The nine have had to ride out some difficult moments and big questions in recent times but there’s always a feeling that when they walk on stage, something special might be about to happen. A 25th anniversary tour that would see them don the iconic red jumpsuits once again would inevitably feel like a get-out-of-jail-free card for Slipknot. Make no mistake about it though, this nostalgic affair doesn’t just dine out on the goodwill of their classic debut. You simply can’t recapture some of that 1999 magic but what helps this feel like a celebration that is worthy of the album’s impact rather than a quick crowd-pleaser to pull out of the bag is that in 2024, Slipknot sound and look the most at it that they have in some time.
Before we rewind the clock 25 years, Bleed From Within (8) are keeping us in the modern day with an arena support tour that feels long overdue. Glasgow’s own have always felt like one of OUR bands and with the popularity of other acts like Gojira and Lamb of God, it’s hard to imagine your run-of-the-mill metal fan not finding something to like in what they bring to the table. That makes this support slot feel like an easy home run for Bleed From Within who over the past two albums, and two recent singles, have got a solid run of big hitters that are sure to have even the most reluctant fan in the nosebleeds involuntarily rocking their head back and forth.
The obvious thing to address with 25 years of Slipknot’s (9) self-titled album is that no, the band and this material no longer feels as dangerous and as cutting edge as it once did and playing in huge arenas is a part of that. That being said, what makes this band and their 1999 album endure so well over time is that the energy, artistry and feeling aren’t at all manufactured. The intensity is real even if it is drawn from songs they created before most of the audience in attendance knew what Iowa was.
Slipknot’s Roadrunner debut famously opens with blistering ferocity and though the tracklisting is shuffled around here to pace the show out, the opening run remains the same. (sic) into Eyeless into Wait and Bleed is a run that would be hard to top even if the band was drawing from their entire discography. It’s a cliché to say that any iconic vocalist sounds the best they have in years on every cycle but Corey Taylor has a big undertaking on his hands when translating these fast and frantic songs to an arena full of people. Here, he sounds venomous whilst still bringing so much personality to these chaotic ramblings.
The 25th anniversary tour also marks the first run out for new drummer Eloy Casagrande. Former drummer Jay Weinberg had really started to settle into the fold but simply put, Casagrande might be the closest that the nine could have ever gotten to finding someone that could match the live marvel that was late drummer Joey Jordison. Inserting him into the engine room gives Slipknot the precision that you would expect from a band of this size without sacrificing any of the face-melting speed and power that this selection of songs warrants. With the amount of bodies on stage, their live show was already overstimulating but watching Casagrande tear through cuts like Eeyore, No Life and Purity is just one more unforgiving light to be hypnotized by.
For all of the late 90s fun that there is to be had with the guaranteed good times of Spit It Out and Liberate, playing this album in full in arenas of this size provides a stunning realisation. Slipknot were a big deal from the moment this album arrived in people’s hands which when they’re writing songs like Prosthetics and particularly the night’s set closer in Scissors, is remarkable. You do not hear music that is this dark and depraved being played in rooms of this size and that’s partly what makes Slipknot so special, their ability to bring those two words to the masses. Sure, an anniversary tour is a good reason to celebrate this band but as Taylor correctly points out, this show is not for the casual Slipknot fans. It’s for the sickos.
The 25th anniversary tour for Slipknot’s self-titled album is so much more than a walk down memory lane. It’s a reminder that even for a band that can sell out the world’s biggest arenas on an album in-full tour, they’re not the kind of act that should have reached this point. This is a celebration of the power of heavy music and it shows that Slipknot are still able to tap into what made them a cut above the rest all the way back in 1999. This tour might be for the die-hard maggots out there to relive a moment in time but it seems like this back-to-basics approach has breathed new life into the nine.
