Looking Back in Anger at Slipknot's "All Hope is Gone"

 Being working on the 40 Nu-Metal album's, this has caused me to  back into Slipknot's catalogue and give some of the albums I have not visited in some time another listen. The first song "Gematria" finds Taylor declaring that he is going to burn the cities of America down. I remember liking this album when it came out in 2008, but by 2008 I has also moved onto heavier styles of music like black metal so this was less impressive in terms of sheer heaviness. There is a slight hardcore tinge to what they were doing here. This is the last studio album to feature all of the original members to it's unlikely I will feel the need to give their more recent offerings another listen and will just go for the first three albums for here. "Sulfur" benefits from a strong hooky chorus that pulls the song together. 

It should also be no surprise that I like the first single from this album "Pyschosocial" as it's really well written with another powerful hook going into the chorus. The momentum of their songwriting stays strong even when they slow things down for " Dead Memories". The drums bring down a more hammering flurry of double on "Vendetta", but thanks to the strong melody of the vocals the song comes together, to make this rather anthemic. "Butcher's Hook" finds Taylor back to barking over dense riffs, with vocals that are not as catchy. "Gehenna" gets both darker and more melodic. There is more grunge influenced moment with the vocals on the chorus. Then it's back to what you normally expect from these guys on "This Cold Black" . It is effective for what they do, but not as interesting as the risks they took when writing melodic songs. 

They continue to dish out the kind of pounding chugged grooves, with Taylors snarling over it on "Wherein Lies Continue". It almost feels like they are recycling what they have already done until you get to the sung hook, but even that is part of the formula. They break that trend with a ballad called "Snuff" which might have over corrected the course in that regard. But as a song it works. The end the album with the heaviest blast of anger, when it comes down to the title track. I will give this album a 9,5, it is the last one from these guys that was on this level.