.5: The Gray Chapter

.5: The Gray Chapter
Studio album by Slipknot
Released October 17, 2014
Recorded March 1 – July 28, 2014 at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California
Genre Heavy metal
Length 63:51
Label Roadrunner
Producer Greg Fidelman, Slipknot[1]
Slipknot chronology
Antennas to Hell
(2012)		 .5: The Gray Chapter
(2014)
Singles from .5: The Gray Chapter
  1. "The Negative One"
    Released: August 1, 2014
  2. "The Devil in I"
    Released: August 24, 2014
  3. "Custer"
    Released: October 10, 2014
  4. "Killpop"
    Released: April 28, 2015
  5. "XIX"
    Released: October 5, 2015

.5: The Gray Chapter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot.[2] It was released in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands on October 17, 2014, the UK on October 20, 2014 and in North America on October 21, 2014.[3] It is the first studio album by the band in six years and the first not to feature founding bassist Paul Gray and long time drummer Joey Jordison due to the death of Gray in 2010 (the title of the album being a reference to his name), and the departure of Jordison in late 2013.[2] The album includes five singles and has received commercial and critical acclaim. Most critics praised the return of their older sound from Slipknot and Iowa, while maintaining the melodies the band explored on Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). A standard and deluxe edition of the album was released. Above the depicted skeleton and to the left, Gray's self-titled-era "Pig Mask" is visible. "The Negative One" received a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 57th annual Grammy Awards.[4] The album is also nominated for Best Rock Album at the 58th annual Grammy Awards, along with a Best Metal Performance nomination for the song "Custer".[5]

Background

The writing process of the record began in late 2013. Wanting to dedicate more time to the album, guitarist Jim Root decided not to tour with Stone Sour in January 2014.[6] According to frontman Corey Taylor, the sound of the album is somewhat of a cross between 2001's Iowa and 2004's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses).[7] Taylor stated that the material contains "gorgeous melodies" and the artistic direction as Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) but yet retains some of its "brutality" from the Iowa era.[8]

A new bassist and drummer were added to the lineup during live shows. Taylor told Loudwire that two similar masks were created for their appearances in music videos and stage performances, as they felt it was disrespectful to have them sporting unique masks.[9] Both members were briefly shown in the music video for "The Devil In I", but their identities have not been announced by Slipknot amidst speculation.[10][11] Root revealed in an interview that founding guitarist and former touring bassist Donnie Steele was involved in some of the studio sessions for the album, but that ultimately Steele declined to rejoin the band in favor of starting a family with his wife. Bassist Alessandro Venturella of Krokodil was identified by the unique tattoos on his hands, performing in the video for "The Devil in I".[12] Jay Weinberg from the band Against ME! was brought in to audition on drums after Joey Jordison was fired from Slipknot. Jay Weinberg is the son of Max Weinberg the drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and Conan O'Brien's Drummer/band leader for his late night talk show. Max Weinberg introduced Jay Weinberg to Slipknot and from there on forged a friendship by going to several concerts and being invited backstage; the band liked what he brought to the table and was told he was free to join if he wanted and he accepted. The album was produced by Greg Fidelman and mixed by Joe Barresi. Fidelman is known for his work with Metallica, System of a Down, Audioslave and more, as well as mixing Slipknot's third album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), in 2004.[13]

Promotion

On July 15, the band began releasing short teasers for the new album for over a two-week period that turned out to be clips from the official video along with samples from a song entitled "The Negative One".[14][15] The song was released on August 1, 2014 and an accompanying video was released on August 5, 2014. It was directed by Shawn Crahan; however, it did not feature any of the band members.[16] On August 13, 2014 the band revealed the cover art for their official radio single entitled "The Devil in I",[17] and the single premiered on August 24, 2014.[18] The official video for the single was unveiled on September 12 featuring the members with new variations of their masks with the exception of Taylor who debuted a new mask and the new bassist and drummer's masks which were very similar.[11] Slipknot began their world tour at the second iteration of Knotfest as headliners on October 25 and the 26 with Anthrax, Five Finger Death Punch, Otep and Black Label Society among others in California.[19] A co-headline North American tour with Korn dubbed the Prepare for Hell tour will commence afterwards with King 810 in support.[20][21] Slipknot and Korn are embarking on the British leg of the Prepare For Hell tour in January 2015.[22] In addition to the standard edition, a deluxe edition featuring two listed and three unlisted bonus tracks, and a special edition featuring a T-shirt of the album cover have also been released.[23]

Reception

The album's lead single, "The Negative One", was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 57th Grammy Awards.[24] Additionally, the album was nominated for the Best Rock Album and the song Custer was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards.[25]

Commercial performance

.5: The Gray Chapter landed in the No. 1 spot in Australia on the ARIA Albums Chart with 14,188 first week sales.[26][27] It was Slipknot's second album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart by selling 132,000 copies in its first week.[28] The album also debuted at No. 1 in Japan, Canada, Russia and Switzerland. It had Top 5 debuts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, Mexico, Denmark and Finland. By January 2016, .5: The Gray Chapter had sold over 380,000 copies in the United States.[29]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[30]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[31]
RockRevolt Magazine[32]
Blabbermouth.net[33]
Exclaim!(7/10)[34]
Kerrang!
Metal Hammer[35]
Q[36]
Revolver[37]
Rolling Stone[38]

.5: The Gray Chapter received critical acclaim, as most critics praised the return of their older sound from Slipknot and Iowa, while maintaining the melodies the band explored on Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Florino characterized it as "the most abrasive work since their self-titled debut,"[39] The Guardian's Dom Lawson as "every bit as warped and explosive as previous records"[40] Ray Van Horn of Blabbermouth.net hailed the album as "a return to their punishing roots" and noted that "AOV zips into some of the thrashiest tones Slipknot's yet delivered".[41] Zorgdrager pointed out that Slipknot "wastes no time kicking it back to 2001's Iowa" while Metal Hammer's critic Dom Lawson noted that "there’s plenty of [...] brutal, turbocharged Slipknot [...] here,"[42] while Rock Revolt mentioned that "the album borrows elements from previous work "while pushing the creative boundaries of past albums into new territory."[43]

Q' magazine's Tom Bryant complained that the album's lighter tracks, namely "Goodbye", "Killpop", and "The One That Kills The Least", were disappointingly timid. However, he followed by commenting that "It's possible to entirely forget these when Slipknot play to their strengths: unrelenting darkness and attack," using "Custer", "The Devil in I", and "Lech" as examples.[36]

That despite the pressure the band had "to shoulder to even get the album out,"[44] several critics pointed praised the way the album acknowledged Gray’s memory.[37][45] Rock Revolt noted plenty of "lyrical content that can easily be assumed as references to the late Paul Gray."[43] while Revolver magazine critic Dan Epstein and Gregory Heaney from AllMusic concluded that "they don’t try to sugarcoat their loss, anger or grief anywhere on the album," and that “from that deep well of pain, another great Slipknot record has emerged,”[37] and that "they're able to channel their grief into a productive album, allowing them to continue moving forward [...] with one of the strongest albums of their career," respectively.[45] Exclaim! critic Bradley Zorgdrager saw it as "it's a considerable accomplishment and a lovely eulogy to their fallen comrade."[44]

Several critics appreciated the composition of the album, with Van Horn characterizing it as "a largely dark, often moving listening experience."[41] Loudwire critic Chad Childers wrote noted the "mix of all the different sounds" creating "a musical journey" and pointed that while the album "rocks and pummels you in all the right places like you would hope, it also shows a depth in emotion and some heavily personal moments on a much grander scale,”[46] while Artistdirect critic Rick Florino gave the album a perfect rating concluding that "by the time this journey ends, it feels as if Slipknot have come full circle."[39]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Slipknot[47][48]. 

No. Title Length
1. "XIX"   3:10
2. "Sarcastrophe"   5:06
3. "AOV"   5:32
4. "The Devil in I"   5:42
5. "Killpop"   3:45
6. "Skeptic"   4:46
7. "Lech"   4:50
8. "Goodbye"   4:35
9. "Nomadic"   4:18
10. "The One That Kills the Least"   4:11
11. "Custer"   4:14
12. "Be Prepared for Hell"   1:57
13. "The Negative One"   5:25
14. "If Rain Is What You Want"   6:20
Total length:
 63:51

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[49] 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[50] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[51] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[52] 13
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[53] 1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[54] 5
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[55] 13
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[56] 4
French Albums (SNEP)[57] 8
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[58] 2
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[59] 1
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[60] 3
Irish Albums (IRMA)[61] 4
Italian Albums (FIMI)[62] 6
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[63] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[64] 4
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[65] 9
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[66] 17
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[67] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[68] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[69] 2
US Billboard 200[70] 1
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[71] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[72] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2014) Position
Australian Albums Chart[73] 55
US Billboard 200[74] 96
US Billboard Hard Rock Albums[75] 4
US Billboard Rock Albums[76] 19

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released
Title Year Peak chart positions
US US
Main. Rock
[77]		 AUS
[78]		 UK
[79]
"The Negative One" 2014 — 33 76 71
"The Devil In I" 123[A] 2 88 135[80]
"Custer" — 29 — —
"Killpop" 2015 — 10 — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charting songs

Year Title Chart peaks Album
Rock Digital Songs[81] US Main. Rock[82]
2015 "XIX" 36 — .5: The Gray Chapter
2016 "Goodbye" — 22 .5: The Gray Chapter
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Notes

  • A ^ "The Devil In I" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 23 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[83] Gold 35,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[84] Gold 7,500

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Personnel

Slipknot

Additional personnel

References

  1. ↑ Neila Owen (October 23, 2014). "Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Allmusic. Retrieved October 30, 2014. Combining the punishing, pummeling metal of the band's early work with the more melodic focus of their later years, The Gray Chapter shows off just how unexpectedly wide the band's range is, going from a plaintive, atmospheric ballad like album-opener "XIX" to a thrash-inspired pummeling like "Sarcastrophe" without missing a beat.
  2. 1 2 "Slipknot To Release '.5: The Gray Chapter' In October". Blabbermouth.net. August 25, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ ".5: The Gray Chapter: This item will be released on October 20". Amazon UK. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  4. ↑ "Tenacious D Wins 'Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance' Grammy Award". Blabbermouth.net. 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  5. ↑ "58th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees". Grammy.com. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  6. ↑ Pasbani, Robert (2013-12-04). "SLIPKNOT So Serious About Writing New Music That Guitarist Jim Root Is Sitting Out The Next STONE SOUR Tour". MetalInjection. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  7. ↑ Kennelty, Greg (2013-10-21). "SLIPKNOT Frontman Says New Material Is "Really Dark," Will Be A Mix of Iowa & Vol. 3". MetalInjection . Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  8. ↑ Hartmann, Graham (2014-05-23). "Corey Taylor on New Slipknot Album: ‘People Are Gonna Lose Their Minds When They Hear It’". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  9. ↑ Full Metal Jackie, Full Metal Jackie (2014-09-10). "Slipknot’s Corey Taylor Talks ‘.5: The Gray Chapter,’ 2014 Knotfest + Moving Forward". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
  10. ↑ "New Slipknot Bassist's Identity Revealed? - Blabbermouth.net". Blabbermouth. 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
  11. 1 2 Kreps, Daniel (2014-09-12). "Slipknot Host Asylum Rave in Terrifying 'The Devil In I' Video". RollingStone. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
  12. ↑ Hartmann, Graham (2014-10-08). "Slipknot’s Corey Taylor on New Bassist's Identity Leak: 'I Was So Upset'". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  13. ↑ "Greg Fidelman Revealed as New Slipknot Producer". Ultimate Guitar Archive. 2014-10-08.
  14. ↑ Pasbani, Robert (2014-07-23). "Another Day, Another SLIPKNOT Teaser". MetalInjection. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  15. ↑ Hartmann, Graham (2014-07-31). "Slipknot Continue to Tease New Album With Cryptic Written Message". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  16. ↑ Daisy Wyatt (2014-03-19). "Slipknot unveil first new song in six years 'The Negative One' - News - Music". The Independent. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  17. ↑ "Slipknot unveil the devil in i artwork". Kerrang!. 2014-08-13. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  18. ↑ Grow, Kory (2014-08-25). "Hear Slipknot's Pummeling 'The Devil in I' From '.5: The Gray Chapter'". RollingStone. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  19. ↑ Pasbani, Robert (2014-08-11). "KNOTFEST Announce New Bands & Another Stage Added". MetalInjection. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  20. ↑ "Slipknot unveil details of fifth studio album". The Guardian. 2014-08-25. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  21. ↑ "Slipknot's Prepare For Hell Tour with Korn and KING 810". Roadrunner Records. 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  22. ↑ "Watch Korn and Slipknot Cover Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage' - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  23. ↑ ".5: The Gray Chapter (Cd + T-Shirt - Xlarge) by Slipknot: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "SLIPKNOT, ANTHRAX, MASTODON, MOTÖRHEAD Among GRAMMY AWARDS Nominees". MTV. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
  25. ↑ "58th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees". grammy.com. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  26. ↑ New Slipknot album .5 The Gray Chapter beats Karise Eden’s Things I’ve Done to number one on ARIA chart. News.com.au. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Slipknot Land No 1 Album On ARIA Chart". Roadrunner Records. 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
  28. ↑ "Slipknot Scores Second No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  29. ↑ Brown, Matt (January 13, 2016). "Metal By Numbers 1/13: The charts look very different today". Metal Insider. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  30. ↑ ".5: The Gray Chapter - Slipknot". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  31. ↑ Neila Owen (October 23, 2014). "Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". AllMusic. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  32. ↑ Thomas Woroniak. "ALBUM REVIEW: SLIPKNOT - .5: THE GRAY CHAPTER - RockRevolt Magazine™". RockRevolt Magazine™. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  33. ↑ Van Horn Jr., Ray (October 30, 2014). "Slipknot - ".5: The Gray Chapter"". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  34. ↑ Zorgdrager, Bradley (October 17, 2014). "Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  35. ↑ Lawson, Dom (October 15, 2014). "Review: Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter". Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  36. 1 2 Q #341, December 2014
  37. 1 2 3 Epstein, Dan (October 1, 2014). "Review: Slipknot — .5: The Gray Chapter". Revolver. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  38. ↑ Dolan, Jon (October 21, 2014). ".5: The Gray Chapter". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  39. 1 2 "Album Review: Slipknot ".5: The Gray Chapter" – 5 out of 5 stars". ARTISTdirect. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  40. ↑ "Slipknot: .5: The Gray Chapter review – Iowan rockers’ suitably unhinged return". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  41. 1 2 "CD Reviews - .5: The Gray Chapter Slipknot - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  42. ↑ "REVIEW: Slipknot – .5 The Gray Chapter". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  43. 1 2 "ALBUM REVIEW: SLIPKNOT - .5: THE GRAY CHAPTER - RockRevolt Magazine". RockRevolt Magazine. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  44. 1 2 "Slipknot". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  45. 1 2 Gregory Heaney. ".5: The Gray Chapter - Slipknot - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  46. ↑ Chad Childers (October 21, 2014). "Slipknot, ‘.5: The Gray Chapter’ – Album Review". Loudwire. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  47. ↑ .5: The Gray Chapter (booklet). Slipknot. Roadrunner. 2014.
  48. ↑ ".5: The Gray Chapter". Amazon. Retrieved 2014-10-21.
  49. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  50. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  51. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  52. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  53. ↑ "Slipknot – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Slipknot. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  54. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  55. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  56. ↑ "Slipknot: .5: The Gray Chapter" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  57. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  58. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Top 100 Longplay". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  59. ↑ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: {{{date}}}" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  60. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2014. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  61. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  62. ↑ "Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 43 (dal 20-10-2014 al 26-10-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  63. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  64. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  65. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  66. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  67. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  68. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  69. ↑ "Slipknot | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  70. ↑ "Slipknot – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Slipknot. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  71. ↑ "Slipknot – Chart history" Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums for Slipknot. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  72. ↑ "Slipknot – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Slipknot. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  73. ↑ "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 100 Albums 2014". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  74. ↑ "2014 Year End Charts - Top Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  75. ↑ "2014 Year End Charts - Hard Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  76. ↑ "2014 Year End Charts - Top Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  77. ↑ "Slipknot – Chart History: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  78. ↑ Peak chart positions for singles in Australia:
  79. ↑ Peak chart positions for singles in the United Kingdom:
  80. ↑ "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update : Chart Date 06.09.2014" (TXT). Zobbel.de. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  81. ↑ "Slipknot - Chart history". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  82. ↑ "Slipknot - Chart history". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  83. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2015 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  84. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved March 6, 2015. Enter Slipknot in the field Interpret. Enter .5: The Gray Chapter in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  85. ↑ "Slipknot's New Single 'Goodbye' To Impact Rock Radio This Winter". Blabbermouth.net. December 9, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  86. 1 2 3 "Jim Root: 'Seems Like Stone Sour Can't Even Write a New Record. They Lost a Good Writer'". May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015. Yes, I did. I can't remember exactly what tracks I played on but I think it's the majority of them. I think VMan played on five or six of the tunes and I played on all the rest. "Did Donnie Steele play bass?" He did but there were certain songs that Greg Fidelman [producer] didn't want him to play on. You know that liquid thing and that fluid vibe thing we were talking about? Fidelman wasn't quite sure that Vman had that for us yet. He definitely has the technical ability but there's something more to it that needs to be Slipknot. Since most of the arrangements were written by me anyways, he felt more confident with me playing those parts so they'd be closer to the vibe of what the demos were.
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