MetalSucks

Headbanger’s Blog has revealed that Slipknot’s Shawn “Clown” Crahan’s new project, Dirty Little Rabbits, have signed with The End. This is surprising insofar as up ’til now, most (if not all) Slipknot side projects have (logically) ended up on Slipknot’s label, Roadrunner; on the other hand, maybe Clown felt like The End was better suited to this particular project.

In any case, I haven’t heard Dirty Little Rabbits yet, but I’m curious to do so. I really liked Crahan’s last non-Slipknot band, To My Surprise. Crahan explains in the HBB interview why that group came to a demise, but before you go read said explanation, you should check out To My Surprise’s video for “In the Mood” below. If you’re expecting Slipknot Part Deux, prepare to be disappointed. But it bodes well for Dirty Little Rabbits.

-AR

Let the haters hate: Slipknot are a good band, and, more than that, they’re a good band that has show substantial growth from album to album – and their most recent release, All Hope is Gone, is no exception. Sonically, the record is something of a codification of everything the band has ever done, which means the Stone Sourisms (clean vocals, reasonably radio-friendly alt-rock anthems, moody power ballads, etc.) of Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses are here once again. Whether or not that’s a good thing, ultimately, will depend solely on the tastes of the listener.

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Hey, did you know that there’s a Slipknot cover band called “Tonkpils” (which is just “Slipknot” spelled backwards)? It’s weird, but true. Go figure.

ANYWAY, Slipknot unveiled their new masks at 12:01 am last night (actually, that’s bullshit – it was more like 1 a.m. EST). Now, a pattern has emerged over the years with regards to these dudes and their masks: some of them do major variations on a theme from mask to mask, and some just pretty much stick to the same thing every time. The differences between incarnations of Jim Root and Mick Thompson’s masks, for example, are negligible, while Corey Taylor and Shawn “Clown” Crahan obviously like to get jiggy wit it.

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So about a week back Slipknot released the following two minute-plus video “teaser” for the new, still untitled album. And even though I’m generally prone to defending Slipknot and I’m all in favor of trying things that are new and creative, I have to say, I have no fucking idea how this pertains to a new Slipknot album. I mean, there’s no music in it. Are they trying to tell us that their new disc will be an hour’s worth of ambient noise recorded around their hometown of Des Moines, Iowa? Or just that we should expect to be bored off our asses?

I assume that this thing was directed by Shawn Crahan (he’s the one in the clown mask, in case ya didn’t know), who also directed the very avant garde-y Slipknot DVD Voliminal: Inside the Nine. But this video makes that DVD look like a straightforward piece of narrative storytelling.

The new Slipknot album comes out in August. Former Ugly Kid Joe guitarist/current Evanescence producer Dave Fortman is manning the boards, which, if I’m being completely honest, makes me a little nervous – I have no interest in a glorified Stone Sour album. Hopefully my cynicism will turn out to be unfounded.

-AR