Slipknot - Bone Church - Standalone Single Review

Slipknot - Bone Church - Standalone Single Review

Slipknot is arguably the biggest and most consistent band in the nu-metal movement of the 90s and early 2000s. Not only did they burst on to the scene with two brilliantly brutal albums - 1999's self-titled debut and 2001's 'Iowa' - but also continued to experiment past that, for instance with elements of acoustic rock and psychedelia on 'Vol. 3', as well as with groove metal on 'All Hope is Gone.' But their two most recent outings - 2019's 'We Are Not Your Kind' and 2022's 'The End, So Far' - have proven to be their most brazenly experimental, incorporating elements of not only psychedelia, but stoner rock, prog rock, orchestral, ambient/electronic, horror soundtracks, and much else. But, while this combination of sounds combined with their metal roots is admirable, their last album unfortunately proved to be, in my opinion, not the worst, but perhaps the most disappointing album in their discography. It had some good tracks for sure, but left a lot to be desired. However, now the band have seen fit to drop a non-album single called 'Bone Church', which despite my feelings their most recent output, I was more than willing to give a shot.

From the moment this track started I could tell it was going to be continuing in the boundlessly artsy direction that's been so hit or miss for Slipknot recently, as indicated by the noisy atmospheres and accordion progressions that take up the first minute of the track (as well as the extended, forlorn outro). It sounds fine, sure, but really adds nothing to the track's progression or appeal, although given this is coming from the band whose last album featured upwards of seven minutes of interstitial nonsense and strung out transitions, I'm hardly surprised. What comes after is significantly more interesting though, as I feel like the almost medieval guitar progressions and atmospheres supplemented by stately pianos and eccentric percussion is very captivating, and while I might not be a huge fan of the main skittering drum beat, it's far from awful, just a touch odd. I also feel like the heavier portions with the phased, distorted guitars and pounding toms do sound incredibly dark and dramatic which works very nicely, particularly around three minutes and the finale at the 4:30 mark. Corey's vocals aren't bad either, mostly making use of some more hushed melodies, although occasionally opting for a more dramatic, projected delivery during the crescendos, or indeed that classic, gravely scream at the track's heaviest junctures. Again, not mind-blowing, but decent enough. The lyrics are also not too bad, seemingly portraying the character of a deeply troubled individual struggling with drug addiction and finding solace in death. This could be read as a kind of ode or tribute to late bassist Paul Gray who died of a drug overdose in 2010, with Shawn "Clown" Crahan reportedly stating, "We can explain this song just as a memory for Paul [...] his life wasn’t clear from drugs [...] for those fellas it was more than just overdose [...] 13 years he’s free from daily routine, his problems." If this is what it is, I would say it's been done with a decent amount of tact here, not the most original or intriguing take on this angle perhaps, but certainly not as overly edgy as it could have been.

So at the end of the day, what we have here essentially is a track that just sounds like a leftover from the last album sessions, as it suffers from many of the same drawbacks, including pointless extended transitions, and seemingly wanting to appear "artsy" and "different" to its own detriment. Granted, it's probably more interesting than some of that album's more pretentious excursions, but it's not a great step forward either, just a slightly more dramatic, dark, metal tinged take on prog rock and psychedelia. Not awful, not amazing, just mostly fine, with a few reservations. Essentially, Slipknot are turning more and more into an art-metal band, with disappointingly middling results.