#it just doesnt warrant that kind of warning but it is endearing

[we8comic]

i think its very fun when someone starts a [mcyt] post w some kind of blaring warning that it contains a controversial opinion and the controversial opinion is... based around the in universe roleplay and the characters

[skell0t-blog]

Slipknot's Dark Side Of The Moon

My phone rang yesterday afternoon. Local cd and record store (They still exist!) had gotten my preorder of Slipknot's new album 'We Are Not Your Kind' 2 days early. The store clerk presumably echoed 'sir are you there? Sir?" As I was already backing out of my driveway and speeding over there.

Got home and realized I didnt have a cd player... Literally went back out and bought a $25 cd player from best buy. (They still exist!) Got back home and was finally ready to settle in. Brought some pillows into a carpeted room (a nursery to be, but pretty empty right now). I grabbed my favorite headphones. They're actually gaming headphones but they sound great for music. I turned the lights off. This is how I was taught to truly listen to music from a music teacher I had in highschool. Its part of the reason I dont really listen to songs before the album comes out. I want to experience the album as one cohesive piece of work first. I was ready now. I hit play. Aaaand Nothing happened. I Felt around for a power button. A blue light lit up on the cd player illuminating my dark room of ritual. Ah there we go. I hit play.

Track 1: Insert Coin: *click* The heartbeat of the album begins. Beautifully sinister. The scrambeled tech noises that have permeated songs throughout slipknots reign were placed through this album in such a way as to be thematic and tie the album together song to song and this intro foreshadows this. These sounds layered over a drone like background led my imagination to wander. I envisioned an old radio sitting on the counter of some lost space ship. Detuned and searching for a signal before grasping the next song it found. Also Im a sucker for sirens (welcome to the jungle) and alarm sounds (solway firth) and this intro delivered.

Track 2: Unsainted. The only reason this wont be considered the best song on the album is because we all listened to it 100 times before we heard the album. Its a song in the same vein as one of slipknots best songs, psychosocial. Its a banger with a beautiful refrain. Nothing has so consistantly given me goosebumps as the final scream of "YOU'VE KILLED THE SAINT IN ME!" before the final chorus kicks in. I love the heretical lines interspersed. "Your bible don't work on me." is lovely and the meaning of the chorus speaks to me a bit too. "Ill never kill myself to save my soul." To me "kill myself" is metaphorical and the idea is that of someone is telling you they know how to save your soul and that involves changing who you are at your core whether its believeing things you dont really believe, or being against things you dont want to be opposed to, then what they are really saying is you have to abandon who you are or kill who are inside in order to save your soul. This song says fuck that noise. 10/10

Track 3: Birth Of The Cruel.

It may be my new favorite line:

"I'M ALL FUCKED UP AND I MAKE IT LOOK GOOD."

I cant help but feel this would be a great theme for danarys targaryen when shes burning down kings landing. The almost sludge metal of a riff when the screaming kicks in with sids wildcat sounding scratches is some awesome layering. I love the serenading vocals throughout. Great lyrics. I could headbang to that verse riff when played by itself all day. 9.5/10

Track 4: Death Because Of Death. So this is where I first heard it... Now hang with me on this one. I get a small vibe of "Ghost" on this track and honestly It made me pause thinking of the choir in Unsainted as well. I cant help but think of "La mantra Mori." This might be sacrilege for some to hear but as an avid ghost fan it was a more than welcome surprise. I love little fills like this in general ever since Before These Crowded Streets by Dave Matthews Band (dont judge me) where every song had some little interlude. Great way of adding cohesion to an album even if the interlude its self sounds nothing like the rest of the album. I dont really want to pin a rating on this one. I just love it for what it is.

Track 5: Nero Forte. OH THANK GOD. Look we were all excited for this album and we knew the released songs were good but you have to have that tiny fear that we had already heard the best of the album and the rest was going to be supporting material. I excised that fear, exhaled, Smiled, and broke my neck when I heard "WATCH THIS!" That bass slide early on is just filthy. The chorus just a breath of fresh air. It's reminiscent of "My Plague" and is sung beautifully with Corey's full vocal range on display. 10/10

Track 6: Critical Darling. Back to back bangers. We get multiple vocal styles from #8 on this track. The prechorus is a great buildup and the chorus is just beautiful. The chorus almost feels like a nod to chester bennington. The lyrics "we tell ourselves it cant be hell if theres no heaven." Really made me think. I feel like the message of this song opposes Unsainted a bit. The bridge reminded me of ghost again. A little more nasaly and higher register than we usually hear corey. How does he keep the new stuff coming? The ending riff is filthy. And as always I love the segues after songs. 8.8/10

Track 7: Liar's Funeral. Another one with multiple vocal styles. These songs have 3 different singers and theyre all the same dude. Just amazing. I think we're meant to take this as a mix of feelings one could have and then self reflection or someone else calling out these feelings. Whoever it is saying that things are too hard and they should die is the liar. Corey is calling them a liar. Hes telling them to get a grip and stop pretending this is a warranted reaction to whatever they are going through. "LIAR! LIAR!" Its gutteral. Reminds me of "FRAUD! FRAUD!" on "Liberate." Not the strongest track but on an album like this where the bar is set so high even supporting tracks are great and like I said the mix of vocal styles is impressive and the "CLOSE YOUR EYES AND JOIN THE BLIND" part will keep me coming back to this. 8.5/10

Track 8: Red Flag. Apt name for a track with a series of warnings. Almost as if the person from the previous track is moving on from their troubles and recognizing the toxic environment they were recently trapped in. Coreys flow here is just perfect. The chorus is... scary honestly. Its beautifully terrifying. The stocato high pitch beeping from sid is great. The ending verse is amazing. And... another segue! 9/10

Track 10: Spiders. So we got a groovy ass track here! A suspenseful piano sets the tone. I swear I get a weird depeche mode new wave feel from the chorus. Has an occult rock feel once again. I get that feel quite a few times on this album when things slow down and get softer. Tracks like this give album enough variety to have some real staying power. Groovy. 9/10

Track 11: Orphan. When Corey growls "everyone has something, someone here has everything" i could just listen to that on repeat. Another banger with beautiful clean chorus. "If you wanna know my story, take my pain" Sounds deep and id like to know the full meaning behind these words. 9/10

Track 12: My Pain. On its face seems like another song about a toxic relationship. Love and pain are set up as 2 sides of the same coin. Musically its a great drone track that helps keep the atmosphere of the album consistent while still being in a different direction and mixing things up a bit. Super creepy chimes add a great effect. Again we get corey with a growl which Ill ways love. Another one that doesnt really necessitate a rating. Just a cool tone establishing song for the album.

Track 13: Not Long For This World. Corey mustve been really delving deep into some troubled times during the writing of this album. Just really dark lyrics. Sid makes the last riff splendid. Love the segue. 8/10

Track 14: Solway Firth. And I'm fucking headbanging! This track slams. Bangs. Whatever you want to call it. People are blind to tragedy when it happens to everybody else. Until it happens to them its not real. I know this song is about "the boys" comics and its a great representation of what billy butcher would be thinking and feeling. "ANOTHER NEEDLE IN THE BACK THROUGH PURIFIED SCARIFICATION." Is one of the best sung lines on this album and really makes this track the finale. 10/10

I know its still shiny. Its still new. But this is a masterpiece. A term id only endear to a handful of albums. An album can have all great songs and not be a masterpiece. It needs cohesion and running themes to take it over the bar to that next level where it stands as one piece of artwork. The constant frequency and feedback sounds are so perfect for Slipknot going all the way back to their self titled album.

My Rating: 10/10 would insert coin again.

I listen. I smile. I headbang. I feel something. Thats whats important.

SUPERLATIVES

Favorite Song: Unsainted

Favorite Riff: main riff of birth of the cruel right after "WATCH THIS!" My neck still hurts.

Favorite Line: Still sticking with "I'M ALL FUCKED UP AND I MAKE IT LOOK GOOD!" The way he delivers it with such tenacity is fucking perfect. Makes me mean mug everytime.

Favorite meaning: Liars Funeral. If my interpretation is reasonable than I really like the idea that you need to take a step back from what youre feeling and ask if youre really justified in taking it as far as you are. Its one of the toughest things to get past a feeling of victimhood as we hear in Solway Firth "it wasnt somebody else, you fucking did it to me." That may be true but to then think youre entitled to be a shithead, or selfharm, or whatever is bullshit. Youre lying to yourself.

Favorite mask: Corey. Mostly because his side eye in Unsainted just looks so bad ass.

Thank you for reading.