Beauty in Pain
(WARNING) - The review for this album may include language or themes some may find distressing or disturbing.
Artist: Slipknot
Album: .5: The Gray Chapter
Year: 2014
Band Lineup for Album: Sid Wilson - DJ/Samples, Jay Weinberg - Drums, Alessandro Venturella - Bass, Chris Fehn - Percussion, Jim Root - Guitar, Craig Jones - Samples, Shawn Crahan - Percussion, Mick Thomson - Guitar, Corey Taylor - Vocals
After the death of bassist Paul Gray and drummer Joey Jordison leaving the band, there was doubt as to how the band would continue. After taking some time to recover, and hire new members, the band returned six years after the last album with this, their album memorial to Paul Gray.
With the passing of Gray and Jordison leaving, the band eventually brought on their replacements. To take the mammoth task of replacing Jordison, the band hired Jay Weinberg, son of Max Weinberg who was the drummer for Bruce Springsteen and Conan O'Brien. To fill the hole left by Gray, the band hired Alessandro Venturella, affectionately known as V-Man.
As I mentioned previously, this album mostly contains songs as tributes and memorials to Paul Gray, and a lot of the themes and lyrics revolve around that fact. What came out of this is Slipknot's most emotional album to date and a loving tribute to their departed friend. But let's dive into the tracks song by song.
First up on the album is the intro, XIX. It was written as a eulogy for Paul Gray, and features a raw, one-take performance from an incredible Corey with haunting instrumentation by Clown. It's incredibly emotional and dark, but still manages to bring a tear to the eye. It's one of their best intros ever. Following this intro is, weirdly, an unremarkable opening track in Sarcastrophe. It's not really the band's best work, and upon relistening to the album my hopes were dashed a little here. But, getting better, the song is followed by AOV (standing for Approaching Original Violence). It's a fun song with varying structures, and in its lyrics feels reflective. However, it doesn't quite feel as memorable as the band's other work, but does stand out among their filler material. This brings us to the first single of the album, The Devil In I. This is another one of the band's best songs. It's a perfect recommendation for people new to the band, and is actually pretty radio-friendly. Lyrically, it's about defeating the negative parts of yourself or the sordid elements of your past, becoming one with them, then destroying them. Corey absolutely kills it here, and the band delivers tenderness and brutality in one package, it's incredible.
Next is Killpop, a fun and engaging type or experimental Slipknot song that really works. Corey's anger with the music industry is again on display, hating dealing with the business and just wanting to make music. It's a great song, and well worth a listen by itself. Following that is Skeptic, a direct tribute song to Paul. It's emotional, stirring, and strong. While the composition can't quite match the high level of the lyrics, it does provide enough underneath to make the song stand out. It's one that I hadn't heard before listening to the album, and I'm glad I did. Lech is next, and is a heavy, percussive, and surprisingly effective song at conveying guilt. When it comes to guilt, the song doesn't shy away from showing how we feel like terrible people when someone else passes away. Sid's DJ parts shine here, new drummer Jay kills it, and Jim and Mick's guitars are on point. Another really enjoyable song? Hopes are back up! After Lech is Goodbye, another superbly written song, this time about the day the band found out about Paul's death. It's more of a rock ballad than your typical Slipknot song, but it really works here. Corey yet again is fantastic here, and Jim's guitar work is awesome.
Nomadic is the next song on the album, and after a string of good songs, we were bound to get a filler that didn't work. While it does have good components, I don't really feel like it adds up to a memorable song. Also the chorus isn't very good. After that is The One That Kills the Least. While lyrically it's interesting, referring to the moments of melancholy that we have when reflecting on the mistakes in our past, and has Slipknot-y moments to it, this is my least favorite Slipknot song. Ever. It really doesn't work for me at all, not even at the level of their filler songs. Following that is Custer, a battle cry for the group. Like the figure from history, they're charging head-first into their last stand, wanting to rewrite their history, and not be willing to sacrifice anything. It's a favorite of live performances, and is a fun track that brings the same level of heavy as Iowa, the level of fun from Vol. 3, and the violence of the self titled album. Next, Be Prepared for Hell could easily be mistaken as an intro but it's actually a shorter track with vocals from Clown. It's hiding a negativity under the surface, played beautifully by Clown, Sid, and Craig. It's fine, but I wasn't really expecting anything from a song this short. It's fitting given the next song on the album.
Next up is The Negative One, the first song released off the album. And for a single it's good, not great. It starts creepy enough, with some great Slipknot riffs, and has a really cool theme of embracing the negative, darker side within us. Again, it's good not great, and definitely the least exciting of any of the Slipknot singles. The closing song for the album is If Rain is What You Want, which has to be one of the weakest closing songs the band has put out. It's unique and a different sound, and I applaud them for going for more of an ambient style track, but it just never feels quite as good as they think it is. There were two bonus songs included in the album cycle, but I'll be quick as my critique is the same for each. Override and The Burden are both typical Slipknot bonus songs. They're fun, yet unremarkable, the typical idea for every bonus song they've put out.
When I was looking back at my scores, I was surprised to see that I had given high scores to a majority of the songs on this album. Originally, I didn't like this album, but now that I've experienced a personal loss on the level that Slipknot did in losing Paul, I feel like I have a renewed appreciation for it. It's a personal, emotional album, more so than any album to date. It's a beautiful piece of work hidden under all that pain. Because of that, it's a hearty recommendation.
Best Songs: The Devil in I, Killpop, Skeptic, Goodbye, Custer
OVERALL SCORE: 85/100
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