Sending the metal community into chaos, Slipknot have revealed their new array of ghoulish masks accompanied by a brand new kick-ass single and release date for their new album.
Corey Taylor and his gang of masked marauders have blessed us maggots with Unsainted, a glorious mash of chills and ferocity that marks the first peek into their upcoming sixth studio album ‘We are Not Your Kind,’ set to drop August 9.
On Unsainted Slipknot shows the middle finger to time itself, proving that their sound refuses to age. The intro begins with a sinister nine-piece choir as the numerous percussions slowly surround them, accompanied by frontman Taylor leading the melodies before this tranquil stained glass image is shattered by a battering of unholy riffage. Much like 2003’s Before I Forget, the band remains steadfast in their motif by melding the feeling of being lobotomised with an ice-pick (not something I’d recommend) and a pop-like earworm of a chorus that not even pesticide could get rid of. While it’s nothing new, Slipknot has the innate power of putting two and two together to make five and doing so album after album, yet seemingly changing nothing more than their iconic masks. It’s the timeless sound like this that us metal-heads will cling to like gum to a shoe.
Taylor promised that this upcoming album would be heavier and far darker than before – if that’s possible – and with all the grit and grime this track brings there’s no reason to doubt him. The proof of which is evidently in the maggot-infested pudding as the track dives head-first into a thematic web of letting go, martyrs and sin. Taylor fails to disappoint, perforating the words into our minds through his two-faced deliveries that mindlessly swaps between a thrashing attack and a harmonic chant.
His ensemble cast of clowns, zombies and demons don’t let up either. The composition carries a gorgeously industrial tone that harkens back to nu-metal’s golden era of the late 90’s/early 00’s with a profound fuzz to the guitars and a harrowing clatter to the tin-can percussions. Completed by eerie scratches and bends of the schizophrenic keyboard and turntables, it’s brilliant.
Unsainted is an insidious morsel of a taste that gives great insight and a buzz of excitement to what we can only hope is an album packed with unchained gristle and terror. I mean they’ve done it five times already, what’s the big deal?
You can listen to Unsainted on Spotify here.
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By Alex Mace