Review: Slipknot ‘All Hope Is Gone’

All Slipknot fans have been waiting a long time for this. The release of a new Slipknot album. I had a fix with Mayhem Fest, but I’ve been eager to listen to what they had to offer. I’m one of those Slipknot fans that doesn’t really care what people think of them. I’ve liked the progression as a band since their debut with Roadrunner Records (yeah, blah, blah, blah. I know about MFKR) and you can only say that they have come a long way musically over the years. With every album they start to sound more and more like a metal band as opposed to the Nu-metal label they will probably drag around with them for the rest of the lives, but who cares really.

When Vol. 3 was released people bitched and complained that it had too much of a Stone Sour sound to it. I like both bands, as I’ve said before so this wasn’t a problem for me. However I really didn’t see it so much as a Stone Sour sound as much as I thought of it as a new era for Slipknot. With All Hope Is Gone, it’s a bit different. It’s got a lot of Stone Sour sound to it, but not in a good way and not in a bad way. So first and foremost, if you don’t like Vol. 3 or Stone Sour then chances are you won’t like All Hope Is Gone. Let’s go track by track and make it fairly quick with each.

We’ll skip .execute. and go right to Gematria (The Killing Name), the first of many heavy tracks but sounds a bit flat until the chorus. A few other songs have this effect on this album. When I say flat, I mean there is no good rhythm hook before the chorus. Sulfur is a cool tune with great rhythm but this is where the Stone Sourness begins. The chorus sounds a bit like something from  Come What(ever) may. Now I’m not saying that this is bad, but there is more SS to come. Everyone has heard Psychosocial, so I don’t feel I need to go over that one. Dead Memories is another SS (Stone Sour) sounding tune. In fact the vocal rhythm almost sounds like ‘Your God’, but progressively get’s better with the chorus line. Vendetta sounds a bit more like a rock song, with a fist raising chorus. Not as heavy as most would like it, but just wait until we get towards the end of the album before we talk about lack of heaviness. The Butcher’s Hook…I don’t like this song and that’s something that I really have never said about a Slipknot song. Gehenna is where it start to slow down drastically, in an eerie way with a strange almost Jonathan Davis sounding chorus. Another song I’m not really fond of. This Cold Black picks things back up and gets them moving again. Ok, this is starting to sound like a Slipknot album again, but in a rushed sense. I’ll explain that a bit more later. Wherein Lies Continue is kind of boring. Repetitive until the chorus and then boring again. Now Snuff is a great song. A mellow, Corey singing his heart out song. If you like the slower tunes where Corey really shows is vocal talents in a ballad, then this is one you will dig. It’s a rather touching song and sounds out of place on a Slipknot album. All Hope Is Gone…same as Psychosocial, we’ve all heard it.

As far as the bonus track go, Child Of Burning Time is another Corey singing song and is a cool SS sounding track. Vermillion Pt. 2 Bloodstone mix was on the Underworld 2 soundtrack, so if you heard it there it’s the same. Til We Die. Yet another mellow Corey singing tune, but a cool one and sounds and read as if he’s talking about how strong the cohesion of the band when he says: “My Last True Confession Will Open Your Eyes/ I’ve Never Known Trust Like The 9 (With the 9 in a circle)? Let It Be Spoken.”.

So let me break it down a bit. The entire album is not Slipknot’s best work and a lot of songs sound out of place. A lot of the songs sound like they were written very quickly and I don’t think I like Dave Fortman producing any more than Jim Root does. I think the band has progressed musically and they should try different things, but I just think that this was rushed and thrown together all too quickly. We know in the last four years that Slipknot have not been together in the studio working on these tracks. A lot of the band members have been out doing their own thing, so that’s also part of my thinking that it was rushed. I’m still a fan, but I think this album is lacking a lot. I expected to get this album and be all psyched and blown away, but no. The best thing about All Hope Is Gone are the slower songs. I feel a lot of Slipknot fans will be greatly disappointed with this album. Did I mention that this album sounds rushed?

3 out of 5 for me, and I’m being generous.

You can stream the album here and get your own take on it.