Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter

Six years since their last album, and the first not to feature bass player and creative force Paul Gray, who died in 2010, Slipknot return, seemingly as alienated as ever. "Nothing appeals to me, nobody feels like me," singer Corey Taylor laments sotto voce on the opening track XIX. Following on is Sarcastrophe– old-school Slipknot – and AOV, which, with its mixture of melody and ferocity, is the heaviest track on the album. Custer, with its profane refrain, The Devil In I and Skeptic follow in a similar vein, the latter a eulogy to Gray which features the line "he was the best of us". The years since Gray's departure have not dimmed Slipknot's drive or intensity. Gray's replacement Alessandro 'Vman' Venturella is front and centre of the mix. One senses Gray would approve of this album.