The Heretic Anthem

"The Heretic Anthem" / "Heretic Song"
Cover art for the "Heretic Song" single
Promotional single by Slipknot from the album Iowa
Released	May 15, 2001
Format	CD, cassette
A-side	"Heretic Song"
Recorded	2001 at Sound City and Sound Image in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Nu metal, death metal
Length	4:19
Label	Roadrunner
Writer	Shawn Crahan, Paul Gray, Joey Jordison, Chris Fehn, Mick Thomson, Sid Wilson, Craig Jones, James Root and Corey Taylor
Producer	Slipknot, Ross Robinson

"The Heretic Anthem" (released as "Heretic Song" as a single) is a song by American metal band Slipknot. The song was released as a promotional single from their second album Iowa.

Style

Revolver described that "The Heretic Anthem" derived more from death metal than nu metal.^[1]

Song meaning

The song was written about record labels who initially showed no interest in signing a recording contract with the band. The lyrics, "I bleed for this and I bleed for you/ Still you look in my face like I'm somebody new/ TOY - nobody wants anything I've got/ Which is fine, because you're made of/ Everything - I'm - NOT", reflect this attitude.

A couple of months ago, some evil people, some money hungry, cocksucking, idiot motherfuckers came to us and said: "You know, if you want your next album to be huge, you gotta write a radio friendly fucking song"...Now being that we are Slipknot, we are 9 crazy people from the middle of nowhere, 9 people but do not give one rat fuck about what the fucking music industry fucking thinks, we stood there politely, we processed the information and we said: " Well, thank you Mr. Businessman, but if you'll excuse me...SUCK MY MOTHERFUCKIN' DICK!!!! And this next song is a result of that fuckin' conversation, if you're 555 I'm 666, THIS SONG IS CALLED: THE HERETIC ANTHEM!!!!

— Corey Taylor^[2]

Track listing

Promo single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Heretic Song" (rough mix)	4:19

Live single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Heretic Anthem" (live)	4:45

Enhanced content
No.	Title	Length
2.	"The Heretic Anthem" (live video)	4:45
3.	"Disasterpieces DVD Trailer" (enhanced video)	2:12

Covers

The American band Periphery covered the song in 2012.^[3]

Personnel

Slipknot (#0) Sid Wilson – turntables (#1) Joey Jordison – drums (#2) Paul Gray – bass guitar (#3) Chris Fehn – percussion instrument, backing vocals (#4) Jim Root – guitar (#5) Craig Jones – samples (#6) Shawn Crahan – percussion instrument, backing vocals (#7) Mick Thomson – guitar (#8) Corey Taylor – vocals

Production Ross Robinson – producer Mike Fraser – engineering Andy Wallace – mixing Monte Conner – A&R Steve Sisco – assistant engineering George Marino – mastering Steve Richards – executive producer

References

1. "Interview: Slipknot Look Back on the Making of ‘Iowa’". Revolver. August 18, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
2. http://www.slipknot-metal.com/main.php?sk=songmeaning
3. Rosenberg, Axl (March 14, 2012). "MEMBERS OF PERIPHERY COVER SLIPKNOT'S "HERETIC ANTHEM"". Metalsucks. Retrieved May 6, 2016.