A bizarre story out of Iowa yesterday (Wednesday, March 11, 2015). It seems that Slipknot guitarist Mick Thompson (aka #7) was stabbed in the back of the head during a drunken altercation at his home. Stranger yet, the assailant was Thompson’s own brother, Andrew Thompson!

Slipknot
.5: The Gray Chapter
MP3 | CD | Vinyl
Roadrunner Records
Release Date: October 21, 2014

These past six years have been a rocky ride for both Slipknot and their fans. When the band released their last record, All Hope Is Gone, in 2008, it was met with mixed reactions. Many of the band’s long-time fans felt the album ventured a bit too far into Stone Sour territory — That’s the other band that singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root were in: a band that specializes in more lighter, radio-friendly, hard rock fare. Many of the tracks from All Hope Is Gone would not sound out of place on a Stone Sour record. On the other hand, the album was a huge success and garnered Slipknot hordes of new fans and saw them continuing to be a massive concert draw throughout the album’s tour cycle.

Slipknot has released the third advanced track from their highly anticipated new album, .5: The Gray Chapter. The track is called “Custer” and whereas the first two tracks sounded like a cross between the band’s second album Iowa and their third Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses, this new track harkens back to the raw brutality of their self-titled debut.

Listen to “Custer” here below.

We are finally getting the first look at the new masks of the members of Slipknot, which will see the new drummer and bassist wearing the same design. The video for the second single from Slipknot’s highly anticipated fifth album, .5: The Gray Chapter, premiered this morning. “The Devil In I” clip marks the first time in advance of the album that we have seen the band members, who are known to alter their look between every release.

Watch the official video for “The Devil In I” here below.

So, apparently when Slipknot released the song “The Negative One” (and video) from their upcoming and as yet untitled fifth album last month, it was just as a gift to the fans. That song is an album track that was not intended as the “official” first single. Today, the band released the audio for what is actually being billed as the first single.

Listen to the audio here below.

The song is called “The Devil In I” and is much more melodic and radio oriented, whereas “The Negative One” sounded like it would have been at home on the band’s extremely heavy second album, Iowa, the new song is more reminiscent of their more recent mainstream sounding output such as their last album, All Hope Is Gone. At any rate, it’s a pretty great tune and indicates that maybe the new album is multi-dimensional, offering a bit of something for everyone.