All Hope Is Gone by Slipknot
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Release date : August 2008
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
Background information
Review
Background information
A lengthy decade ago in the year 1998, commercial hit “Wait and Bleed” marked the inevitable mainstream arrival of a bizarre act - one of the strangest in years recent and years not so recent. Natives of Des Moines, Iowa, the nine-piece Slipknot emerged seemingly from nothing, frightening the MTV generation via the use of Halloween masks. The group's chosen style was a twisted hybrid of Metal music, bridging the gap between groups such as Korn, and penned material within the extreme underground. Heavier, angrier and visually uncannier over the course of several years, Slipknot's sales have skyrocketed well past the million mark, and the group's devoted fanbase (largely comprised of disillusioned teens) has significantly increased globally. Three albums aided in forging that success, namely; 1998's Slipknot, 2001's Iowa and 2004's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). A lengthy gap separates the group's studio full length release dates, an increasingly notorious state of affairs. On this specific occasion, the gap spans four years. Slipknot convened at Sound Farm Studios in February 2008, situated in the Iowan hamlet of Jamaica. Co-produced with group by Dave Fortman, mixing duties were handled by Colin Richardson. Recording concluded during early July, a measure so that Slipknot could headline the inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival North American tour.
In Revolver's July 2008 magazine issue (leaked to the press a month earlier), Slipknot unveiled several songtitles. On June 20th, title cut “All Hope Is Gone” was available as a free download single via Roadrunner Records' official website, but only for a limited period of twenty-four hours. Three days later, the single was available from digital retailers. Delivered to radio on June 30th, “Psychosocial” was made available for listening the same day via Mick Thomson's MySpace page. A day earlier, Hot Topic stores began to play the track every hour on the hour. By July 1st, “Psychosocial” was digitally released. As part of an exclusive partnership with AOL Music, the group's new imagery was unveiled July 1st as well. Within a mere twenty-four hours, eight million people had logged onto AOL Music's Spinner.com to obtain a glimpse of Slipknot's new masks. To accompany “Psychosocial”'s single, a video was filmed. The shoot itself was thrown into jeopardy when Sid Wilson was hospitalised with a head injury on June 30th, but the video was eventually completed. On July 18th, the video premiered on MTV's F'N MTV program. Marking the group's inevitable return, the July 23rd issue of Kerrang! magazine featured nine individual covers, each sporting a specific Slipknot member who adorns their new mask.
To plug All Hope Is Gone, Slipknot headlined the inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival North American tour as previously mentioned. Boasting acts such as Disturbed, Machine Head, DragonForce and Mastodon, the initial date occurred on July 9th at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington, and the concluding date happened on August 19th at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien Lake, New York. On the opening night, “Psychosocial” received its debut live airing. Unfortunately, Wilson apparently jumped off a stage situated in the background of the group's stage set, and landed incorrectly. Breaking both heels, Wilson still nonetheless performed at all tour dates.
On August 15th at seven p.m., Hot Topic stores across America played the album in its entirety. Special offers boasted a ten percent discount on any purchase, and an embroidered All Hope Is Gone patch for those who pre-ordered the album. From August 18th until the day of release, Slipknot's artist profile page on GetCloser.com held ninety second previews of all tracks. A special CD / DVD release was also planned, containing three bonus tracks, expanded artwork and a bonus DVD featuring the documentary Nine: The Making Of All Hope Is Gone - a thirty-five minute work supervised under the direction of percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan. Drummer Joey Jordison broke an ankle this same month, forcing the groups to cancel dates at Leeds Festival, Reading Festival, Wiesen, Austria's 2 Days a Week Festival, and Lüdinghausen, Germany's Area4 Festival, not to mention exclusive performances in support of MTV Europe and Virgin TV.
Review
If Slipknot's relative happiness of late causes you discomfort, then disappointment likely beckons. Should you have deemed Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses too excessively commercial to garner your affection, then omit All Hope Is Gone from your music collection. On the other hand, should you favour the less ghastly yet more melodically refined Slipknot which surfaced during 2004, then All Hope Is Gone should inspire profound happiness. In support of the album, Slipknot wholly embrace the melodic elements prevalent within their material. Taylor's customarily dark and expressive lyrics accompany the featured tracks, yet those penned words extend an inkling of hope. In light of Taylor's lyrical preoccupations, the album's actual title bears a hint of sarcasm.
The album's genuine launching cut, “Gematria (The Killing Name)” supplies the first glimmer of musical change. The song balances heavy and melodic aspects in much the same way that both colossal anthem “Wait and Bleed”, and cult favourite “Left Behind” (lifted from 2002's Iowa), did. During each bridge, Taylor's screams “We will burn your cities down!”, and that connotes suffering. Within a short space of time, the composition is destined to become a live staple. Initial impressions suggested that All Hope Is Gone's tunes will share more common traits with Stone Sour's material (side project of Taylor and guitarist Jim Root) as opposed to Slipknot's back catalogue, and “Sulfur”, “Psychosocial”, and “Wherein Lies Continue” confirm those suspicions. Harbouring a sound which closely approaches Alternative Rock, “Gehenna” is another bizarre shift. When paired alongside Power Ballad “Snuff”, both collectively amount to a puzzling listen for the ears of longtime admirers. More than slightly acoustic, the latter will likely comprise the focal point which either cements the album's worth for most aficionados, or illustrates their ultimate disappointment. The title composition happens to be the only track which even remotely approaches the heaviness exhibited by Iowa, the group's career defining opus, and forms All Hope Is Gone's conclusion. At this specific juncture, it's safe to state that Iowa was an anomaly - nowadays, Slipknot have no desire to rekindle such heavy convictions.
Slipknot isn't the same collection of livid, weather-beaten individuals which emerged over a decade ago. For greater or worse, All Hope Is Gone marks the inception of a dissimilar Slipknot. Slipknot seem comfortable with treading in their own skin, not to mention the immediate world which surrounds them. The perplexed revolutionaries of yesteryear have vanished, favouring both a slightly more intellectual and sufficiently more experimental approach. Without doubt, All Hope Is Gone can be labelled as a transitional album. When critiqued as a whole entity though, the full length is a delightful listen for lovers of heavy music - providing that individual isn't actually perturbed by weighty melodies.
