The band have stated that their primary influences include Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Judas Priest, Korn, AC/DC, Kiss and Beastie Boys.[82][83][84][85] Death metal, black metal and heavy metal have been mentioned as a key influence on the band's musical direction alongside nu metal, the category the band is generally listed as.[86][87][88][89] They have also stated that they are influenced by industrial bands like Head of David, Godflesh and Skinny Puppy as well as Neurosis and jungle music like Roni Size.[90][91]
Slipknot are seen as pioneers of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal developing a lean and aggressive brand of metal formed from thrash, metalcore and death metal. In this they can be compared with groups such as Pantera, Machine Head, Biohazard, Life of Agony, and Prong and are known for often chaotic and energetic live shows.[92][93][94] The extreme performance style provided by their large line-up featuring a typical heavily down-tuned guitar set-up (lead, rhythm, and bass guitars), two percussionists in addition to the primary drummer, and electronics (samplers and turntables).[95] Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone compared the band's sound to "a threshing machine devouring a military drum corps".[50]
Their early work hosted a diverse range of vocal styles, ranging from rapping to occasional singing to growled vocals.[95] In more recent work, this vocal style remains present, but now includes more melodic singing.[49] The lyrics generally follow a very aggressive tone and feature themes such as darkness, nihilism, anger, disaffection, love, misanthropy and psychosis.[13][49] Rick Anderson of Allmusic regards the group's lyrics as "not generally quotable on a family website".[27] There has been controversy surrounding Slipknot's lyrics, including a case in which a pair of young killers blamed the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece" for their vicious crime[96] and a case in 2006 in which lyrics from the song "Surfacing" were found at the site of a grave robbing.The band is known for its attention-grabbing image: the members wear matching jumpsuit uniforms, and each one has a unique mask.[13] In the past, their jumpsuits have featured large UPC barcodes printed on the back and sleeves, which are identical and render the same barcode number to the barcode on their first demo, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.[23] Aside from their real names, members of the band are referred to by numbers zero to eight.[13]
With each new album, Slipknot has used new masks and coveralls.[99][100] The masks haven't changed dramatically with the release of their second and third albums, as the masks are more of an extension of what they previously were. Jordison addressed the issue in an interview in 2004, stating that the change in masks are to show growth and difference within age.[101] During the music video and live performances of their single "Vermilion" the band change their respective masks to death masks made from casts of their own faces.[102] Also in 2004, Gray claimed that the special effects company Screaming Mad George made their masks from their third album cycle,[103] and pictures of the band's masks from their second album cycle can be found on the SMG website.[104]
The masks have been subject of much criticism, generally thought of as a gimmick to try sell their product.[105] The band strongly objects to these claims, proclaiming that the masks are used to draw the attention away from themselves and put it on the music.[106] Several members have said how the masks are a visual representation of how the music makes them feel and how they put the members in an animal-like mentality.[101][45] The coveralls and numbers are an extension of the anti-image concept they created with the masks.[23] The integrity of the masks is also a topic of criticism as band members have appeared outside of Slipknot without the masks. The issue has been addressed by most band members. Percussionist Crahan specifically addressed the issue during an interview on The Sauce when discussing the release of their 2006 DVD Voliminal: Inside the Nine, proclaiming that the masks are always going to be part of the Slipknot show.[107]
Purgatory masks
Beginning on April 1, 2008, Slipknot's official website began to display splash teasers to promote All Hope Is Gone. During the process there had been around 18 splash teasers, the first nine displayed the band in their new large masks, however the last seemingly showed dark figures with what seemed like ordinary size heads. During the recording of the video shoot for "Psychosocial", the purgatory masks could be seen being burned in the background. In a interview with Jim Root, he said "they represent the ego of that is Slipknot".[108]
Controversy with masks
The band's image has started controversy over the years. A portion of the controversy comes from the band Mushroomhead, who, along with their fans, claim that Slipknot stole their image.[109] In 2005, another source of controversy was the band's lawsuit against Burger King, claiming that company created the advertising based band Coq Roq to capitalize on Slipknot's image.[110] The band's lawyer claimed that Burger King had contacted the band's label to get Slipknot to take part in an "advertising campaign designed to motivate young people to vote".[111] Burger King responded to the suit with a countersuit, and in that suit pointed out that many other bands, such as Mudvayne, Kiss, and Gwar have used masks as part of their image, although after private discussions the advertising campaign was dropped.
Slipknot are seen as pioneers of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal developing a lean and aggressive brand of metal formed from thrash, metalcore and death metal. In this they can be compared with groups such as Pantera, Machine Head, Biohazard, Life of Agony, and Prong and are known for often chaotic and energetic live shows.[92][93][94] The extreme performance style provided by their large line-up featuring a typical heavily down-tuned guitar set-up (lead, rhythm, and bass guitars), two percussionists in addition to the primary drummer, and electronics (samplers and turntables).[95] Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone compared the band's sound to "a threshing machine devouring a military drum corps".[50]
Their early work hosted a diverse range of vocal styles, ranging from rapping to occasional singing to growled vocals.[95] In more recent work, this vocal style remains present, but now includes more melodic singing.[49] The lyrics generally follow a very aggressive tone and feature themes such as darkness, nihilism, anger, disaffection, love, misanthropy and psychosis.[13][49] Rick Anderson of Allmusic regards the group's lyrics as "not generally quotable on a family website".[27] There has been controversy surrounding Slipknot's lyrics, including a case in which a pair of young killers blamed the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece" for their vicious crime[96] and a case in 2006 in which lyrics from the song "Surfacing" were found at the site of a grave robbing.The band is known for its attention-grabbing image: the members wear matching jumpsuit uniforms, and each one has a unique mask.[13] In the past, their jumpsuits have featured large UPC barcodes printed on the back and sleeves, which are identical and render the same barcode number to the barcode on their first demo, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.[23] Aside from their real names, members of the band are referred to by numbers zero to eight.[13]
With each new album, Slipknot has used new masks and coveralls.[99][100] The masks haven't changed dramatically with the release of their second and third albums, as the masks are more of an extension of what they previously were. Jordison addressed the issue in an interview in 2004, stating that the change in masks are to show growth and difference within age.[101] During the music video and live performances of their single "Vermilion" the band change their respective masks to death masks made from casts of their own faces.[102] Also in 2004, Gray claimed that the special effects company Screaming Mad George made their masks from their third album cycle,[103] and pictures of the band's masks from their second album cycle can be found on the SMG website.[104]
The masks have been subject of much criticism, generally thought of as a gimmick to try sell their product.[105] The band strongly objects to these claims, proclaiming that the masks are used to draw the attention away from themselves and put it on the music.[106] Several members have said how the masks are a visual representation of how the music makes them feel and how they put the members in an animal-like mentality.[101][45] The coveralls and numbers are an extension of the anti-image concept they created with the masks.[23] The integrity of the masks is also a topic of criticism as band members have appeared outside of Slipknot without the masks. The issue has been addressed by most band members. Percussionist Crahan specifically addressed the issue during an interview on The Sauce when discussing the release of their 2006 DVD Voliminal: Inside the Nine, proclaiming that the masks are always going to be part of the Slipknot show.[107]
Purgatory masks
Beginning on April 1, 2008, Slipknot's official website began to display splash teasers to promote All Hope Is Gone. During the process there had been around 18 splash teasers, the first nine displayed the band in their new large masks, however the last seemingly showed dark figures with what seemed like ordinary size heads. During the recording of the video shoot for "Psychosocial", the purgatory masks could be seen being burned in the background. In a interview with Jim Root, he said "they represent the ego of that is Slipknot".[108]
Controversy with masks
The band's image has started controversy over the years. A portion of the controversy comes from the band Mushroomhead, who, along with their fans, claim that Slipknot stole their image.[109] In 2005, another source of controversy was the band's lawsuit against Burger King, claiming that company created the advertising based band Coq Roq to capitalize on Slipknot's image.[110] The band's lawyer claimed that Burger King had contacted the band's label to get Slipknot to take part in an "advertising campaign designed to motivate young people to vote".[111] Burger King responded to the suit with a countersuit, and in that suit pointed out that many other bands, such as Mudvayne, Kiss, and Gwar have used masks as part of their image, although after private discussions the advertising campaign was dropped.
