Hook of the Day - Slipknot "(sic)"

by Wayne Graham

Personally, it took me a while to get into Slipknot.....and yes, it was because of the masks. They seemed like another GWAR-type group, and I stayed far away. But over the past couple of years, their music has caught up to me and I'm surprised at how much I love their mixture of total chaos and a tightly-wound wall of sound. So a new album from them this year is highly anticipated.

That said, I HATE their new masks (above). I had a hard enough time listening to them when they had the Insane Clown Posse thing going, but now they're going to be Bobble-Heads??? The image above was posted on April 1st, so I thought it was a gag, but they haven't taken it off their official site yet, so........they're Bobble-Heads now, or at least those things walking around in the new In Flames video. Groan.

I'll get over it, I' m sure. Here's a the band ripping thru "(sic)" from their 1999 self-titled debut.




A counterpoint:
by Mark Hanner

I fucking love SlipKnot. I just do. I can't help it, nor do I shy away from it. And I think the new press pic is fantastic!! I love the shadowed aspect of it. I love that the figures aren't humanly proportionate. I love that there is still one way off in the distance. Now, for all us Maggots (and non maggots who have listened to Murderdolls, Stone Sour, or whatever Shawn is up to) out there that now all know what these guys look like, I'm sure it was quite a discussion as to how to create mysterium again for the new album. I mean the gimmick was pretty much up when they revealed themselves. But I like the fact that they aren't revealing what masks they are going to wear, if they even are, just that something shady and menacing is coming on the horizon. Plus, I think this is just a tease of what is going to come. I have faith and I have hope to be fucking pulverized as I have been at every SlipKnot show that I've been privliged to see. I'm proud to be a maggot, and can't wait to see what is in store......