This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
There must be something in the water in Des Moines.
How else do you explain the existence of Slipknot, a nine-piece rap-metal aggregation whose wardrobe consists of bring-out-the-gimp bondage masks and matching numbered jumpsuits? And their seizure-inducing sound is just as disturbingly aberrant: Detuned Korn guitars, speed-metal drums, frenetic turntablism and DJing, nightmare lyrics and psych-ward vocals, melded into a provocative sonic assault administered with all the subtlety of a force-feeding and all the power of a Drano mouthwash. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
