SlipKnoT: Behind The Nine

Overview:
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa, formed in 1995. For the greater part of their tenure the band consisted of nine members, however the death of bassist Paul Gray in May 2010, has left the band with only eight remaining members—Sid Wilson, Joey Jordison, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn "Clown" Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor—each of whom is known for wearing their own grotesque mask.

Slipknot formed in 1995 and underwent several line-up changes following the independent release of their first demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996. That album featured original lead vocalist, Anders Colsefini. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1999, featuring permanent new lead vocalist, Corey Taylor, and was followed by Iowa in 2001 and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) in 2004. On August 25, 2008, the band returned to release their fourth studio album, All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 charts. The band has released three DVDs, including Disasterpieces, which was certified quadruple-platinum in the United States. Slipknot has sold over 14 million records worldwide.


Formation and early years (1995 – 1998)
Early formations of a band were beginning to coalesce as early as 1992, when the core band members, percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan, vocalist Anders Colsefini, and bassist Paul Gray enlisted the help of guitarists Donnie Steele and Quan Nong, and created Painface.

In September 1995, the band "The Pale Ones" was created comprising Crahan on drums, Gray on bass, Colsefini on vocals, and guitarist Steele. Joey Jordison joined the band shortly after, taking up the role of drummer and, subsequently, Crahan moved to percussion. The band continued to develop their vision of what the band would be, deciding to add a second guitarist, recruiting Josh Brainard and moving Colsefini to percussion along with lead vocals. The band played their first live performance under the name of Meld on December 4, 1995 at a club called Crowbar in Des Moines. Soon after, Jordison suggested renaming the band "Slipknot" after their song that eventually appeared on the band's demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. The band also began experimenting with their image, wearing grotesque make-up and eventually the anti-image concept developed towards the members wearing masks. Up until this point, the band had remained mainly obscured due to their desire to wait until their music was fully developed.

With plenty of material ready, the band began recording in a local studio, SR Audio with Sean McMahon. In February 1996, guitarist Donnie Steele left the band due to his Christian beliefs; though the other band members were prepared to allow him to stay, Steele decided to leave. His replacement, Craig Jones, arrived during the mixing stages of this new project. On April 4, 1996, Slipknot played their first public performance at Des Moines reggae club the Safari, where they played most of their early gigs. Their second gig at the Safari was alongside Stone Sour. The band began to realize again that there was need for a change, as they were adding samples to their recordings but could not produce these sounds live. Subsequently, Jones moved to full-time sampler and Mick Thomson was brought in to fill the space on guitar. After conflict over the mixing and mastering, the band self released their first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. on Halloween, October 31, 1996.

With the production of this album, Sean McMahon began distributing it between record and management companies, which resulted in airplay on local radio and, in turn, won a spot at Dotfest. Slipknot had returned to the studio having developed new material, which demanded more vocal melody. As a result, Corey Taylor was recruited from fellow Des Moines band Stone Sour; this moved Colsefini to backing vocals and percussion. While experimenting with their new vocalist, the band continued to do shows at the Safari club, during one of which Colsefini surprised his band and fans alike announcing on stage that he was leaving the band. The gap on percussion was filled by Greg Welts, who was affectionately known as "Cuddles". Towards the end of 1997, the band was assigned individual numbers respectively and began wearing uniform coveralls at their shows.

In early 1998, the band recorded their demo, which included "Spit It Out". The Slipknot Demo was sent to many record labels and, along with a growing popularity on the Internet and help from their then manager Sophia John, interest grew from record labels and eventually producer Ross Robinson was contacted. The band, which had a strong interest in working with Robinson, met with him and it was then decided they would work together. Soon after, DJ Sid Wilson was brought in to the band after showing great interest and impressing band members. With the acquisition of Ross Robinson, interest grew and the band began getting offers from record labels. On July 6, 1998 Welts was asked to leave the band becoming the first (and only) band member to be ultimately fired from the band. Chris Fehn replaced Welts on percussion and on July 8 they signed to Roadrunner Records.


Debut album and commercial success (1998–2001)
In late 1998, Slipknot entered the recording studio to work on their debut album. In the early new year, guitarist Brainard decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. His replacement, Jim Root, left the band with the line-up they retain. Recording finished in early 1999, with "Me Inside" and "Purity", and the band attended the Ozzfest which began in March. On June 29, 1999, the band released their eponymous album Slipknot. Regarding the album, Rick Anderson of Allmusic wrote "You thought Limp Bizkit was heavy? They're The Osmonds. Slipknot is something else entirely." The band performed in the Livin La Vida Loco tour in support of Slipknot.

Slipknot included variations of previously released songs, including "(sic)"; a version of the previous song "Slipknot". These versions were faster than their previous recordings and this shift in intensity was welcomed by old fans. In the same year, Slipknot released their first home video Welcome to Our Neighborhood (which was later released on DVD in 2003). In early 2000, Slipknot was certified platinum, a first for an album released by Roadrunner Records. In July 2001, Q named Slipknot as one of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time".


Iowa and side projects (2001–2003)
After the success of their debut, Slipknot decided to enter the studio again for a second album. By then, the band had created a huge fan base, and the expectations for their follow up album were great. They went back into the studio in early 2001 to work on a new album. Iowa, the band's second album with Roadrunner Records, was released on August 28, 2001. Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic said "It's really all you could ask for in a Slipknot album, and then some", and David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the album "the first great record of the nu metal era." It was also a commercial success, peaking at number three on the Billboard album charts, and at number one on the UK album chart. In mid-2001, the band once again toured with Ozzfest,[ and performed in the Kill The Industry tour in support of Iowa. The band also appeared in the concert scene of the 2002 movie Rollerball. In the same year, while touring Europe on their Iowa World Tour, the BBC said that Slipknot stole the show and proved entertaining after the band performed at Reading Festival in England.[ After touring Europe, the band performed at venues in Japan for the Japan Iowa Tour. In the same year, Slipknot released their second visual output with the release of their DVD Disasterpieces.

2002 also saw the first serious musical projects for Slipknot members outside of the band. Lead vocalist Taylor and guitarist Root revived their band Stone Sour with the release of their eponymous debut album Stone Sour. Drummer Jordison also had his own project in which he took up the role of guitarist in the Murderdolls. Slipknot planned to work on a third album towards the end of 2002 but the band was experiencing problems. At this time there was rumours concerning whether the band had split and the possibility of a third album. By mid-2003 Crahan also had a new side project, To My Surprise, in which he worked with producer Rick Rubin.

Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), 9.0 Live, and side projects (2003–2007)
"It was the rebirth of Slipknot, you know what I mean it was like... us coming back together, pushing out the vibe that had gotten in there and kinda started pulling people away. But we figured out that you know, we do have to get space you know, we do need to let people be sometimes". — Paul Gray on Slipknot's third album.

In late 2003, Slipknot began writing and recording with producer Rick Rubin, who had previously worked with artists such as Johnny Cash, System of a Down, and Slayer. Roadrunner Records also announced they would no longer be distributing Slipknot's albums in Scandinavia, due to financial terms. However Slipknot managed to pen a deal with Nuclear Blast Records in early 2003 for the releases in Scandinavia. The band released their third album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) on May 24, 2004, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic called the album "a satisfying, carefully crafted representation of [the band's] career to date", while Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone said the album "experiments with even newer extremes, which in Slipknot's case means tunefulness and traditional song structures." The title of the album denotes that this is their third album, band members later mentioned that they do not consider Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. as an album which reflects the band. In 2004, the band toured on the Ozzfest for a third time, the same year they made their first appearance at Download Festival where Jordison replaced Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich after he was rushed to hospital. In 2005, Slipknot made live appearances without percussionist Crahan—who was supporting his wife during an illness—including their return to Download Festival.

Slipknot released their first live album, 9.0: Live which included recordings from shows in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Osaka, Singapore, and Tokyo. The album was released on November 1, 2005 and peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200. In 2006, the band won their first and only Grammy for Best Metal Performance with "Before I Forget". Later that year, Slipknot released their third DVD Voliminal: Inside the Nine.

Several members of the band collaborated with other artists on the Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions CD released in October 2005. On the record, Jordison was named a "team captain". Root, Taylor, and Gray also contributed to the album. In 2006, Root and Taylor once again returned with Stone Sour releasing their second album Come What(ever) May. Jordison was positioned as drummer in several bands while on tour including; Ministry (2006) and Korn (2007). He also produced 3 Inches of Blood's third album Fire Up the Blades which was released in early 2007. Later in the year Crahan revealed a new side project, Dirty Little Rabbits.

All Hope Is Gone and death of Paul Gray (2008–present)
Slipknot released their fourth studio album All Hope Is Gone on August 20, 2008. It is the first Slipknot album to ever peak at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The Album has gone on to sell 825,000 copies in the U.S., been awarded a Gold certification, and has spawned 5 singles with the third single Dead Memories charting at #1 on the Hot 100 Mainstream Rock tracks. Preparation for the album started in October 2007 with recording pushed back to February 2008. For this release the band expressed an interest in making it their heaviest album to date with an expansion of the thrash metal riffing introduced on Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). However, they also wanted to make it their most experimental record, and wished to include more acoustic guitars and melodic vocals, as well as introducing hi-hats and cymbals to the additional percussion. The album was the band's first work with Dave Fortman as producer. Along with the album, the band debuted "evolved" masks and uniforms, which matched the style of the album. Slipknot headlined the first ever Mayhem Festival festival in July and August 2008. The band was scheduled to play in the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2008, but was forced to cancel after drummer Joey Jordison broke his ankle.

Slipknot also toured Australia, Japan, Europe and the United Kingdom in the latter months of 2008, with the bands Machine Head and Children of Bodom opening at their concerts. The UK dates were announced on August 20, for an early December tour. Slipknot were also forced to cancel their show in Israel, due to 2 of the members having family problems, it was stated by Corey that the show would be rescheduled to the tour.

In the summer of 2009, Slipknot made several appearances at European festivals, notably the Sonisphere Festival for its Dutch and Spanish legs, and headlining performances at Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals and the UK's Download Festival. The band completed the All Hope is Gone World Tour with a performance at the first annual Trinity of Terrors Halloween Celebration which took place at the Palms Resort and Casino on November 1, 2009.

In August 2009, Slipknot won two Kerrang! awards, including best live act. They were also voted best international band. It has been confirmed by Corey that the band will be going on another short break after the All Hope Is Gone World Tour, so he can get back in the studio with Stone Sour also to work on his solo album.

On September 9, 2009, Slipknot re-released their album slipknot as Slipknot 10th Anniversary – Limited Edition. The album features 25 tracks, including the original album as well as rare demos, remixes, rare b-sides and more. The DVD, entitled "of the (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams", contains behind the scene footage of the band from 1999 as well as music videos and other extras.

On September 17, 2009, Shawn Crahan revealed that he is writing and releasing a book titled The Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey, telling the journey of being in Slipknot. There is no known date when the book will be released. He has also started his own art gallery showings, selling his photographs, paintings, and canvas prints.

On December 18, 2009, Slipknot released a short film about the song Snuff taken from the All Hope Is Gone album.


Death of Paul Gray
On May 24, 2010, bassist Paul Gray was found dead in a hotel room in Urbandale, Iowa. Circumstances surrounding his death are not yet known, though an autopsy has determined no foul play or trauma was involved. The day after his death, the band held a live press conference in commemoration of Gray, expressing their feelings from the incident.
(I will add more to this as it becomes known.)

Influences and style
The band has stated that their primary influences include Kiss, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Judas Priest, Korn, White Zombie, Led Zeppelin and Beastie Boys. Death metal, black metal and heavy metal have been mentioned as a key influence on the band's musical direction alongside nu metal, the category the band is generally listed as. They have also stated that they are influenced by industrial bands like Head of David, Godflesh and Skinny Puppy as well as Neurosis and jungle music like Roni Size.

Slipknot are seen as pioneers of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. They can be compared with groups such as Pantera, Machine Head, Biohazard, Life of Agony, and Prong and are known for often chaotic and energetic live shows. The extreme performance style provided by their large line-up featuring a typical heavily down-tuned guitar set-up (lead, rhythm, and bass guitars), two percussionists in addition to the primary drummer, and electronics (samplers and turntables). Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone compared the band's sound to "a threshing machine devouring a military drum corps".

Their early work hosted a diverse range of vocal styles, ranging from growled vocals, rapping and occasional melodic singing. In more recent work, this vocal style remains present, but now includes more melodic singing as well as less rapping. The lyrics generally follow a very aggressive tone and feature themes such as darkness, nihilism, anger, disaffection, love, misanthropy and psychosis. Rick Anderson of Allmusic regards the group's lyrics as "not generally quotable on a family website". There has been controversy surrounding Slipknot's lyrics, including a case in which a pair of young killers blamed the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece" for their vicious crime and a case in 2006 in which lyrics from the song "Surfacing" were found at the site of a grave robbing.

Image and identities
"It's our way of becoming more intimate with the music. It's a way for us to become unconscious of who we are and what we do outside of music. It's a way for us to kind of crawl inside it and be able to use it."
— Corey Taylor on the masks.

The band is known for its attention-grabbing image: the members wear matching jumpsuit uniforms, and each one has a unique mask. In the past, their jumpsuits have featured large UPC barcodes printed on the back and sleeves, which are identical and render the same barcode number to the barcode on their first demo, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. Aside from their real names, members of the band are referred to by numbers zero through eight.

With each new album, Slipknot has used new masks and coveralls. The masks have not changed dramatically with the release of their second and third albums, as the masks are more of an extension of what they previously were. Jordison addressed the issue in an interview in 2004, stating that the change in masks are to show growth and difference within age. During the music video and live performances of their single "Vermilion" the band change their respective masks to death masks made from casts of their own faces.Also in 2004, Gray claimed that the special effects company Screaming Mad George made their masks from their third album cycle, and pictures of the band's masks from their second album cycle can be found on the SMG website.

The masks have been subject of much criticism, generally thought of as a gimmick to try sell their product. The band strongly objects to these claims, proclaiming that the masks are used to draw the attention away from themselves and put it on the music. Several members have said how the masks are a visual representation of how the music makes them feel and how they put the members in an animal-like mentality. The coveralls and numbers are an extension of the anti-image concept they created with the masks. The integrity of the masks is also a topic of criticism as band members have appeared outside of Slipknot without the masks. The issue has been addressed by most band members. Percussionist Crahan specifically addressed the issue during an interview on The Sauce when discussing the release of their 2006 DVD Voliminal: Inside the Nine, proclaiming that the masks are always going to be part of the Slipknot show.

Purgatory masks
Beginning on April 1, 2008, Slipknot's official website began to display splash teasers to promote All Hope Is Gone. During the process there had been around 18 splash teasers, the first nine displayed the band in their new large masks, however the last seemingly showed dark figures with what seemed like ordinary size heads. During the recording of the video shoot for Psychosocial, the purgatory masks could be seen being burned in the background. An interview with Jim Root revealed that "they represent the ego of that is Slipknot."

Controversy with masks
The band's image has started controversy over the years. A portion of the controversy comes from the band Mushroomhead, who, along with their fans, claimed that Slipknot stole their image. In 2009, Mushroomhead vocalist Waylon Reavis stated that the feud had ended. Another source of controversy was the band's 2005 lawsuit against Burger King, claiming that company created the advertising based band Coq Roq to capitalize on Slipknot's image. The band's lawyer claimed that Burger King had contacted the band's label to get Slipknot to take part in an "advertising campaign designed to motivate young people to vote". Burger King responded to the suit with a countersuit, and in that suit pointed out that many other bands, such as Mr. Bungle, Mushroomhead, Mudvayne, Kiss, Insane Clown Posse and Gwar have used masks as part of their image. After negotiations, the advertising campaign and lawsuit were both dropped.

Discography

Studio albums
Slipknot (1999)
Iowa (2001)
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004)
All Hope Is Gone (2008)
Videography
Welcome to Our Neighborhood
Disasterpieces
Voliminal: Inside the Nine

Awards
RIAA certifications:
(these statistics were compiled from the RIAA certification online database)

Albums
Slipknot: Double Platinum (February 2001)
Iowa: Platinum (October 2002)
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses): Platinum (February 2005)
9.0: Live: Gold (December 2005)
All Hope Is Gone: Gold (December 2008)
Videos and DVDs
Welcome to Our Neighborhood: Platinum (February 2000)
Disasterpieces: Quadruple Platinum (November 2005)
Voliminal: Inside the Nine: Platinum (February 2007)


Grammy Awards and Nominations
Slipknot has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, resulting in one win. They were also nominated at the 2008 VMA's, in the category of Best Rock Video, for the single "Psychosocial." They lost it to Linkin Park's "Shadow of the Day".

"Wait and Bleed" - Best Metal Performance, 2001 (nomination)
"Left Behind" - Best Metal Performance, 2002 (nomination)
"My Plague" - Best Metal Performance, 2003 (nomination)
"Duality" - Best Hard Rock Performance, 2005 (nomination)
"Vermilion" - Best Metal Performance, 2005 (nomination)
"Before I Forget" - Best Metal Performance, 2006 (winner)
"Psychosocial"- Best Metal Performance, 2009 (nomination)

Current members

Corey Taylor (#8 )
Active: 1997–present
Instruments: Lead vocals
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases from Slipknot Demo (1998) to present.
Corey Taylor was recruited from fellow local band Stone Sour in 1997; Slipknot's music required more melodic singing which vocalist Anders Colsefni struggled to accomplish. The initial idea was to have the vocalists share duties, however it was decided that Taylor would take over the majority of the vocals and Colsefni was moved to backing vocals.



Mick Thomson (#7)
Active: 1996–present
Instruments: Guitar
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases from Slipknot Demo (1998) to present.
Shortly after Craig Jones entered the band as a guitarist it was decided that he would move to samples, Thomson was brought in to fill the position on guitar and has remained in the line-up since.



James Root (#4)
Active: 1999–present
Instruments: Guitar
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases from Slipknot (1999) to present.
Jim Root joined the band in 1999 towards the end of the recording process of Slipknot. He was brought in as a guitarist following Josh Brainard's departure and is the last member of the band's current line-up to have joined.



Joey Jordison (#1)
Active: 1995–present
Instruments: Drums
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases.
Joey Jordison was a member of the original band formed in 1995.



Shawn Crahan (#6)
Active: 1995–present
Instruments: Custom percussion, backing vocals.
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases.
Shawn Crahan was a member of the original band formed in 1995 and was initially the sole drummer for a short period of time.



Chris Fehn (#3)
Active: 1998–present
Instruments: Custom percussion, backing vocals
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases from Slipknot (1999) to present.
Following the departure of Greg Welts, Chris Fehn was brought in to fill the position left on percussion and backing vocals. Previously Fehn had asked the band if he could roadie for the band, reportedly Fehn's initiation was said to have resembled the vetting process from the film Fight Club. However after a month of "(seeing) if he would fit into Slipknot", Fehn joined and has remained in the line-up since.



Craig Jones (#5)
Active: 1996–present
Instruments: Samples, media, guitars, keyboard.
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases from Slipknot Demo (1998) to present.
Craig Jones was first brought in to the band to fill the spot on guitar after Donnie Steele's departure. It occurred to Joey Jordison that they were incorporating an increasing amount of samples in their recordings and couldn't produce them live, as a result Jones moved to full-time sampler.



Sid Wilson (#0)
Active: 1998–present
Instruments: Turntables, keyboard
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases from Slipknot Demo (1998) to present.
The band were interested in adding a DJ to their line-up but were reluctant because they didn't know any that they considered good enough. After seeing the band live, Sid Wilson proclaims "I knew I was born to be in this band." Wilson contacted the band to show his interest in joining the band. After attending rehearsals and an incident before a show in which he head-butted all the band members he was considered "Slipknot material" and has remained in the line-up since.





Former members

Paul Gray (#2)
Active: 1995–2010
Instruments: Bass, backing vocals.
Release contributions: All Slipknot releases.
Paul Gray was a member of the original band formed in 1995.
He was with the band until his death on May 24, 2010 at the age of 38.




Donnie Steele
Active: 1995–1996
Instruments: Guitar
Release contributions: Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996)
Donnie Steele was a member of the original band formed in 1995. In February 1996, during the mixing process of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., Steele decided to leave the band. Steele was a "devout Christian" and realized that the band was no longer a project he could be a part of.

Anders Colsefni
Active: 1995–1997
Instruments: Lead vocals, custom percussion, backing vocals.
Release contributions: Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996)
Anders Colsefni was a member of the original band formed in 1995. In 1997, Corey Taylor joined the band to share the lead vocalist position. However it was decided that Taylor would replace Colsefni and he was subsequently moved to backing vocals. Unhappy with his new role in the band Colsefni decided to leave the band shortly after. His last name is often mistakenly spelled with an extra "i" as in "Colsefini", when it is actually "Colsefni".

Greg Welts (#3)
Active: 1997–1998
Instruments: Custom percussion, backing vocals.
Release contributions: Slipknot Demo (1998)
After the departure of Colsefni, Greg Welts was recruited to fill the spot left on percussion and backing vocals. In 1998, prior to the band signing with Roadrunner Records, Welts was asked to leave the band becoming the only band member to be ultimately fired from the band.

Josh Brainard (#4)
Active: 1995–1999
Instruments: Guitar
Release contributions: Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996) Slipknot Demo (1998), Slipknot (1999)
Josh Brainard was a member of the original band formed in 1995. Brainard left the band during the recording stages of Slipknot in 1999. The reasons for his departure are unclear, it was widely thought to have been because of family constraints however Brainard dispels these rumours, explaining that; "some decisions were made that I wasn't particularly happy with."

Interview with Paul Gray

The following was made by SlipKnot themselves, as a tribute to there fallen brother.