ALBUM REVIEW: .5: THE GRAY CHAPTER by Slipknot

SINCE Slipknot bassist Paul Gray died suddenly in 2010 the band has publicly attempted to come to terms with the immense loss of one of its leading creative agents. The band has seemed a tad directionless at times, unsure whether to go on at all on occasio

Fans will be pleased to know that this is a true Slipknot album. Yes, there are surprises, challenges even, but lovers of their earlier studio work will have plenty to hang onto here. Overall, .5:The Gray Chapter is heavier than All Hope is Gone (studio album number four) but more accessible and dare one say commercial than their second platter Iowa.

The ghost of Gray permeates the whole album. Vocalist Corey Taylor opens proceedings with “With my face against the floor, I can’t see who knocked me out of the way, I didn’t want to get back up, but I have to... so it might as well be today”.

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The album soon gets into power mode with tracks like Sarcastrophe, The Devil in I and Skeptic which is perhaps the most obvious tribute to their lost bass player (”You had a gift, you were a gift, but there’s always a goddamn catch” and “The world will never know another man as amazing as you”.)

Slipknot have mined a very dark pit over the years and their gloomy aesthetic is on show here but the whole album is perhaps more reflective, more thoughtful and philosophical, intelligent, showing a band that has matured and is moving on.

There are questions about religion and self belief, about society and life and death.

The masks are still there, although interestingly and perhaps tellingly they are now different ones from before, and the forthcoming tour – they are in Sheffield in January 16 – will reveal how their onstage approach has altered, but this is Slipknot pure and simple. New masks, a new approach, but still masked and still Slipknot. All hope certainly hasn’t gone and .5: The Gray Chapter has been well worth the wait.

 

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