The seventh studio album by American nu metal band Slipknot (the previous one was 2019’s We Are Not Your Kind) immediately flew to the top of the charts in the UK, Germany and many other countries, and there is no doubt that it will be also there in America – like the previous three albums of this band.
Since the days of “Iowa” (2001), this multi-head mascot and association has been in the Top 3 of their homeland, a result worthy of musical research, because the sound of “Slipknot” cannot be called commercial. For us, further interest in “The End, So Far” will probably be caused by the fact that the group just performed in Tallinn, where many Latvian heavy music fans had also gone.
In total, the new tape contains a dozen compositions lasting nearly an hour. This is the last album that “Slipknot” releases under the aegis of the famous “Roadrunner Records” – with this company, the musicians were bound by a cooperation agreement since 1998.
Band leader Corey Taylor has expressed the opinion that “The End, So Far” is heavier than “Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses”, which sounds quite surprising (and unwarranted), but – that’s what he thinks. .. It should be noted that this is the first studio student recorded with percussionist Michael Pfaff – he replaced Chris Fenn in 2019, but hardly anyone with the naked ear will notice the difference.
PAR. It seems that only the song “H377” (found only with the n. 10) would be enough to recognize this album as a success, but there is a series of energetic and furious, but at the same time melodic and memorable pieces – “The Dying Song (Time To Sing) “,” Hive Mind “, also” Yen “. Of course, one cannot fail to notice the playfulness and elegance of these nine men’s arrangements, but in this case – could it be otherwise ?! It will probably appeal to fans and the musicians themselves can be justifiably proud of what they have done.
VERSUS. Although Western music critics (“NME”, “Kerrang!”, “Metal Hammer”, etc.) have given this work four out of five stars quite unanimously, not everything is so clear – even the reviewer would refrain from singing. praise for this work. Especially against the background of its predecessor, which according to the author of these lines was one of the best albums in the history of “Slipknot”, if not the best. The opening track “Adderall” is very atypical for this group (it might sound rather like a homemade “Sigma” …), and even in the following there are several attempts to feed listeners with high art – perhaps it would not had to be? The band has evolved and grown, but they have also lost their primal fury, which in itself is a perfectly normal process, but sometimes I wish I could go back to the “Iowa” days.
