So these 9 masked weirdos from Iowa decided to make some noise back in ’99, and man did they deliver. Slipknot, the self-titled debut, is basically what happens when you take a bunch of angry dudes from Des Moines and give them instruments and some serious aggression issues. Founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan, drummer Joey Jordison, and bassist Paul Gray in 1995, these guys spent a few years figuring out their sound before dropping this beast on the world.
The album’s basically a punch to the face from start to finish. You got tracks like “(sic)” kicking things off with that signature Slipknot chaos, then “Eyeless” comes in swinging with some seriously heavy riffs. But the real standout has gotta be “Wait and Bleed”, this track showed these guys could write actual songs and not just noise, becoming their first proper radio hit. Then there’s “Spit It Out” which throws some rap-style vocals into the mix, and honestly it works way better than it should. The whole thing’s a mixture of thrash metal, heavy metal, and industrial with some nu-metal thrown in for good measure.
What makes this album special is how raw and chaotic it feels. This isn’t polished metal, it’s nine guys just going absolutely mental in the studio, and you can hear every ounce of that Iowa frustration bleeding through. The production’s heavy as hell, Corey Taylor’s vocals are unhinged, and the whole thing has this punk energy that they never quite captured again. Sure, some tracks like “Diluted” get a bit lost in the mix, and the lyrics aren’t always their strongest, but when this album hits, it hits hard.
If you’ve never checked out Slipknot or you’re curious about where all the masked mayhem started, this is your entry point. It’s the sound of a band that had something to prove and absolutely nailed it on their first try.