Having had the opportunity to listen to a sneak preview of the album back in April, I already had a taste of what was to come on this fourth offering from the Knot boys. I was delighted to hear a more thrashy old skool metal sound on the guitars. Will the finished product deliver? A lot of rumors are going around that this might be Slipknot´s swansong, if these rumors are true it will be a great shame. It seems with this album they`ve finally managed to play as a unit and produce a more complete, fuller sound. I`ve often questioned the need for the 2 percussionists and a DJ in the Slipknot machine. Barely present on the previous releases and on stage left with nothing to do but beat the shite out of one another, the 9 member band started to look like a gimmick.

But yours truly stands corrected. As soon as track 2 kicks in (once again the album opens with a tradional ‘intro’ type song) one hears a vastly improved cohesion in the percussion section and DJ Sid´s imput is much more audible than before. Is this a result of the band´s progression or a golden touch by Rick ‘God’ Rubin? A bit of both I think.

For me the most exciting aspect of the album is the welcome return of the beloved solo. It feels like finding something you thought you´d lost a long time ago.

Ever since the Korn induced solo-less era of nu metal, I felt the solo was unjustly left behind and branded as backward 80s-metal racket. Luckily #7 (Mick) remembered what the little black pedal hooked up to the amp was for and listening to the 200 mile-an-hour intro to the track “Opium Of The People” and the solo in "Pulse Of The Maggots", you`re left wondering why he didn`t do it from the get go?? Singer/roarer Corey has also taken a slightly different approach to the vocals this time out. Those of you familiar with his side project Stone Sour will recognise where the inspiration came from. Despite singing more melodically, it only seems to compliment and amplify the roaring section of the song, opposites attract so it seems. The biggest surprise is in the ballad type songs on the album. These tracks include acoustic melodies and even a string section! The erie chello sound is akin to the sound in Therapy?´s Diane and reveals a softer side of this extreme outfit.

To round it up, this is the most complete Slipknot album to date. When its heavy, its really fuckin heavy, when its melodic ,well, just wait til it gets really fucking heavy again! It makes for a very interesting listen, hats off to them, all 9 of them!