Slipknot have surprise released “Arsenal,” their first new song in over three years, along with a music video directed by percussionist M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan and starring Jackson White.
The song premiered in the Hottest Record slot on BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show With Jack Saunders. Speaking to Saunders, Corey Taylor summed it up bluntly: “It pummels.”
“Arsenal” deploys nearly every weapon Slipknot owns: pummeling dynamics, razor sharp vocals and lyrics, knifing keyboards, and riffs that can only be measured in tons. It leans into the chaotic, experimental streak that ran through the band’s earliest material, with Taylor spitting rap-sung lines over an arrangement that refuses to settle.
A New Chapter
The release marks several firsts. It is the band’s first new material since parting ways with longtime members Sid Wilson and Craig Jones, and since swapping drummer Jay Weinberg for Eloy Casagrande.
It is also their first release under their own (sic)est Records imprint, following the close of a two-and-a-half-decade run with Roadrunner.
Alongside the single, Slipknot unveiled a new eight-man publicity photo, a notable departure for a band that has traditionally operated as a nine-piece.
Nearly Three Decades In
The culture of Slipknot has spread much farther than anyone could have predicted when nine guys from Iowa put on masks and uniforms and began challenging the globe to keep up. Their influence can be felt in the underground, among artists headlining rock and pop festivals worldwide, and virtually everywhere in between. Across genres and subgenres, bands are following the footsteps that led out of the US Midwest and onto stages around the world, and all without an ounce of compromise.
Nearly thirty years in, it is notable that the band still summon the drive, creativity and connection required to make music like this. Their rise to becoming one of the most influential rock bands of the 21st century is marked by hardship, having weathered enormous personal tragedies head on alongside their fans. Through it all they have kept a fighting spirit that has let them keep innovating and keep testing the ragged edges of their sound.
Photo credit: Jonathan Weiner
