Slipknot - All Hope is Gone

Slipknot - All Hope is Gone (Roadrunner Records) - Back

For anyone who knows me, I have always maintained that I don’t care for instrumental pieces too much and introduction tracks, I have always found both to be a total waste of disc space that could have been better reserved for much more cooler rockin’ tracks, this happens to be the case when it comes to Slipknot’s opening intro track ‘Execute’. I have no doubt that it is the perfect introduction to use as the band walks onstage but it doesn’t come across as anything more than noise and samples that I will always find myself skipping. I will say however the album just kept getting better song after song. ‘Gematria (The Killing Name)’ “give me a minute and I’ll change your mind, give me a bullet and I’ll change your life” what a great line! ‘Gematria’ was just the start of good things to come! It was clear from the first couple of songs that this is much more of a BAND album than anything Slipknot have done in the past, the mixing and production is fantastic and each and every member really shine through on the new album and every songs flows well into the next! “Sulfur’ is a kicking track that had my feet tapping and head banging within seconds. There wasn’t anything I hated about it, Corey sound amazing, by far the best vocal performances I have ever heard from his work with both Stone Sour and Slipknot. The first single of the album is ‘Psychosocial’ I have to say I am not a fan of the video clip for the single but I love the song, when I first got ‘End of All Hope’ I was instantly drawn to this song, and it is easy to see why the band have chosen this as the first single. Musically thumping, killer guitar riffs that all the kids will be learning this week and a song all metal fans can bang along too!

Stone Sour fans will love tracks such as ‘Dead Memories’ and what is becoming my favorite song from the new album ‘Snuff’. These songs are not as heavy as the rest of the album but are just as enjoyable and could have easily have been written for the next S.S album. ‘Dead Memories’ has a very commercial feel to it and will probably end up as one of the follow up singles to the currently very popular ‘Psychosocial’. For fans of the heavier metal you are going to get kicked in the teeth when you blast ‘Vendetta’ one of the heavier tracks on the album and another one of my favorites. The only way to listen to ‘Vendetta’ is LOUD, Joey’s drumming is phenomenal and I don’t doubt that it will become an instant headbanging classic! One song that is sure to be a crowd pleaser is ‘This Cold Black’, the mosh-pit will be insane during this one, killer drumming, thumping bass and awesome guitar riffs throughout. I have had ‘This Cold Black’ on repeat today and it just gets better with every listen! The album finishes in a much better way then it started out and ‘All Hope is Gone’ reminded me of the bands killer track ‘The Heretic Anthem’ and was by far the best song to close this amazing album.

Overall there isn’t too much that I could fault. I had recently read some very mixed reviews from fans who shared their thoughts but I loved it. The cover art was awesome, no doubt the bands best cover to date, I can see why the Australian metal fans helped the album to debut at #1 and it’s the same reason fans in the U.K. pushed their debut to #2 on the charts. The album maybe called ‘All Hope is Gone’ but Slipknot are about to deliver new hope to metal fans of all ages! If you don’t already have a copy of Slipknot’s ‘All Hope is Gone’ than get off your ass and buy a copy today, you will not be disappointed!

Rating: 90

Reviewed By: Cameron Edney - http://www.myspace.com/insideout666ints