David Michl

Professor Christine Olding

ENG 21011
2 December 2015

The Effects of Drugs and Death on Slipknot

Slipknot is one of the most influential and well-known metal bands in not only the United
States, but internationally as well. The following will be a comparison of how both the sound of
Slipknots music and lyricism has changed since their heaviest album Iowa, to the most current
album .5 The Gray Chapter, and what factors brought on the observable changes, such as
personal growth of the musicians, respective substance abuse, and death of band members.
Slipknot is a heavy metal band that formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1995. Slipknot has
consistently been a nine-member band, covering the normal guitar/bass/drums portion of the
band, but also including more exotic tones such as turntables and alternative percussive matters,
such as using a keg as drum and a baseball bat as a drumstick. In addition to their strange band
roster and instrument choice, Slipknot also is exclusively known for wearing disturbing masks
and matching (or similar) jumpsuits during their live performances. The masks reflect what the
musicians feel define them inwardly, and take whatever factor(s) there are, and amplify them as a
manifested image in the form of a mask (Slipknot-Audiobiography). Between their appearance,
their energetic and chaotic stage performance, and fast-paced thrashing music, Slipknot
successfully separated themselves from any other bands of the time, which lead them to become
a pillar of the metal music community.

Slipknot has recorded five studio albums in their career: Slipknot (Self-titled, 1999), Iowa
(2001), Vol. 3: Subliminal Verses (2003), All Hope Is Gone (2008), and .5 The Gray Chapter
(2014). A comparison will be made between the second album, Iowa, which reached third on
Billboards Top 200 Chart in September of 2001, and .5 The Gray Chapter, which peaked at
number one on Billboards Top 200 on November 2014. Needless to say, both these albums were
hugely successful, and well received by the public. However, these albums are stylistically very
different from one another, and these differences in the lyricism and overall presentation of the
music may be traced back to changes that the musicians have underwent in the time span
between the two albums. With the differences and similarities between the two albums, and
factors such as drug use, death, and social strain between bandmates kept in perspective with the
time frame of the music, a line can be drawn between what factors affected the musicians, and
how these factors influenced the music itself. Additionally, Slipknot has undergone more roster
changes in their time as a band than most, and both the albums Iowa and .5 The Gray Chapter
have different rosters, which needs to be taken into account when comparing the music.
Iowa was Slipknots second studio album, and was the follow-up to the self-titled album
that put Slipknot into the spotlight. In a traditional sense, when a band becomes famous, the
following music is generally made to aim to a broader audience, to attract a wider base of fans.
However, this was not what Slipknot aimed to accomplish with Iowa. Slipknot turned away from
making music that would be even more widely accepted than the first album, and strove to create
what vocalist and songwriter, Corey Taylor, calls The darkest fucking album Ive ever heard.
(Crahan).
Slipknot drove to create an album that reflected exactly how each of the band members
felt at that point in time in their lives, and exemplify the factors that caused them to feel that way

in the music itself. Iowa is an album that not only conveys its message lyrically, but also utilizes
the raw emotion of the musicians to add to the presentation of the content. Iowa can be summed
up by one concept: anger. Anger derived from substance abuse, social strain between band
members, and anger at the industry that the band belonged to. The instrumentation of Iowa is
very fast paced, heavy, inarticulate, and heavily distorted. Taylors vocals on the record are
guttural, direct, and often in a full pitch yell rather than anything close to a perfect melodic
harmony. Slipknot uses a very direct instrumentation style combined with Taylors erratic vocals
to create an album that is not only angry, dense, and obvious, but also lyrically darker than
anything they released previously.
Guitarist Mick Thomson is quoted on saying that after their rising in popularity following
their first album, they acquired the attention of both record labels and poisonous people. With
all the newfound stardom, Thomson recounts of how it changed some of the musicians of
Slipknot, letting the success go to their head, as the band played right into what they strove to
defy. (Crahan). This can directly attributed to the lyrics People equal shit (Slipknot,
People=Shit), I will never be you (Slipknot, My Plague), and All the money in the world
cant buy me (Slipknot, The Heretic Anthem).
For some members, Iowa served as an outlet to divulge their grief of loss. Specifically,
Sid Wilson (Turntables) laid the exposition for the track by recording the opening track (515)
after he his grandfather had passed away before Sid could come home to see him, due to Sid
needing to be present to finish the album. After receiving the news about his late grandfather, Sid
went into the recording studio, and just screamed, yelled, and moaned into the microphone, just
to let it out. It was later used as the opening track of the record, which sets a very creepy and
dissonant vibe over the record. (Crahan) The recording is one of the primary examples that

shows how very real and raw the emotion was that went into the recordings, both of anger from
Taylor, and anguish from Wilson.
However, the one common factor that ties many of the bandmates together is a common
substance abuse, whether its an illegal drug or alcohol. Jim Root (Guitar) is quoted to saying
When I wasnt playing guitar or any of that sh-t, I was partying, because thats what wed do.
(Crahan). Corey Taylor (vocals) admitted in an interview with Loudwire in 2015 that during the
recording of Iowa, he had been drinking a lot just for the sake of feeling something good,
because everything else in his life felt bad. (Wiederhorn 1) Jim Root admits in the same
interview with Loudwire that even though his drug addictions were pretty in-the-closet, he was
partying a lot during the recording of Iowa, which lead him to have a breakdown after being up
for days on end partying. (Wiederhorn 1) Paul gray (Bass) was quoted with saying I was doing
lines of coke all the time. But for me, I thought everything was cool. (Wiederhorn 1)
As previously mentioned, death, social strain, and drug usage all the three main factors
that were polymerized when writing and recording Iowa, but the subsequent drug use is the only
factor that can be backed scientifically, rather than by word-of-mouth. For instance, a study by
Brad Bushman was conducted in 1997, which strove to try and correlate human aggression and
alcohol consumption. In this study, two groups of participants were observed: one that was given
doses of alcohol, and the other that received a placebo (to act as a control). Both groups were
comprised of both men and women, and of varying age groups. It was determined after a certain
number of tests that alcohol did increase aggression in humans by reducing inhibition of the
consumer. The types of aggression documented by the proctors were Indirect/Direct Physical
aggression and Indirect/Direct verbal aggression. The results came back that not only did

observable aggression increase in the group who received alcohol, but it also increased more for
men than it did for women. (Bushman 237-238)
With this data in mind, a new insight can be given about Taylors vocal style, which is
very direct, angry, and guttural, and his lyricism, which is dark, violent, and aggressive in
content. Taylor alternates between yelling, screaming, and grunting his lyrics, to a very
dissonant, atonal spoken vocal style, which differs itself from his usual hyper-aggressive screams
with a very despondent and disturbed vibe. As stated above, Taylor admitted to being quite the
drinker during Iowa, to try and alleviate his emotional despair, and the effects of his binge
drinking on his vocals and lyrics become clear when kept in tandem with the physiological
effects of alcohol itself.
On the other end of the spectrum, the other drug that was explicitly mentioned by any of
the musicians was Paul Grays Cocaine use. Cocaine is a stimulant drug that has the potential
physiological effects of heightened euphoria, feeling energetic, heightened senses, and is said to
help increase the speed at which users perform physical and mental tasks. (What are the short
term effects of cocaine use?) Gray could have used it to not only feel great, but to increase his
ability to play his bass, and the speed at which he could do so, due to his increased
energy/heightened senses from the drug.
In 1993, a study was done at the University of Virginia, which tested the effects of human
aggression after being subjected to doses of the drug. Just like the study about alcohol, there
were two groups: one which received increasing or decreasing doses of cocaine, and one that
received placebos. After several trials, it was found that the group receiving cocaine reacted more
aggressively to stimuli than the placebo group, and the aggressive behavior only increased as the
dose of cocaine increased. (Licata ET AL 551)

Both Gray and Taylor (along with members like Crahan and Root) were the main lyricists
of the band at the time, and did wrote nearly all the vocals for Iowa. Each of the respective drugs
for Taylor and Gray have been shown to increase aggression in the user. So, when analyzing the
lyrics of tracks off of Iowa, a direct link can be drawn from the verbal aggression of the lyrics to
the aggressive tendencies of the writers themselves.
The song Everything Ends is an epitome of the aforementioned contributing factors,
and acts as a good summarization of the album. Thats not to say that its the heaviest song on
Iowa, nor does it have the most aggressive tone or lyrics, but it acts as a perfect middle ground
that bridges the gap between the angriest sounding songs with lacking lyrics, to the more tame
songs that are more lyrically involved than others.
The song begins with Taylor singing in an atonal style while a single guitar plays a fast
and steady rhythm in the background. As the intro breaks, Taylor shifts from his atonal speech to
a guttural yell and the guitar picks up with the bass, percussion, and electronics entering to
compile into a driving metal sequence. Taylor reenters after the instrumentation dies down a bit
with a verse in which he is screaming, but in a style that seems almost like hes rapping the
lyrics. The guitars and bass are playing in very staccato manner behind the vocals, and have
become more distorted and thicker sounding than the opening guitar. There are breaks
throughout the song where Taylors vocals drop off and the instrumentation picks back up to
mini breakdowns, with intermittent screams and grunts from the vocalist. The instrumentation is
very fast and chaotic, but also has a definite order to it, amongst the high distortion and gained
guitars and bass. The percussive pieces are all moving at a very fast tempo throughout the song,
and never slow down, until all instrumentation cuts off at the end leaving a single squealing
guitar.

Taylors vocals start out as atonal speech, but quickly become very angry screams and
yells as the instrumentation speeds up and becomes more chaotic. Taylor raps through the verses,
while still yelling and screaming the lyrics, in a manner that sounds very angry and accusatory.
On the lyrics You are wrong, fucked, and overrated, I think Im gonna be sick and its your
fault (Slipknot, Everything Ends), Taylor growls the lyrics until he hits the words your fault
and then drops from a scream to more of an exhale than a yell. Throughout the song, Taylors
vocals consistently remain in a very aggressive yell that has a very angry tone.
Examining the lyrics of Everything Ends by Slipknot, the message is just as angry as
the vocal style and instrumentation that presents them. With lyrics such as Found out my whole
life was a lie, motherf-cker, Fix my problems with the blade, and I am only conditioned to
die. (Slipknot, Everything Ends), Taylor depicts a very angry and dark message of
helplessness, self-harm, and ultimate self-destruction. At the end of the song, Taylor runs through
a series of questions such as Is there anyone left in my life? and Anybody want to tell me Im
fine? (Slipknot, Everything Ends).
Between the lyricism, the instrumentals, and the vocal presentation, Everything Ends
by Slipknot depicts just how angry, chaotic, and dark the whole album is (and only gets more
intense from there). The aggressive tendencies derived from the alcohol abuse and cocaine abuse
of Taylor and Gray (respectively) becomes apparent when you analyze the lyrics and vocal style
of the band. Then factor in that all nine members of the band contributed to the writing process in
some way, and the pure in-your-face aggressive tone of the album becomes clear when you take
into account whatever substances the other 7 band member were using at the time.
The total aggressive tone of Iowa cannot be totally summarized into one causation, nor
can one manifest the album as a whole under one concept, but the application of some of the

factors such as a heightened state of aggression due to drug use (while both playing and writing),
social distortion between bandmates as the bands popularity increased beyond the scope of their
normality, and pressure of fulfilling an increasingly large role as musicality as time progresses,
all can be attributed as to reasons why the tone of Iowa was so dark and angry. The album is yet
simple in its primal anger in terms of the instrumental sound and vocalism, but complex in its
subject matters and lyrical presentation of the pain and anger that the writers were feeling when
they conceptualized Iowa.
Over the course of the next 8 years, Slipknot released two mores studio albums: Vol 3.
Subliminal Verses in 2004 and All Hope is Gone in 2008. Both albums were well-received by
fans and by mainstream media. Slipknot was continually touring still, and thrived.
On May 24th of 2010, Paul Gray was found dead in a hotel in Johnston, Iowa. Toxicology
results came back that Gray had an accidental overdose on morphine and Fentanyl, which is a
painkiller (Wiederhorn 1). As expected, the band was devastated by the loss of one of the
founding members of Slipknot, and took a substantial amount of time off from touring.
Eventually, in 2011, the band returned touring became active once more, after their refraction
period of grievance.
In December of 2013, the drummer of Slipknot, Joey Jordison, was fired from his
position in the band, and released. (SLIPKNOT's COREY TAYLOR: Firing JOEY JORDISON
'Was One Of The Hardest Decisions We Ever Made'). Taylor admits that relieving Jordison was
for personal reasons alone, and the band had come to the consensus that it would be best for the
band as a whole to progress without him.

Entering 2014, Slipknot was now down to seven members, missing both a founding
member, and another of 18 years. The band had been touring with no stage performer playing
bass after Grays death, and now had to compensate for the lack of a percussionist as well.
However, Slipknot had acquired both live performers to replace Gray and Jordison during
performances, but refused to identify them. It wasnt until late 2014 that a crew member of
Slipknots touring crew posted a picture of the itinerary member list that revealed the names of
the two unknown performers: Jay Weinberg as the new drummer and Alex V-Man Venturella
as the new bassist (Pasbani 1).
On October 19 of 2014, Slipknot released their fifth full-length album: .5 The Gray
Chapter. Neither Jordison nor the two new performers, Weinberg and Venturella, were a part of
the writing process on the new album. The album is a culmination of how the band has dealt with
the loss of Paul Gray, and the music and lyrics are a direct reflection of the emotion and mental
turmoil that his death had caused the members individually, as well as the band as a whole. (Full
Metal Jackie 1). The name of the album, .5 The Gray Chapter, as well as most of the song names
and lyrics can be directly attributed to the late bassist, Paul Gray.
For instance, the album begins with Taylor say This song is not for the living, this song
is for the dead. (Slipknot, XIX), directly referring to Gray. There seems to be several instances
of self-blame surrounding Grays death as well, with lyrics such as Never be the same, I want
the blame; to be assigned to the guiltiest one. (Slipknot, Skeptic) as well as For Gods sake
weve suffered; this pain is now our lives. For Gods sake weve suffered enough. (Slipknot,
The Burden).
The tone of .5 The Gray Chapter has a varying texture, moving from a dissonant melodic
style, to some very thrash-metal style music that resembles that of Iowa and the self-titled album.

However, the main theme that is overlain over the entire album is a varying degree of grief. In
some tacks, such as Goodbye, its very blatant, slow, and delivered in more of a melodic
manner, whereas songs such as Skeptic and Lech are more outwardly and directly
aggressive.
The song Skeptic is arguably the greatest summarization of .5 The Gray Chapter due to
both the lyrical composition of the song, and the portrayal and manner in which the band
exemplifies the lyrics to compile onto the overall message of the song (and album).
Skeptic begins with heavy guitar and bass with high distortion playing at a fast tempo,
backed up by pressing drums and a chaotic lone guitar that is squealing higher notes in a bend,
which gives a chaotic tone to the already fast metal pace that the guitar, bass, and drums have set.
When Taylors lyrics begin, the instrumentation backs off, becoming more staccato, but still
prevalent. During the bridge, the guitars move towards a similar bend-squeal tone, like in the
beginning, but this time backed up by Taylors vocals. After the bridge, the guitars remain in the
forefront with a small, fast moving line as Taylors vocals back off. The song ends with the
guitars returning to both the squeals and bends, but also playing the same high-gain chugging
verse that was played throughout the song.
Taylor begins the song with some screamed vocals that sound more like a growl than his
traditional scream. When Taylor gets to the lyrics I want the blame; to be assigned to the
guiltiest one (Slipknot, Skeptic), his vocals shift from a forceful growl to a full-on scream, of
which sounds both angry and desperate. His vocals then shift to even more accusatory tone when
he yells Stop taking the best of us (Slipknot, Skeptic), either blaming himself for Grays
death, or manifesting blame on Gray himself for his overdose. Taylors vocals consistently

remain both angry and heartfelt throughout the remained of the song, constantly partitioned
between what appears to be anger, angst, and desperation.
The lyrics of Skeptic are as direct as they come and encapsulate one common theme:
an accusatory self-blame complex for the death of the late bassist and both a proclamation to
keep Gray alive, while cursing whatever force took him. With lyrics such as The world will
never know another man as amazing as you and I wont let you disappear. I will keep your soul
alive if I cant have you here. (Slipknot, Skeptic). Taylor screams these lyrics both to himself
and all who will listen, but they seem to be the sentiment of the whole band. You got to know
that you are sorely missed. (Slipknot, Skeptic) are the most direct lyrics in the entire song that
demonstrate the standing of how the band is positioned after Gray passed away.
Skeptic does not use any form of euphemism or metaphor the delivery its message.
Slipknot took the most direct approach to commemorate the late-bassist in not only the song, but
on the whole album itself. .5 The Gray Chapter delivers a message of grief, anger, and anguish at
not only the musicians themselves, but an overall tone of angst that shadows over everything
after Grays death.
When comparing Iowa and .5 The Gray Chapter, there is not a lot in common other than
a singularity of anger between the two albums. However, not even that is the same due to the
different causes of the aggressive tonality on each of the respective album. On Iowa, the anger
was derived from a cacophony of drug usage, turmoil in the band itself, and the strain of
becoming a mainstream band that stood against everything that they had become. On the
converse side, .5 The Gray Chapter has its roots of anger seeded in themselves for failing to save
their friend and bandmate, and the resulting emptiness after losing Gray.

Not only do the two albums have differences in what caused the rage behind the writing,
but there is a large difference in the chemical well-being of the writers between the two albums.
On Iowa, most of Slipknots musicians were in a battle with some kind of drug in one way or
another: Taylors alcohol and Grays cocaine, for example. Whereas on .5 The Gray Chapter,
many of the musicians had cleaned up since the former, more aggressive album. In an
interview with Loudwire, Taylor tells of how he had quit his binge drinking around 2009, and
has been sober since. (Corey Taylor- Fact of Fiction? (Part 1)). It seemed that much of the band
had cleaned up, being the circumstances around the death of their friend and bandmate was in
fact due to drug use itself. The death of Gray seemed to be a motivator for people like Taylor,
and set an example of what staying on the road of abuse can do to a person.
With people like Taylor overcoming their addictions, the music shifted from guttural, raw,
and immensely angry to a more controlled, technical, and lyrically advanced (but still angry)
state. It can be said that a band will always have a progression towards more compact and
technicality in their writing as time goes on, due to the fact of experienced gain writing and
playing as a band over time will do, but the explicit dichotomy between the violent and dark
lyrics of Iowa to the lyrics of .5 The Gray Chapter is astounding. Slipknot no longer relies on
horrendous shock factor to make their lyrics individual, but now write from a perspective of
some of the worst pain imaginable to portray a much more common feeling that can be
understood by more than just themselves as friends of the deceased. With a shift from the lyrics
of Iowa, and the factors that brought them on, to the modern lyrics of Slipknot, you can see the
progression of young and angry twenty-somethings to full-fledged adult artists who use music to
tell their perspective on heavy issues such as grief, blame, and death.

Slipknot has not lost all of their identifying characteristics, however. The band still uses
their outward projection of what they truly feel represents their inner self in the form of their
masks. Additionally, even though their anger has changed forms, in no way has it diminished.
Slipknot still uses very chaotic and in-your-face metal to convey what they really feel, and put
their all into performing in a chaotic manner that matches the music.
Slipknot has overcome many things that most bands would not have been able to do, and
grown immensely from it. In the beginning, the band started out as a bunch of young kids who
used their teen anger to start a band that would amplify their rage, and project it for anyone who
felt the same to join in. As they got older, they took the same steps that many people in their
position do with an increase in popularity: they began to party too much, and lost sight of what
they were all about. This caused them to release one of the darkest metal albums ever recorded:
Iowa. Iowa showed how dissonant the band had become, and allowed the writers of the band
express their inner turmoil brought on by the social strain and heavy drug use. Iowa serves as a
palpable example of how dark people can really be when they are losing a battle with
themselves. Taylor is quoted with saying To this day, its the darkest period of my life.
(Crahan) to describe with it was like to record Iowa.
With the loss of one of the founding members and core writers of the band, Slipknot was
lost upon themselves what they would do. Most bands would not be able to recover from a loss
like that. However, Slipknot is not like most bands, and after time to recuperate from the tragedy,
turned their loss of their friend into a reason to write again, and in the process, clean up their
lives as individuals. The death of Gray acted as a door for the musicians to take their music from
angry and guttural, to a whole new level from themselves as musicians. Death acted as a catalyst

for the bandmates to learn from, evolve from, and grow, but never forget the reason as to why it
happened.
Slipknot has grown from a band based around anger, drugs, social dissonance and
debauchery, to a band that personifies their loss in a way that compounds upon their past anger,
and then builds off of it to a much more musically technical and melodic fashion that shows both
growth as a band, and growth as individuals and artists.

Works Cited:

Goat. Shawn Crahan. Slipknot. All Blacks USA. 2011

Taylor, Corey. People=Shit. People equal shit. Iowa. Roadrunner Records. 2001.
Taylor, Corey. My Plague. I will never be you. Iowa. Roadrunner Records. 2001.
Taylor, Corey. The Heretic Anthem. All the money in the world cant buy me.
Iowa. Roadrunner Records. 2001.
Bushman, Brad J. Effects of Alcohol on Human Aggression: Validity of Proposed Explanations.
New York. Premium Press. 1997. Print.
What are the Short-term Effects of Cocaine Use?. National Institute of Drug Abuse.
September 2010. Website. Accessed December 8 2015.
Licata, Alice. Taylor, Stuart. Berman, Mitch. Cranston, Jay. Effects of Cocaine on Human
Aggression. Charlottesville. University of Virginia. 1992. Print.
Taylor, Corey. Everything Ends. You are wrong, fucked, and overrated. Iowa. Roadrunner
Records. 2001.
Taylor, Corey. Everything Ends. Fix my problems with the blade. Iowa. Roadrunner
Records. 2001.
Taylor, Corey. Everything Ends. I am only conditioned to die. Iowa. Roadrunner Records.
2001.

Taylor, Corey. Everything Ends. Is there anyone left in my life. Iowa. Roadrunner
Records. 2001.
Taylor, Corey. Everything Ends. Anybody want to tell me Im fine. Iowa. Roadrunner
Records. 2001.
Wiederhorn, John. 14 Years Ago: Slipknot Celebrate Misery and Depravity with Iowa.
Loudwire. 2015. Website. Accessed December 8 2105.
Wiederhorn, John. 5 Years Ago: Slipknot bassist Paul Gray Dies.. Loudwire.
May 2015. Website. Accessed December 8 2015.
Slipknots Corey Taylor: Firing Joey Jordison was one of the hardest decisions we ever made.
Blabbermouth. September 16 2014. Website. Accessed December 8 2015.

Pasbani, Robert. Slipknot Itinerary Leaks Confirming Drummer Identity as Jay Weinberg.
Metalinjection. December 3 2014. Website. Accessed December 8 2015.
Taylor, Corey. XIX. This song is not for the living, this song is for the dead. .5 The Gray
Chapter. Roadrunner Records. 2014.

Taylor, Corey. Skeptic. Never be the same, I want the blame; to be assigned the guiltiest
one. .5 The Gray Chapter. Roadrunner Records. 2014.
Taylor, Corey. The Burden. For Gods sake weve suffered, this pain is now our lives;

For Gods sake weve suffered enough. .5 The Gray Chapter. Roadrunner Records.
2014.
Kajzer, Jackie. Slipknots Corey Taylor talks: .5 The Gray Chapter, 2014 Knotfest + Moving
Forward.. Loudwire. Website. Accessed December 8 2015.
Taylor, Corey. Skeptic. Stop taking the best of us. .5 The Gray Chapter.Roadrunner
Records. 2014.
Taylor, Corey. Skeptic. The world will never know another man as amazing as you.
.5 The Gray Chapter. Roadrunner Records. 2014.
Taylor, Corey. Skeptic. I wont let you disappear; I will keep your soul alive if I cant
have you here. .5 The Gray Chapter. Roadrunner Records. 2014.

Taylor, Corey. Skeptic. You got to know youre sorely missed. .5 The Gray Chapter.
Roadrunner Records. 2014.
Taylor, Corey. Interview by Graham Hartman. Loudwire. July 22 2015. Youtube.