We Are Not Your Kind

Work on Slipknot’s sixth studio album began in February 2017, when the band’s guitarist Jim Ruth and percussionist Sean “Clown” Crayen began writing new material together. Turning to Rolling Stone in November 2016, Crane simply stated that “we want to write,” but the recording schedule has not yet been confirmed ^[8] . Later, he dwelled on this plan in detail, saying that the members of the group wanted to work slowly on new songs, and not produce them on time, as they did before ^[9] . Plans for the direction of the album were revealed by the percussionist back in the summer of 2015, when he announced that he wanted to write an “artistic record” in the style of The Wall from Pink Floyd or Sgt. The Beatles' Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , probably in the form of a double album with a common concept and numerous interludes ^[10] . Several ideas about the songs also came from the raw demos recorded during the previous tour, and Crayen added that the group had “hundreds of ideas ^[11] ”.

By August 2017, Crane estimated that the writing process had already produced “about 27 works”. In an interview with NME, he added that “many of us gather in September to begin work on these 27 pieces of music, and we are going to add something else to this,” confirming our desire to make a double album ^[12] . In October, in an interview with Metal Hammer, Crayen said he worked with Routh and drummer Jay Weinberg on organizing material written during a previous concert cycle, which, combined with new material, led to ideas for “seven or eight” complete songs ^[13] . Most of the initial writing process took place without the participation of the frontman of the group, Corey Taylor , who in 2017 promoted Hydrograd , released by his other group Stone Sour ^[14] . The vocalist began writing lyrics for three new songs in early 2018, which, he claimed, would be based on events in his life over the past few years ^[15] . By April, Taylor claimed that he had completed writing lyrics for “almost all” the band’s new music ^[16] .

After almost two years of composing, Sean Crayen stated that the recording of Slipknot’s sixth album would begin in November 2018. ^[17] The entire band later joined the percussionist in January 2019 ^[18] . The producer was again Greg Fidelman, who was a sound engineer (and also involved in mixing) on ​​the album Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) , produced .5: The Gray Chapter and the 2018 single “ All Out Life ”. Speaking about working with the producer, vocalist Corey Taylor thanked Fidelman for his contribution to their previous releases and noted that “he understands us, he challenges us ... we have a great relationship with him ^[19] ”. Initially, it was suggested in the media that Ross Robinson, who worked with the group on Slipknot in 1999 and Iowa in 2001, would produce the album, but this rumor was quickly refuted by guitarist Jim Routh ^[20] . Recording We Are Not Your Kind was completed by April 2019, when turn-table player and DJ Sid Wilson announced that he was “recording the last” of his parts on the album ^[21] .

Telling HMV about the process of writing the album, Jim Routh recalled that the group spent a lot of time on the initial arrangement of new material and explained: “We spent all the time on demos. We created them and allowed them to develop ^[22] . " This allowed the group to step back from the records and return to them later, which led to what the guitarist described as an “organic” result ^[23] . However, he added that the final recording process was “a big problem”, adding that “we would like to have this time to really record the album ^[22] .” Ruth also made a distinction between the approaches on We Are Not Your Kind and on his predecessor, .5: The Gray Chapter ; he recalled that regarding the 2014 release, “The songs came straight out of my garage and they don’t have the energy of a live recording, as opposed to recording a new album, explaining that“ we played the songs as a band and recorded them with a sync track and without her. Those without a sync track are those that we used in the recording ^[24] . ”

Due to the amount of time spent writing and recording demos for the album, there were many tracks from We Are Not Your Kind sessions that were never released. According to Craien, the group recorded a total of 22 songs and 26 interludes for the album, many of which were delayed in favor of stronger tracks ^[25] . Before the release of the album, the percussionist told Kerrang! that the album did not include another 15 unfinished songs, of which at least seven or eight songs with vocals ^[26] . In the Spotify podcast, “Metal Says,” Crayen explained that by choosing which songs to include on the album, he tried to “present himself as a fan in the world we live in today ^[27] .” He further said that it was precisely this way of thinking that ultimately led to the exclusion of “All Out Life” from the album, stating that he believed that fans would prefer to hear a new song instead of the one already available on digital sites ^[27] .

Jim Routh said that "while the industry is moving towards singles, Slipknot wanted to create an album, from beginning to end ^[4] ."

We Are Not Your Kind has been recognized by critics and band members as one of the band's most experimental albums. The album contains instrumental and electronic elements ^{[1] [28]} . In an interview with Daniel P. Carter on the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show, Corey Taylor said that "this is perhaps our broadest pushing of the boundaries of creativity and experimentation ^[29] ." Emily Carter from Kerrang! described the album as “the most experimental Slipknot album to date ^[30] ”, NME writer Jordan Bassett called it “Slipknot in its most creative form” ^[31] , and Royzin O'Connor of The Independent stated that “ We Are pure ambition “Not Your Kind is as overwhelming as their founding record, Iowa ^[32] .” Several critics noted that “Spiders” is one of the most avant-garde songs on the album, in which “eerie piano sounds” and “unorganized drum beats” are preferable to more common low-level guitar riffs ^{[33] [34] [35]} .

Gigwise reviewer Anna Smith suggested that We Are Not Your Kind contains "one of the heaviest material since the debut of the band [s], Slipknot ^[36] ." Reviewing the album for the Blabbermouth.net website, Jay H. Gorania praised the band’s attempts to be heavy on We Are Not Your Kind - describing their first two albums, Gorania suggested that “Slipknot seemed to be trying to become the heaviest band on the market and tried too hard "before concluding that" when they are currently overloaded ^{[ clarify ]} , however, it feels more authentic and expressive ^[37] . "

According to Corey Taylor, We Are Not Your Kind contains some of his most personal texts to date. In the process of writing, the frontman of the group explained that “for me personally it was a difficult couple of years. [...] I was able to seize on some depression that I was struggling with, and kind of formulate how I want to describe it ^[38] . " At the beginning of the recording process, he argued that “This is perhaps the most autobiographical thing in many years”, describing the lyrical content as “dark ... really dark ^[15] ”. One of the main factors that influenced Taylor's lyrics was his breakup with his then-wife Stephanie Luby in 2016; in an interview with Loudwire, he explained that “the [album's] narrative really came from the fact that I was wading through the effects of a truly toxic relationship. And the consequences that led to the final knock out of these relations ^[39] . " Another important influence on the lyrical content of the album is global “disunity” ^[40] , which, according to Taylor, is heated by US President Donald Trump because of “fanaticism” and “racism” ^[41] .

The first new song released during the recording of We Are Not Your Kind was the single “All Out Life” on October 31, 2018 ^[42] . It was produced by Greg Fidelman, who later also worked on the album ^[19] . The music video for the song, shot by Sean "Clown" Crane ^[43] , broke the group’s record for the number of views in one day on YouTube, gaining more than 3.4 million views ^[44] . Initially, the track was supposed to appear on the album We Are Not Your Kind (whose name is taken from the lyrics), however, when the track list was disclosed, it was not included; vocalist Corey Taylor later explained that “it was a kind of thing in itself, something that made people realize that we had not gone anywhere ^[45] .” In February 2019, the band launched a teaser site at wearenotyourkind.com ^[46] , with an album release date confirmed several days later ^[47] . Two months later, the band released the album's track listing and officially confirmed that it would be called We Are Not Your Kind ^[48] .

Less than two weeks after the release date of the album was announced, it became known that the percussionist Chris Fen sued the rest of the group (with Taylor and Crayen, identified as separate defendants), claiming that he does not receive fees for merchandising and touring ^{[ 49]} . A few days later he was fired from the group, and the official press release said that “Chris knows why he is no longer part of Slipknot. We are disappointed that he decided to point his finger and make claims, and not do what was necessary to continue to be part of Slipknot. ^[50] . ” Fen’s position was still occupied by an unknown replacement, which fans called the “Tortilla Man” because of the design of his mask ^[51] . Jim Routh later claimed that Fen's departure had a small impact on album production ^[22] .

May 16, 2019, on the day of the official announcement of the album, Slipknot released " Unsainted " as the first single from We Are Not Your Kind along with a music video in which new masks of each member were shown ^[52] . This video broke the record set by “All Out Life” as the group’s most popular video in its first 24 hours on YouTube, gaining over 4.7 million views ^[53] . The single peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, the group’s highest position since The Devil in I in 2014 ^[54] , and at number 68 on the UK singles chart, the group’s highest position after Psychosocial in 2008 ^[55] . “Unsainted” and “All Out Life” were performed the next day at a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! . This was their first performance since November 2016 ^[56] . The second single, “Solway Firth”, was released on July 22, 2019 along with a video clip ^[57] , reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart ^[58] . The clip contained the band’s concert performances and video and audio from the Amazon Video superhero series “ Boys ^[59] ”. It was followed by "Birth of the Cruel", the last single before release ^[60] .

After their performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Slipknot performed at a number of European festivals in the summer of 2019 ^[61] . This series of concerts included the band performing as a headliner at the British Download Festival in June ^[62] , which was later included in the music video Solway Firth ^[63] . This was followed by the first Knotfest Roadshow tour of North America from July to September ^[64] , and later this year a series of shows in Australia and New Zealand in support of Metallica, who performed with the WorldWired Tour ^[65] . A tour of the UK and Europe will follow in 2020 ^[66] . We Are Not Your Kind was released worldwide on August 9, 2019 via Roadrunner Records . “All Out Life” was included as a bonus track in the Japanese version of the release ^[67] .

The album received widespread critical acclaim with an average rating of 89/100 on the Metacritic aggregator site based on 14 reviews ^[69] . Forbes reviewer Quentin Singer stated that the album is "metal Magnum opus ^[82] ." NME described the album as "the primeval cry of endlessly inventive extreme metal and burning misanthropy ^[31] ." Kerrang! they also reacted positively to the album, giving the maximum mark and writing: “The best continuation by the Iowa group goes beyond the intense, innovative sixth album We Are Not Your Kind ”, as well as: “20 years after their debut, Slipknot are just as bold, fearless and exciting, as always ^[74] . " Royzin O'Connor of The Independent rejoiced that "The pure ambition of We Are Not Your Kind is as overwhelming as their underlying record of Iowa [and] in dynamics, maybe even better ^[73] ." Similarly, the author of Consequence of Sound ^[71] Michael Pementel hailed the album as a strong development of the band's style, calling it "one of the most powerful albums of their career." Joe Smith-Engelhardt of Exclaim! described the album as "a return to form" after their last two albums, which he called "a little cliched ^[83] ." Jay H. Gorania of Blabbermouth.net called the album “a shining gem in the crown of Slipknot ^[37] ”. The Skinny praised the album, noting: "Under the distortion, there is a lot more skill than it seems ^[77] ."

Many critics hailed the lead single "Unsainted" as one of the highlights of the album. NME's Bassett called the song “one of the best things Slipknot has ever done ^[31], ” while Rolling Stone's Corey Groe called it “one of the band's most memorable and grandiose songs ^[79] ” . Gigwise Anna Smith called the song "the long-awaited combination of old and new ^[36] ." Other reviewers focused on the level of experimentation present on the album. Adam Rees of Metal Hammer emphasized that “A Liar's Funeral” and “Not Long for This World” had the “greatest impact” on the album ^[75] , while Loudwire author John Widerhorn wrote that “With We Are Not Your Kind ... Slipknot did more than just play on their strengths, they expanded their parameters widely, directing the group to musical directions that they had only hinted at before ^[84] . ” Band frontman Cory Taylor also received widespread praise for his lyrics and vocals, described by Carter as “outstanding” ^[74] and Pementel as “wonderful” ^[71] .

Very few reviews of We Are Not Your Kind contained serious criticism of the album. Пементел признал, что «если быть откровенным, учитывая всю стилизацию, продюсирование и творческий потенциал, трудно найти, что не так с альбомом», утверждая, что «фанаты, которые жаждут раннего звучания группы, могут не привязаться к We Are Not Your Kind немедленно — но даже эти слушатели, скорее всего, придут к этому исключительному LP ». Участник Pitchfork Энди О'Коннор признал, что хотя альбом «может предложить больше, чем ожидалось», он «по-прежнему порой разочаровывающе недальновиден», утверждая, что «Slipknot знают, что работает для них, и они используют это до конца ^[81] ». Приветствуя релиз как «просто лучший альбом, созданный Slipknot за 15 лет», Sputnikmusic пожаловался на длину альбома и его «гомогенизированный топающий ритм ^[85] ».

• Сид Уилсон (#0) — DJ , « вертушки »;
• Джей Вайнберг — ударные ;
• Алессандро Вентурелла — бас-гитара ;
• Джеймс Рут (#4) — гитара
• Крэйг Джонс (#5) — сэмплирование , клавишные , медиа;
• Шон Крейен (#6) — перкуссия , бэк-вокал ;
• Мик Томсон (#7) — гитара;
• Кори Тейлор (#8) — вокал ;
• Неизвестный новый участник — перкуссия.

Дополнительные музыканты

• Angel City Chorale — хоровое исполнение на «Unsainted»
• Кэт Праймтау — дополнительный вокал на «Death Because of Death»
• Крис Фен (#3) — перкуссия и бэк-вокал на «All Out Life»

Production

• Грег Фидельман — продюсер, звукоинженер
• Джо Барреси — сведение
• Грег Гордон — звукоинженер
• Сар Киллион — звукоинженер
• Пол Фиг — звукоинженер
• Бо Боднар — помощник звукоинженера
• Чаз Секстон — помощник звукоинженера
• Дэн Монти — редактирование
• Джун Муракава — сведение
• Боб Людвиг — мастеринг
• Дэйв Рат — A & R
• Шон Крэйен — художественное направление и фотография
• Александрия Крэйен-Конвей — фотографии группы
• Майкл Боланд — дизайн