blood-curling screeches. At the album’s heaviest moments, whether or not his lyrics are feeble feels irregardless when juxtaposed with the vocal chords that are delivering them perfectly and with as much rage as possible; his contributions strengthen each track significantly than if it were any other singer in mainstream metal today.
Structurally,
.5: The Gray Chapter could do with some condensing. Often times, tracks might overrun their ideal length due to overly-long or repeated verses that pad out the album rather incessantly at times. Despite the overall similar length and track amount, the album lacks the brisk pace of
Vol. 3 or self-titled that kept both albums fresh to progress through.
At the end of the day, however, any potential
.5: The Gray Chapter may have going for it despite the forced yet competent performances is overshadowed by the vapid nature of the subject matter, and more so how it attempts to be realised (even though it isn't worth realising to begin with this late in the game). That being said, the best that can come from the album is the fact that when the band inevitably gets over the loss of their forlorn bassist, it will open up worlds of potential for later releases, considering how the album has sonically shown that the band has not quite missed a beat yet.
