Three years ago, Slipknot got up off their knees and started running again. ‘We Are Not Your Kind’, their first album in half a decade, was met with open arms thanks to its intriguing experimental touches and a renewed sense of thrill about their clattering percussion and growling riffs.
Now, their seventh album arrives and offers another change in approach. Rather than spin off even further into esoteric waters ‘The End, So Far’ delivers things that we already know Slipknot are capable of doing. It just happens to do them very well.
‘The End, So Far’ is heavy not by means of brutal riffage but through its development of an atmosphere, and it’s an approach that works wonderfully on the churning, tempestuous Acidic and the addictive, sultry Yen.
When it does come time to put the hammer down, Slipknot aim for the jugular with the remorseless, rhythmic thrash of Hivemind before Warranty arrives to carry its torch with a touch more grit.
Even though it’s a more strait-laced record than ‘We Are Not Your Kind’, ‘The End, So Far’ isn’t without its left field moments. The creeping piano-led opener Adderall is quite the head-scratcher—imagine Slipknot writing a song for Robbie Williams and you’re not far off—but its quietly sinister flourishes, from the soft backing of a choir to the low thrum of bass, allow them to carry it off. It’s an odd moment of genius.
Less successful, by contrast, is the record’s other bookend, Finale, which uncharacteristically for this band is a mild-mannered ballad without enough emotional punch to truly work. It is a rare misstep on an otherwise steadfast, reliable record. While, Adderall aside, it’s not exactly radical, neither does ‘The End, So Far’ feel like Slipknot-by-numbers—it has enough of its own identity to stand apart from the records that preceded it. If Slipknot do prove anything here, it’s that they’re one of metal’s most dependable names.
Slipknot Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sat October 01 2022 - ALBUQUERQUE New Mexico - Isleta Amphitheater (USA)
Sun October 02 2022 - PHOENIX Arizona - Ak Chin Pavilion (USA)
Tue October 04 2022 - SALT LAKE CITY Utah - USANA Amphitheatre (USA)
Thu October 06 2022 - SACRAMENTO California - Discovery Park (USA)
Fri October 07 2022 - IRVINE California - FivePoint Amphitheater (USA)
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