Slipknot is one of the most successful metal bands in history. A distinctive feature of the group is the presence of masks in which the musicians appear in public.
Stage images of the group are an invariable attribute of live performances, famous for their scope.
Early Slipknot period
Despite the fact that Slipknot gained popularity only in 1998, the band was created 6 years before that. At the origins of the team were: Sean Craien and Anders Colsefni, who lived in Iowa. It was they who came up with the idea of creating the Slipknot group.
A few months later, the group was replenished with bass player Paul Gray. Sean had known him since high school. Despite the fact that the line-up was completed, the personal problems of the participants did not allow them to start an active creative activity.
First demo
Paul, Sean and Anders revived the group only in 1995. Sean, who occupied a place behind the drum kit, retrained as a percussionist. Joey Jordison, who had experience in metal bands, was invited to replace the drummer. They were joined by guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh Brainard.
With this line-up, the band started working on their first demo album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. During the recording, the main distinguishing feature of the Slipknot group appeared - masks. The musicians began to hide their faces, creating characteristic stage images.
Shortly before the release, guitarist Mick Thomson joined the line-up and stayed with the band for many years. Album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. came out in 1996. The recording was released on Halloween with a circulation of 1 copies.
Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. very different from everything that Slipknot played in the future. The album turned out to be experimental and included elements of funk, disco and jazz. At the same time, some demos were the basis of several hits from the first full-length album.
The album was coldly received by critics, so that the musicians of the group Slipknot could think of a change.
The Beginning of the Corey Taylor Era
A year later, Mick and Sean attended a Stone Sour concert, noticing vocalist Corey Taylor there. The leaders of Slipknot were amazed at Corey's performance, immediately giving him the spot as the band's main vocalist. Anders was forced to retrain as a backing vocalist, which greatly affected his pride. Having quarreled with colleagues, Anders left the Slipknot group. Corey Taylor remained the sole main vocalist.
The band found themselves in a difficult position, as Corey's vocals were more melodic than Anders' gruff growls. So the musicians had to reconsider the genre affiliation. This was followed by large-scale rearrangements in the main line-up of the group.
First, Chris Fehn joined the team, who was the second percussionist and backing vocalist. The musician chose for himself a converted Pinocchio mask. Then Sid Wilson came in and took over as DJ. His mask was an ordinary gas mask.
With the updated line-up, Slipknot released a full-length album of the same name, thanks to which the musicians gained worldwide fame.
Peak of fame
Slipknot was released by major label Roadrunner Records on June 29, 1999. Despite the fact that there was no "promotion" for the album, it was sold out in a significant number of copies. This was facilitated not only by the material, but also by frightening masks that have become better.
The band spent the next two years on their first world tour, taking part in major international festivals. The success of Slipknot was overwhelming. In 2000, the musicians decided to return to the studio to record their second full-length album.
The album Iowa was released on August 28, 2001. The record immediately "burst" on the 3rd position in Billboard. Hits such as Left Behind and My Plague received Grammy nominations. The latter also became the soundtrack for the first part of the film "Resident Evil".
Despite world fame, the musicians took a short break to pursue solo projects. Corey Taylor returned to his band Stone Sour. Joey Jordison became an active member of the Murderdolls. There were rumors in the media about the internal conflicts of the Slipknot group.
But already in 2002, all rumors were dispelled, as the legendary Disasterpieces concert appeared on the shelves, filmed from 30 different cameras. The release included behind-the-scenes footage, a press conference, and inserts from rehearsals. To this day, this DVD concert is considered one of the best in the history of "heavy" music.
Over the course of a year, Slipknot remained silent, giving rise to new rumors about the breakup. And only in 2003 the musicians officially announced the start of work on the third full-length album. Record release Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses took place in May 2004, although it was ready for release in late 2003. The album was even more successful than Iowa, reaching number 2 on the charts. The band also won the Best Metal Performance category with the single Before I Forget.
Death of Paul Gray
In 2005, the group took another break, which lasted two years. And in 2007, Slipknot officially announced the start of work on the album All Hope Is Gone (2008). Despite the 1st position on the Billboard 200, the album was much inferior to previous collections. This was noted by many fans of the team.
In 2010, one of the founders of the group, Paul Gray, died. His body was found on May 24 in a hotel room. The cause of death was a drug overdose. Despite this, the musicians did not stop the creative activity of the Slipknot group. The guitarist of the first line-up of the band, Donnie Steele, returned to the place of the deceased, for some time he took the position of bass guitarist.
Slipknot now
The group Slipknot continues active creative activity. In 2014, the fifth album .5: The Gray Chapter was released. He became the first without the participation of Paul Gray.
In recent years, the composition of the group has undergone several changes at once. In particular, the famous drummer Joe Jordison left the group, who was replaced by Jay Weinberg.
Alessandro Venturella became a permanent bass player. In 2019, another member of the "golden" lineup, Chris Feng, left the group. The reason was financial disagreements in the group, which turned into lawsuits.
Despite the problems, Slipknot recorded the album We Are Not Your Kind. Its release was scheduled for August 2019.
