"Someone said, 'If you see them without their masks on, they will come and kill you!'" Why I love Slipknot's debut album, by Jamie Campbell Bower
· louderBy Merlin Alderslade
( Metal Hammer )
published 23 September 2024
The Bloodmagic frontman and Stranger Things actor on why Slipknot's first album remains unlike any other in metal
Metal Hammer's latest issue, on sale now, is a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Slipknot's incendiary, game-changing debut album. Featuring brand new interviews with Slipknot legends Shawn 'Clown' Crahan and Jim Root, plus nu metal producer extraordinaire Ross Robinson, it's the ultimate deep dive into the album that put the band on the map and helped crown metal's new chaotic kings of infamy.
As part of the issue, we spoke to some of the most notable and exciting young artists in the metal scene today, asking them to tell us exactly how Slipknot affected and influenced them both as artists and as music fans.
Like many millennial metal fans, for Stranger Things actor and Bloodmagic frontman Jamie Campbell Bower, it was the album's aesthetics and the infamous stories around the record that most immediately struck him.
"It was the masks and the rumours that introduced me to Slipknot," he explains. "When you’re at school, those things circulate really, really quickly, and I think someone had actually said, ‘If you ever see them without their masks on, or if they catch you trying to look, they will come round your house and kill you!’ I was just like, ‘Are you kidding?! What the fuck is this?!’
“The visual aspect was most terrifying. I grew up in the south of England and Guildford was our nearest city. But you’d see so many kids walking around in Slipknot hoodies – they were absolutely unavoidable. That was how I first discovered them, through rumour and visual. It wasn’t until later on that I got more clued into the music – I was too busy being interested in kissing and learning how to kickflip!"
Once Bower wrapped his ears around the album itself, however, if left an even longer lasting impression than Slipknot's terrifying image.
“That debut album and that band in general have never sounded perfect and that’s the beautiful thing about it. It’s all vibes and yes, obviously the songs are great, but sonically it’s doing something that’s entirely its own and really pushing boundaries. Artistically, that’s unbelievable – it’s what we all strive for.”
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Read more on Slipknot's debut album in the new issue of Metal Hammer, out now.
Merlin Alderslade
Executive Editor, Louder
Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.
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