"All hope is gone" CD by Slipknot

by Michael Hertel (18.07.2008) Rumours were flying – there was a lot of hullabaloo around this album… Some said it would be the most experimental, catchiest, most commercial output of the masked guys. That they’d add acoustical guitars and a piano, and that Corey would sing more than scream… Mere speculation, folks. The eleven tracks on the fourth Slipknot studio release are mainly: tough as nails, ultra-aggressive and extraordinarily versatile Metal. Galloping double bass drum parts, piercing riffs, endless soli. Plus, #8 lets it all out in the harsh sociocritical lyrics and gives the US with its hypocritical war, its fundamental hardliners and its ultra conservative moralisation a solid bashing. An irate reckoning in a clever wrapping: "Sulfur" dares to flirt with Speed and Thrash, "Psychosocial" is a genuine Rock anthem, "Dead memories" reminds you of "Enter sandman", "Child of burning time" is an hypnotic tribal thing, and "Butcher’s hook" sounds a bit like Henry Rollins back in the mid 90s.