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SlipKnot are a band of extremes and always have been, and this is is why we love them and why their somewhat surprising new album is a global event, right? They did put the extreme up in the mainstream, got many of us to appreciate the beauty of that chaotic, maniacal and straight up grotesque extreme as a guiding light in that uncertain teenage life, caused a chain of extreme upsets across the otherwsie conservative (at the time) metal scene, and naturally growed to demand extreme attention. And we give it to them, be it extreme devotion or hatred, but never indifference, and either way I can bet you everyone even remotely concerned listend to The End, So Far upon its overhyped premiere, and already has an opinion worthy of their controversial nature.
Just a few songs in, and you immediately hear that this is not a conventional album, the standard 10 or so tracks with few instrumentals for a good all-round sample of a band's state of mind in a given period. It is an ambitious attempt to push the bounderies of their familiar and iconic sound, whilst also going back to the roots and getting those oldschool vibes flowing. If anyone could pull this off, it is definitely SlipKnot, but you have to wonder if they gave this monumental effort sufficient attention to its preparation and execution. In that sense, this won't be a standard review either, but an attempt to understand The End, So Far in its context, purpose and reasoning, as SlipKnot would have us do.
The fact that we are getting a new SlipKnot at the end of 2022 is an extreme of its own, and this was far from predicted, considering we waited 6 years for album #5 and another 5 for #6. Ignore 'The Chapeltown Rag''s sporadic excitement, it wasn't until 'The Dying Song (Time To Sing)' that we fully realised a new SlipKnot record is on its way. And while this obviously brought with it the extreme expectations, responsibilities and demands we have learned to have towards a legacy band of that stature, the big question today is not whether this The End, So Far is a good album (because we know damn well it is), but whether it meets, exceeds and silences those extremes for another decade of adoration.
The short answer to these insane and unfair demands, is that it doesn't. The long one is more intricate, involving a look at the post-COVID modern reality of insane expectations and a zeitgeist of extreme oposites where the mundane and average are not options. Take the metal world for a second, and you will see a year that has so far seen the likes of Korn, Rammstein, Soulfly, Machine Head, just to name a few, all dropping new albums, only to follow recent Limp Bizkit and Deftones. A neutral observer would expect all of us late millenials to be in a state of euphoria, but we have grown to be critical and somewhat entitled consumers of extreme pleasures that cannot be satisfied by mere mediocrity. There is also the lurking realisation that all of these powerhouses of the past are just getting old, and are no longer larger than life like they seemed 25 years ago.
Look back at SlipKnot's stellar career and you will see seven albums with a life of their own, marking individual chapters of the band's live that can be grouped and examined in two distinctive eras. The first covers their turbulent rise to fame, from the iconic raw debut all the way to the uncertain and somewhat divisive All Hope Is Gone. The second reflects their new beginning with .5: The Gray Chapter and is now reaching its inevitable and logical conclusion with The End, So Far. Coincidental or not, this also mark the end of their long-lasting deal with Roadrunner Records, a label that trades with legacies and has not been a modern trendsetter for a while now, with Taylor all but confirming this in a recent interview. In other words, this really is the end, at least so far for this second cycle.
Speaking of the end, another thing to consider is whether SlipKnot didn't stop being that same SlipKnot ages ago and we missed or refused to accept it. They were never a conventional band but a conceptual brand, an idea that slowly started to evaporate after their unavoidable unmasking which was always going to happen but did take away a piece of the magic. You can't ingore Stone Sour and other side projects, all fantastic bands and musical endeavours that happen to coexist alongside just fine, but revealed underlining creative differences and artistic growth that would put any band's future into perspective, yet alone a group of nine strong individuals, each irreplaceable in their own right.
The most crucial event was the untimely passing of Paul Gray and the departure of Joey Jordison (RIP), both taking pieces of that original magic with them. Although replaced with the amazing and grossly underrated Alessandro Venturella and Jay Weinberg, the core of that original idea appeared to be broken, but as V told us many years ago, ideas are bulletproof. This chain of inevitable decay may have caused most other bands to disband, but SlipKnot did pull through against all odds and kept on grinding to reach the legendary status they enjoy (and suffer from) today, eventually leading to the grand reveal of the The End, So Far or another moment in music history for us to enjoy at out own risk.
Going back to the album at hand, the way everyone approaches it will determine how they perceive it for years to come. A huge problem in modern metal music is mismanaged expectations, and SlipKnot do themselves no favours in hyping up every upcoming album as the heaviest masterpiece since Iowa. Much like some of the trending TV shows dominating the streaming platforms at present, we don't just want The End, So Far to be a good album (again, because it definitely is), but it simply had to be better than the previous, if not the best. And we will inevitably compare every dark second of it going all the way to M.F.K.R.
SlipKnot taught us to expect the impossible and seeing them at such timid and restrained form is unsettling, even if we call it experimental. They operate at their best ahead of the curb, but time took its toll and we cannot expect them to continuously challenge our perception of extreme music forever. As I said at the beginning, there is no issue with pushing your sound further into the unknown, I would actually expect and demand it, especially 25 years into their career. However, The End, So Far struggles with consistency.
One of the main issues might be the opening 'Adderall', which despite its fantastic synth-led indie vibes, ought to be a mid-album placement and not replacing the theatrical introductions worthy of the brand. It fails to set the proper tone right from the start, and does not match the epic allure of more recent 'Insert Coin' and 'XIX', not to mention psychotic riddles such as '515' and '742617000027'. It echoes the melodic charm of 'Prelude 3.0', considering this album's subtle inclination towards The Subliminal Verses' more controversial nature, and yet it makes for a confusing first impression that causes the rest of the record to struggle with finding its intended pace in vain.
On the extreme contrary, 'Finale' acts as the beautiful climax every SlipKnot album deserves, and I do wish this dramatic, apocalyptic flair poured throughout from the very start. The justly titled finale becomes the epic conclusion of a monumental turmoil that did not actually happen, but leaves you satisfied nonetheless. Building up towards "the harder work, the darker thoughts, the ultimatums, the tangled knots", Taylor's honesty here reveals more about SlipKnot's psyche than meets the eye, and the more optimistic die-hard fans might be inclined to read more into the hook "I know it's a shame, but I gotta stay 'cause I like it here". In other words, this might not be the end, so far from it...
Looking at 'The Dying Song', it naturally becomes this album's hit lead single, playing on par with 'Unsainted' and 'The Devil in I', but other tracks like 'The Chapeltown Rag', 'H377', 'Hive Mind' and 'Warranty' simply fall short in either recycling perfect but familiar crowd-pleasing sructures, or present us with the brilliant but somehow underdeveloped avant-garde ideas in 'Yen', 'Medicine for the Dead', 'Acidic' and 'De Sade'. And while both sides are genuinely great and pass SlipKnot's standard of excellence, their forceful clash in The End, So Far leaves you confused. Then again, knowing SlipKnot, this might have been the goal all along.
Understanding this record requires us to go deeper into the nine's mindset, only to discover a bunch of mature musicians, wishing to experiment with their art and push the listener in unfamiliar territories, as Taylor himself stated in many interviews. The problem here is they tried to simultaneously surprise, challenge and please their fans, and the result is somewhat chaotic and unfinished. Recruiting Joe Baresi (Tool, QOTSA, Coheed and Cambria) was indeed a clear sign of their experimental approach, and yet the album does leave a few unanswered questions considering its writing, arrangement and production.
Ultimately, I cannot possibly dislike this album, even if it leaves me focused only on its sporadic moments of undeniable brilliance. Going all negative towards this is as meaningless as spending days to defend SlipKnot's honour and build your identity around them in 2022. Regardless of what all of us have to say, it will build millions of streams, chart high and keep on selling out stadiums like hot bread across the world. The End, So Far is the result of an unstoppable chain of events, serving as the symbolic conclusion of SlipKnot's second chapter as an active band that has been shaping the metal world to their liking for more than 25 years ago, with all the exhausting chaos this brings along.
Time will tell whether this is indeed the end, but I have a feeling album #8 will explain The End, So Far much better that it does itself, in SlipKnot's extreme and chaotic fashion. Until then, like any other contemporary piece of art destined for extreme reaction, it will live its own divisive and everchanging life in our musical libraries.
SlipKnot - The End, So Far
Country: USA (IA)
Released: 30 September 2022
Label: Roadrunner
Tracklisting:
1. "Adderall"
2. "The Dying Song (Time to Sing)"
3. "The Chapeltown Rag"
4. "Yen"
5. "Hive Mind"
6. "Warranty"
7. "Medicine for the Dead"
8. "Acidic"
9. "Heirloom"
10. "H377"
11. "De Sade"
12. "Finale"
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