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Album reviews are always fun, and Also really easy to make. Honestly at some point this blog may just become music reviews.
intro
Slipknot and I have an interesting history. When I first got in to metal I didn’t like them, however After a few years I started to change. I saw them live in 2012 and I have been a fan ever since.
In 2019 they released album number 6 in titled we are not your kind, but honestly that album didn’t impress me. It was a few good songs, but mostly just a bunch of shit.
Now they are back in 2022 with number seven, and we are going to dive in.
Info
- Album: The End, So Far
- Band: Slipknot.
- Released: September 30th 2022.
- Spotify
background
If you don’t know, Slipknot is a 9 piece metal band from the USA who has released 6 albums over 20 years and headlined some of the biggest metal festivals in the world. They are back with album number 7.
They probably wouldn’t be in my top 10 favorite bands, but I have enjoyed them over the last 10 years.
So lets go with my first listen of the album and a review.
the album
01: Adderall.
I don’t know what the fuck this is. This doesn’t sound like Slipknot. This sounds like the kind of thing you would here from a crappy Prog rock group on a Sunday after noon at your local hipster bar.
Slow, repetitive and sounding like half the members of the band forgot to show up on recording day. This song is possibly the worst way I have heard a band open an album in a long time!
Even as I sit here and this song continues to play as I wait for track 2 to start, I confess I have misgivings about this album.
02: The Dying Song (Time To Sing).
This song was actually released as a single before the album came out. and I admit I didn’t really care that much about it. It has some old school slipknot vibes, heavy and plenty of aggression, but the product just doesn’t hit as hard as the songs from the early albums.
I will admit that(in the moment) after the joke of the first song I am feeling this song a lot more. So fair play slipknot. Make your average songs sound better by putting absolute trash before them.
In all honesty this song does hit pretty hard, and I think live it would be really good.
03: The Chapeltown Rag.
Another song previously released as a single. 1 of the things I found disappointing about this and the last song is the tone on Slipknots guitars feels more muddy compared to their earlier material.
However I have to say. Since they put these new heavy tracks back to back. I am feeling them a lot more than when I first heard them as a single.
Lyrically I think these songs lack some of the brilliance of the older albums. How ever they are certainly more like the early stuff then album 6 was.
04: Yen.
I am realizing quickly how many songs were put out as singles before this album came out as we reach the third in a row.
Prog rock slipknot have returned on this. At least on this song we have a creepy vibe and it sounds like everyone was actually in the studio. The choruses have a sort of weak slipknot sound. But the verse are just this boring whisper singing.
Over all this song isn’t terrible. It has its moments, but is also not that good. It is the kind of song that on the album I would probably skip, and live it would be a good time to run to the bathroom or grab a fresh drink.
05: Hive Mind.
So I love the verses for this song. They hit fucking hard, aggressive heavy and fast paced. Even the chorus which I think is a little boring I think works as a solid mid point and flows pretty nicely.
This song is probably the best on the album so far.
06: Warranty
“Isn’t this what you came here for!”
I mean lets be real this is actually what I came here for. Punchy and heavy fucking songs.
This album has certainly got a few songs going for it, and this is 1 of them. Musically this isn’t as good as Hive Mind, but this is a solid and angry song.
07: Medicine for the Dead.
Now this is what slipknot should be doing for soft songs. This song still has energy. it feels like a slipknot song with the power and the aggression, but still with chilled out verses and plenty of clean vocals. I wouldn’t say by any means this is the best song on the album, but compared to tracks 1 and 4 which both had a softer vibe this blows them out of the water!
08: Acidic.
Dam I thought 2 Prog rock songs were enough. But apparently we needed a third.
My biggest issue with this song is even as I am listening to this song it is quickly sliding in to the back of my brain. Sure a nice little guitar solo mid song was enough to pull me back a second, but this song just is not interesting.
I can’t even begin to try and explain what this song is meant to be. It is just noise surrounding drums and vocals.
09: Heirloom.
This song could just be called the stone sour vibe.
For those who don’t know. Lead singer Corey Tailor before he was in Slipknot had another band called stone sour. Stone sour continued up until a few years ago, but That band slipped in to the background. This song honestly sounds like it could have come straight from the stone sour discography.
It isn’t metal, it is just a rock song. Sure the guitars are tuned down like slipknot and you have the slipknot electronics and synth, But this is simply a stone sour track.
If this was on a stone sour record I would say it was all right, not the best but not too bad. As a slipknot song it is a pore offering and I wouldn’t say it is really worth listening to.
10: H377.
Corey rolls back the fucking clock on this song. His vocals on this song have serious first album vibes.
The wrap elements mixed with the heavy metals growls make this vocally one of my favorite performances so far. Musically it might not be the best but this is a good song and really has the early slipknot spirit.
11: De Sade.
Another softer song. I honestly don’t hate this one, it just isn’t super interesting.
This song suffers the same issue as a lot of others on this album so far. Even though the songs aren’t super bad for the most part. They just aren’t capturing my at tension. Maybe after a few listens some of them might grow on me more. But for a first listen they just lack something.
Alright as I am writing a guitar solo kicked in which I am here for, so there is that.
12: Finale.
This song feels like the right ending for this album. A song that starts soft and builds up as the song progresses. With some string and choir elements this song has an end of the album vibe.
Does it feel like a Slipknot song. kind of. But it caps off the album nicely. Alright nothing seriously fancy. Just an ending.
All together
So having now sat down and listened to this album from start to finish I would say over all this isn’t a terrible album, it isn’t amazing, It is very average.
Some of the songs like hive mind I honestly like. While a song like Yen I feel is just sort of average and I don’t care for.
I think this album is a far better album then Slipknots last. However I don’t see me putting it up in the top 3. Aggressively average is how I would describe this album.
Final Thoughts and rating
If you are an old school slipknot fan you will find songs you like on this album. If you prefer a soft style you can find something to like here as well. Also if you are a fan of boring or just bad music you can find some of that here as well.
This album is a band trying to appeal to too many people at once, and the end result is an album that could have been a lot better, but it also could have been worse.
6.5 out of 10.
Conclusion
Have you listened to this album. What did you think?
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