Ok, My attempt at irony in the title aside, I have to confess I enjoyed this album. Before I go into a description of the album, I suppose I’d better introduce the band. Slipknot are currently the biggest Metal Band on the planet. Their self-titled second album was released in 1999 and has sold millions of copies. The band appear live in matching boiler suits, their faces covered by fright masks, and musically, they play an intense, angst-ridden variation of the popular Nu-Metal Sound.

“[515]” is first up; there’s not much to say here, it’s a minute of screaming set to a dull electronic throb. It goes on for just long enough that, as you reach for the skip button on your CD player, the next track begins. Track 2, “People = Sh*t” is where the album proper begins. Opening with more anguished screaming and blast-beats that belong more on a Cradle Of Filth record, Vocalist Corey Taylor’s first utterance sums up the track perfectly: “Here we go again, motherf***er!” Brutal and focussed, you really couldn’t ask for a better opening salvo.

“Everything Ends” seems to be a diatribe about an ex-partner, with a hook line I’m sure all the kids will be copying: “You’re Wrong, F***ed and Overrated, I think I’m gonna be sick and it’s all your fault.” We’ve all been there, right? This actually highlights my biggest problem, with this album, and a lot of the “Nu Metal” Genre. Musically amazing though the band are; lyrically there is too much reliance on angst-rock clichés and pseudo-deep pop psychology. It tends to spoil re-listenings when you’re trying to stop from laughing at the misunderstood alpha male.

With “Left Behind” however, we’re back on more familiar territory. A catch, mid-paced tune with a strong chorus, it’s going to be the first single from this album and it may see the band bothering the charts some more. “The Shape” borrows from the grunge “quiet verse, loud chorus” template, before breaking down in an entirely predictable fashion, then going back into the chorus. It’s good, just nothing surprising or interesting.

“New Abortion” is next, a mid-paced, unremarkable rant, about how the “kids” are being exploited. The musicians try to make things interesting, but they just aren’t given the room required. “Metabolic” follows. It’s faster paced, in the vein of “People=…” and “Heretic…”, but sadly not as interesting as either of these tracks.

To recap, Slipknot have released an album with contains some accessible tunes, as well as some of the most extreme music you’re likely to hear on a mainstream metal album. Whilst it’s not the all-out blitzkrieg it was hyped as, it’s still, musically a really good album. If the lyrics are annoying, then I suppose that, in their way, they’re no sillier than some of the subject matter in more traditional forms of metal.