Taking its name from the band’s home state, “Iowa” came as the second album from the Alternative Metal band SlipKnot in 2001. The band, who had a largely unchanged line-up this time when compared to what was seen with their 1999 debut, come with more hardcore Nu-Metal, and do so during the peak years of the sub-genres duration in the Alternative Metal game.
1. “(515)” (Intro)
2. “People = S**t”
After a rather dark, scream-filled introduction, we have the band powering through with a raw display that is bound to excite their fans as they come out with a burst of Rap metal that is seen to be a bit of a development from where they began things with their debut as they take on additional influences in order to help to put their message across in a manner that seems to fit in with the rage that they come out with in their music.
**Five Stars**
3. “Disasterpiece”
The pace is lifted, along with the intensity, and I felt that it was nice to give a relevant atmosphere to the kind of thing that you are about to get with the track that is put together following it as they come through with another track that is filed with their cold and violent approach to making their music and doing all they possibly can to show just how far they will take this kind of ruthless material.
**Five Stars**
4. “My Plague”
Released as the album’s third single, this is a track with a very simple
message as we have them throwing down a joint that hits back against hypocrites and people who generally act fake. As with other singles seen from the band up to this point, we get something from them that you can’t say attempts to fit in with conventions at all, but is slightly altered in order to give it a little more mainstream appeal than typical ones.
**Five Stars**
5. “Everything Ends”
Here we get a track from them that has them showing once again how they are willing to push a lot of the typical things that you find in Metal tracks to twist it towards what they see as fitting as they come out with an unpredictable composition that pulls you in from its opening and simply doesn’t give you any sort of opportunity to take itself out, even for a moment as they blast against the listener from start to finish.
**Five Stars**
6. “The Heretic Anthem”
With this one we have an outburst directed towards the record labels that initially showed them nothing but disrespect from the beginning. It came out as a promotional single from the album and so was the first along the way to the dropping of this record. It has the first clear example of Rap Metal being incorporated into their work and you really can’t help but take yourself in once it has got underway.
**Five Stars**
7. “Gently”
They change the format with this one as they gradually build this one up, rather than throwing it all down from the get-go and so it gives you some time to take a break after being relentlessly pummelled with nothing but intense Metal material from the beginning, and so I felt that it showed that they were doing well to structure the album in a manner that will make it all able to be felt for all they offer. As an individual track, it does little, but on the album serves an in important purpose.
**Four Stars**
8. “Left Behind”
Comign directly off the back of “The Heretic Anthem”, this was officially the lead single to the album and one that clearly shows a different side of them to what the typical album singles bring forward whereby we get much more of the conventional singing coming through to counteract the darkness of some key parts of the album. The tune isn’t as satisfying as the rest leading up to it, but can’t be considered to be a weakness in it.
**Four Stars**
9. “The Shape”
They get back to their usual form with this one as they make the turn right back towards the type of material that doesn’t appear to take any consideration for those who will only be interested in the kind of music that has a mainstream-directed end to it. The track is rough and built together in a way that manages to ignore the slight dip that came with the two tracks that came right before it along the way.
**Five Stars**
10. “I Am Hated”
If you were into the Nu-Metal movement in operation during this period, then you are bound to fall for what you get from this track as we are made to experience a track that plays up to all the sorts of things that made it such an exciting time in the Metal world. You get the inclusion of some licks in the form of DJ scratches along the way to support the Hip hop elements that come in Corey Taylor’s rap-like delivery of the lyrics.
**Five Stars**
11. “Skin Ticket”
This is another track that I can’t imagine that you’d be able to resist if you found appeal in the kind of thing that Limp Bizkit, KoRn and Disturbed did around this time as although you wouldn’t be able to say that you get this band taking on any direct influence from what they do, they original takes have clearly got indirect injections of the kinds of things that these well-known acts brought to the game.
**Five Stars**
12. “New Abortion”
This one sits as one of the most hardcore tracks on the record as you find that here we get a track that has the whole of the band coming through to punctuate every single twist and turn in the music. It is dominated by the raw percussion and the vocals that go over this seem to simply intensify all this to make for something that shows you that they haven’t shown any signs of losing what made their debut so strong.
**Five Stars**
13. “Metabolic”
You get some subtle Hip Hop sampling coming through underneath yet more of the raging Metal stuff that hasn’t seen any real suppression for any significant length of time during the record. I felt that although some may consider this to be rather off-putting, or possibly unoriginal, does the opposite as they show just how many different directions they are able to take it all whilst sticking to what they enjoy performing most.
**Five Stars**
14. “Iowa”
On this, the final track, we get a lengthy outro that has them taking the time to come out with a tune that will leave listeners satisfied as they bring through one that brings in the ominous sounds of the intro, and manages to make them fit in here as they make a proper, musical track around it, and one that seems relevant when you consider just how dark a lot of the music through the record has been and what it has offered.
**Five Stars**
Aside from a very brief dip in intensity, this is a hardcore album from SlipKnot, and one that if you enjoyed their debut, you really need to have as they keep things pretty much the same this time around, but still manage to find room to show development from a record that didn’t seem to have any faults.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
As if answering the challenge of those who dismiss them as a cartoonish joke, Slipknot ... more
claim that Iowa is a statement of intent, a real heavy-metal album. As percussionist Shawn Crahan puts it: "We're able to cut into the wound, crawl inside, stitch it...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
As if answering the challenge of those who dismiss them as a cartoonish joke, Slipknot ... more
claim thatIowais a statement of intent, a real heavy-metal album. As percussionist Shawn Crahan puts it: "We're able to cut into the wound, crawl inside, stitch it u...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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Oct 29th, 2009
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