Slipknot - Iowa
- FaceOff - עימות חזיתי
- Aug 28
- 4 min read
Released on August 28, 2001, "Iowa" is an album that redefined the extremity of mainstream metal and cemented "Slipknot" as one of the most terrifyingly powerful forces in modern heavy music. More technical than their debut, "Iowa" is considered the band's heaviest and darkest album.
After the unexpected success of their self-titled 1999 debut "Slipknot", the nine masked men from Des Moines were catapulted from underground chaos to MTV, Ozzfest, and arenas around the world. They became Metal Stars, and the fame only sharpened their rage. By October 2000 drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray were already writing material, while the rest of the band tried to recover from the endless touring cycle.
On January 17, 2001 the band regrouped and entered Sound City Studios in Los Angeles. Producer Ross Robinson, who had already shaped their debut, returned once again to capture their fury, even though he was recovering from a dirt bike accident that had left him with a fractured back. He was back in the studio within a day, channeling his pain into the record, and the band fed off his intensity.
Recording officially began on January 22 and dragged on until March 16. The atmosphere was poisonous. Shawn Crahan later admitted, “Recording Iowa was hell, I wanted to kill myself.” Corey Taylor recalled that “there was nothing happy about Iowa,” noting how alcohol, drugs, management problems, and the sudden leap to fame had consumed them.
It was also the first album where guitarist Jim Root played a central role, after joining late in the recording of the debut. Root later described the experience as both exciting and terrifying, facing immense pressure from fellow guitarist Mick Thomson to prove himself.
The sessions grew infamous for the extremes the band pushed themselves into. Corey deliberately put himself through self-inflicted torment to summon the most harrowing performances. While recording the closing title track, he stripped naked, vomited on himself, and cut his body with shards of glass, later explaining that he had to break himself down completely to create something great. Sid Wilson, devastated by the death of his grandmother, had a complete breakdown during the intro track, his screams manipulated into the opening "(515)". It was pure pain captured on tape.
The opening "515" is less a song than a panic attack. Wilson’s gasping screams and noise, recorded after learning of his grandmother’s death, set the stage for the eruption that follows. "People = Shit" kicks the door in, a manifesto of misanthropy with Jordison’s blast beats and Mick and Jim’s chainsaw guitars thrashing against Taylor’s pure venom.
"Disasterpiece" is both a fan-favorite and one of Slipknot’s most vicious tracks, filled with bile and an unrelenting groove that makes violence sound like ritual. "My Plague", which gained additional attention from its appearance on the "Resident Evil" soundtrack, adds an almost industrial hook to the chaos, proving that even in madness, "Slipknot" could craft something perversely catchy.
"Everything Ends" keeps the nihilism at maximum level, with Taylor spitting out lyrics that feel like a suicide note set to speed metal. Then comes "The Heretic Anthem", with its infamous chant “If you’re 555 then I’m 666,” a call to arms for the band’s maggot fanbase and one of the most iconic moments in their live shows.
Not every track is played at hyperspeed. "Gently", a reworked version of a song first performed on their 1996 demo "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.", slows the tempo, relying on atmosphere and creeping menace, while "Skin Ticket" crawls through suffocating sludge, Corey’s lyrics reflecting on self-destruction with frightening honesty.
"Left Behind" stands out as one of the most accessible moments on the record, even earning radio play, though it still drips with despair. It showed that the band could deliver melody without sacrificing heaviness.
The closing title track "Iowa" is a 15-minute descent into hell. Built on repetition, feedback, and agonized shrieks, it is less a song than an endurance test, Corey reportedly recorded the vocals while naked, cutting himself, and vomiting in the studio. It ends the album not with triumph, but with collapse.
When it was released, "Iowa" debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and topped charts in the UK, despite being one of the most abrasive albums ever to achieve such success. Critics were divided, some dismissed it as noise, while others hailed it as a masterpiece of extremity. Over time, its reputation has only grown, with many fans and outlets considering it "Slipknot’s" defining statement of pure aggression.
The cover of the album is as unsettling as the music itself. It features the severed head of a lamb photographed in stark close-up, its lifeless form set against a black background. Conceived by Crahan’s dark vision and executed by his photography mentor Stefan Seskis, the image came from a Polaroid of “Eeyore,” the goat whose likeness became the emblematic cover. The band chose it deliberately as a symbol of sacrifice, decay, and the grotesque reality they were embracing during this period.
In the years following its release, "Iowa" became a rite of passage for metal fans. It was the record that proved mainstream success could coexist with uncompromising brutality, inspiring countless bands across metalcore, deathcore, and nu-metal to push boundaries. Its twentieth anniversary in 2021 was celebrated with deluxe editions, live tributes, and retrospectives that reaffirmed its place as one of the heaviest albums ever released by a major label. Tracks like "People = Shit" and "The Heretic Anthem" remain staples in Slipknot’s live set, carrying the same terrifying power decades later.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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