Slipknot is one of the most influential metal bands to emerge from the late 90s with a unique sound and style that sets them apart from anyone else. These nine (yes, that’s right – NINE) masked members created a sound that is the perfect sonic representation of aggression, frustration, and overall agony human beings can feel, which helped tremendously in connecting with a larger audience.

Slipknot’s debut self-titled album was released in 1999 and became an instant classic with songs like “Eyeless”, “Surfacing”, “Spit It Out”, and the biggest single from the record – “Wait and Bleed”. The introduction of this record (an eerie recording of noise and a repetitive phrase followed by the brutality of the song “(sic)”) truly sets the pace for not only the album, but also Slipknot’s career. They gained immense support for this album after being featured on the Ozzfest tour – a music festival organized by the great Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharron. This tour exposed the band to a massive audience across the country and is one of the main contributors to Slipknot first gaining a wider fan base.

Their sophomore album entitled “Iowa” is often regarded as the best Slipknot album. The aggression from the debut record remained, but there’s a new sense of musicality to “Iowa” that helped enhance many of the songs. Singles like “Disasterpiece”, “Left Behind”, “My Plague” (featured in the credits for the film adaptation of Resident Evil), and “The Heretic Anthem” are still performed live to this day. This is actually Mike Bufis’ (of Metal with the Mikes) favorite Slipknot album.

While still a brutal album, Slipknot’s third installment (“Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses”) gets mixed reviews among fans. Many adore the album, while others weren’t keen on some of the softer material like “Vermilion”, “Vermilion Part 2”, and “Circle”. However, this album features two of Slipknot’s biggest hits to date that are live show staples – “Before I Forget” and “Duality”. These are two legendary songs that have transcended fandoms. It’s not unheard of for someone to not be a fan of Slipknot, but love either (if not both) of those songs.

The fourth record, “All Hope Is Gone”, would be the last record with the primary line-up. Founding member and bassist Paul Grey passed away in May 2010 and founding member and drummer Joey Jordison would cease his inclusion in the band in 2013. However, this album is a fantastic product to conclude this chapter of the band with. It included monumental songs like “Psychosocial”, “Dead Memories”, and “Snuff”. The closing title track is one of the best album-ending songs that Slipknot has recorded.

Slipknot bounced back with Alessandro Venturella (aka V Man) on bass and Jay Weinberg (son of Max Weinberg) on drums. Slipknot then created the album “.5 The Grey Chapter” (in honor of the late Paul Grey). This was an emotional period for the band, but they made some fantastic songs including “The Devil In I”, “Killpop”, “Custer”, and “Skeptic”.

In 2019, long time percussionist, Chris Fehn, would be removed from the band and was replaced by Michael Pfaff (aka Tortilla Man). This version of the band released two studio albums – “We Are Not Your Kind”, and “The End So Far”. Both of which included multiple singles and are stellar inclusions to the Slipknot discography. It was during this time that Slipknot also created their own music festival called “Knotfest”. The festival started out just in Iowa but quickly developed into a tour that also extended to other countries.

In fairly recent news, Jay Weinberg was let go from the band while long time sampler Craig Jones departed on his own accord. Both members were replaced as Slipknot celebrates the 25^th anniversary of their landmark debut album. The identity of the new drummer has been confirmed as Eloy Casagrande, formerly of Sepultura, but fans have strong speculations as to who the unannounced sampler is. New music may be on the horizon with this new line-up.