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Studio album by Slipknot
Released October 17, 2014
Recorded March 1 – July 28, 2014 at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California
Genre Heavy metal
Length 63:51
Label Roadrunner
Producer Greg Fidelman, Slipknot[1]
Slipknot chronology
Antennas to Hell
(2012) .5: The Gray Chapter
(2014)
Singles from .5: The Gray Chapter
"The Negative One"
Released: August 1, 2014
"The Devil in I"
Released: August 24, 2014
"Custer"
Released: October 10, 2014
"Killpop"
Released: April 28, 2015
.5: The Gray Chapter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands on October 17, 2014, the UK on October 20, 2014 and in North America on October 21, 2014.
It is the first studio album by the band in six years and the first not to feature founding bassist Paul Gray and long time drummer Joey Jordison due to the death of Gray in 2010 (the title of the album being a reference to his name), and the departure of Jordison in late 2013.
The album includes eight singles and has received commercial and critical acclaim.
Most critics praised the return of their older sound from Slipknot and Iowa, while maintaining the melodies the band explored on Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses).
A standard and deluxe edition of the album was released. Beneath the depicted skeleton and to the right, Gray's self-titled-era "Pig Mask" is visible.
Contents
1 Background
2 Promotion
3 Reception
4 Track listing
5 Charts
6 Personnel
Background
The writing process of the record began in late 2013. Wanting to dedicate more time to the album, guitarist Jim Root decided not to tour with Stone Sour in January 2014.
According to frontman Corey Taylor, the sound of the album is somewhat of a cross between 2001's Iowa and 2004's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Taylor stated that the material contains "gorgeous melodies" and the artistic direction as Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) but yet retains some of its "brutality" from the Iowa era.
A new bassist and drummer were added to the lineup during live shows, but Corey and Jim wrote the drumming for the album. Taylor told Loudwire that two similar masks were created for their appearances in music videos and stage performances, as they felt it was disrespectful to have them sporting unique masks.
Both members were briefly shown in the music video for "The Devil In I", but their identities have not been announced by Slipknot amidst speculation.
Root revealed in an interview that founding guitarist and former touring bassist Donnie Steele was involved in some of the studio sessions for the album, but that ultimately Steele declined to rejoin the band in favor of starting a family with his wife.
Bassist Alessandro Venturella of Krokodil was identified by the unique tattoos on his hands, performing in the video for "The Devil in I". The album was produced by Greg Fidelman and mixed by Joe Barresi. Fidelman is known for his work with Metallica, System of a Down, Audioslave and more, as well as mixing Slipknot's third album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), in 2004.
.5: The Gray Chapter received critical acclaim as most critics praised the return of their older sound from Slipknot and Iowa, while maintaining the melodies the band explored on Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Florino characterized it as "the most abrasive work since their self-titled debut," The Guardian's Dom Lawson as "every bit as warped and explosive as previous records" Blabbermouth.net' Ray Van Horn as "a return to their punishing roots" and that "AOV zips into some of the thrashiest tones Slipknot's yet delivered." Zorgdrager pointed out that Slipknot "wastes no time kicking it back to 2001's Iowa" while Metal Hammer's critic Dom Lawson noted that "there’s plenty of [...] brutal, turbocharged Slipknot [...] here," while Rock Revolt mentioned that "the album borrows elements from previous work "while pushing the creative boundaries of past albums into new territory."
That despite the pressure the band had "to shoulder to even get the album out," several critics pointed praised the way the album acknowledged Gray’s memory. Rock Revolt noted plenty of "lyrical content that can easily be assumed as references to the late Paul Gray." while Revolver magazine critic Dan Epstein and Gregory Heaney from AllMusic concluded that "they don’t try to sugarcoat their loss, anger or grief anywhere on the album," and that “from that deep well of pain, another great Slipknot record has emerged,” and that "they're able to channel their grief into a productive album, allowing them to continue moving forward [...] with one of the strongest albums of their career," respectively. Exclaim! critic Bradley Zorgdrager saw it as "it's a considerable accomplishment and a lovely eulogy to their fallen comrade."
Several critics appreciated the composition of the album, with Van Horn characterizing it as "a largely dark, often moving listening experience." Loudwire critic Chad Childers wrote noted the "mix of all the different sounds" creating "a musical journey" and pointed that while the album "rocks and pummels you in all the right places like you would hope, it also shows a depth in emotion and some heavily personal moments on a much grander scale,” while Artistdirect critic Rick Florino gave the album a perfect rating concluding that "by the time this journey ends, it feels as if Slipknot have come full circle."
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Slipknot.
No. Title Length
1. "XIX" 3:10
2. "Sarcastrophe" 5:06
3. "AOV" 5:32
4. "The Devil in I" 5:42
5. "Killpop" 3:45
6. "Skeptic" 4:46
7. "Lech" 4:50
8. "Goodbye" 4:35
9. "Nomadic" 4:18
10. "The One That Kills the Least" 4:11
11. "Custer" 4:14
12. "Be Prepared for Hell" 1:57
13. "The Negative One" 5:25
14. "If Rain Is What You Want" 6:20
Total length:
63:51
Deluxe Edition
No. Title Length
15. "Override" 5:37
16. "The Burden" 5:23
17. "-Silent-" 2:00
18. "-Talk-" 6:19
19. "-Funny-" 1:28
20." Im Not Jesus" 3:31(Bonus Track)
feat Apocalyptica
Total length:
84:38
