Well for starters, words cannot describe how excited I was for the new Slipknot album. I really thought it would change the metal world, a tour de force of the force that is Slipknot. Boy was I wrong. There's nothing new here, little to appreciate, and alot to dislike. There's already Stone Sour. Slipknot seems destined to become Stone Sour pt. 2.
The album isn't out and out bad. Just incredibly disappointing. I think it is easy to say that "Psychosocial" may be their most popular song to date, but it also showed alot of potential. Sadly, "Psychosocial" is the highlight of the album, when it was expected to merely be a starting point for the best Slipknot album yet.
Certainly, not everyone hates AHIG. It's receiving generally favorable reviews in both underground and mainstream media, and people seem to like the new Slipknot. This is the problem. They have now begun to make music for the masses, rather than for themselves or their loyal maggot fanbase.
Now, some of the tracks are rather quite potent. "Psychosocial" is a great single. "Butcher's Hook" may be the most coherent track on the album, sounding like good ol' '99 Slipknot. The rest sounds like a retarded love child of Iowa and Vol. 3. It's either too heavy or far too soft. Normally, heavy is better, but when it's thrown in with radio-ready songs like "Dead Memories" or "Sulfur" or the horrendous "Snuff", it begins to paint pictures of a ballerina at Metal Mayhem. Or something along those lines. The point is, too many tracks grab ahold of your attention, only to be floored by nonsensical track placing or a wrong turn instead of a step up.
There is promise for Slipknot yet, however all commendable sections of the album get buried alive by horrible parts. "Gehenna" is genuinely frightening, and Corey Taylor honestly sounds like a maniacal killer. Songs like thids remind people why they liked Slipknot to begin with. But I counted down the days until this arrived, watched Slipknot at Mayhem, and garnered more anticipation as each day passed. Sadly, I hardly even care about Slipknot anymore after hearing this. It's proof that they are losing their fire, and maybe they should have broken up after The Subliminal Verses. And after having FOUR YEARS to come back hard, they miss all their targets. A very mediocre outing and incredibly disappointing. I'm trying very hard to recover from how bummed out I am, and I would be shocked if I found a true maggot who honestly enjoyed this album.

Let me start with a few disclaimers about this album. If you are a one-dimensional rock fan whose entire music collection consists of a particular genre (i.e., metal ), then you are going to feel disappointed. Specifically, if you are one of the countless Slipknot "fans" obsessed with the Iowa album you will definitely hate this album. Guaranteed!!! If you like rock music in general (For example, I listen to various types of rock music...everything from Radiohead to Slayer and all in between) then you will really appreciate this album.

I will rate this album as their 2nd best; behind their self-titled debut album (the one that made me a Slipknot fan to begin with). Honestly, I always found Iowa to be a pretty boring album. Surely, it is their heaviest album, but the eternal screaming on every song made the record sound like a single long song. To the dislike of many, with Vol. 3, the band made a drastic change in their music, incorporating solos, adding more melodic choruses, and varying the tempo of the music in the whole album and withing songs.

With "All Hope is Gone", Slipknot has been able to capture the best elements of all their previous albums without sounding repetitive. They have continued to expand their sound and grow musically, which I greatly appreciate. In general, if you have liked the band's entire catalog, you will be rewarded with their best musical outing yet. If you still living in the past and thinking about Iowa, then look elsewhere.

"All Hope is Gone" starts off with a 1-2 punch to the gut with "Execute"/"Gematria" that will leave your entrails spilled over the floor. It's thrash metal at its most brutal. Your ears couldn't survive an hour of the stuff, so Slipknot smartly dials it back a notch for the rest of the album. "All Hope is Gone" proves to be a continuation of the more melodic direction that Slipknot began on their previous release, "The Subliminal Verses".

If you're looking for another "Iowa", you'll have to look elsewhere. Slipknot have clearly moved on to a sound more akin to traditional hard rock--think early Alice in Chains or "Load"-era Metallica. The second single, "Psychosocial," is the best radio-ready single that Slipknot has released since "Left Behind." It's a great song, but "This Cold Black" is the highlight of the album. It's a perfect showcase of Slipknot's now-patented brand of heavy rock: soaring chorus, heavy verses, and relentless, pounding percussion.

Slipknot veers off into lighter--and more musical--territory with the second half of the disc, peaking with the ballad "Gehenna". Corey Taylor sings his heart out, abandoning his growling metal voice for several tracks almost entirely. If you're a fan of his other band, Stone Sour, you'll find this to be a welcome development. Other fans in search of a total assault on the senses will once again be disappointed. [Now, after listening to the disc for a week, I should add that the lightest tracks are the "bonus" tracks, so the actual album is a little heavier than I first reported.]

And that's the band's greatest weakness: In attempting to be all things to all people, they may ultimately end up with a dwindling fanbase. The heavier tracks may be too harsh for casual rock fans, while the softer tracks are going to leave a (stone) sour taste in the mouths of diehard metal fans. It's a tightrope act that Slipknot have walked their entire careers, and it's an act that may have finally reached its pinnacle with "All Hope is Gone".

When a band manages to survive for a decade and more, it's because they're willing to stretch out into new territory and keep their sound fresh. As usual, Slipknot is plagued by so-called fans complaining about how the band doesn't sound exactly like it did on albums from at least seven years ago. Well if you want musicians to keep on sounding exactly the same album after album, listen to Country Pop or Lite Jazz and see how long your interest holds up. Slipknot is definitely evolving as a band, and that's what serious veteran musicians do. So this album should be judged not because it's a bit different than their earlier works, but on whether its musical statements are successful. Here's where the rubber mask meets the road for Slipknot.

The side projects, especially Stone Sour, have obviously added variety and maturity to the Slipknot sound. "Gematria (The Killing Name)" is probably their most intricate and solidly written track yet, and things get really interesting in "Wherein Lies Continue" which slows down the attack to the pace of rumbling hardcore and increases Slipknot's heaviness far beyond the standard bashing and screaming that nu-fans think is true metal. Meanwhile, the Slipknot percussion army - the true source of the band's uniqueness - works up some of their swinginest grooves ever in "Sulphur" and "Psychosocial." The only real trouble on this album comes with the power ballads "Dead Memories" and "Snuff," which are reasonable tries at maturity but end up sounding like Nickelback and other meatheads, and an attempt at Korn-ish atmosphere in "Gehenna" is a major misstep. Overall, everybody in the band other than the percussion army is still plagued by a lack of true personality and uniqueness in their performances. #0 and #5 are ridiculously underutilized in the band's total sound, though #8's lyrics and mannerisms are getting better.

While not all of Slipknot's current advancements work, at least they've got the will to develop and improve. That's worthy of respect from fans, even those who refuse to live in the present. [~dooomsdayer520~]

I remember hearing the concept of Slipknot back in '99, wanting to check them out. All I needed to hear was a small snippet of 742617000027 to convince me to buy their debut and I've been hooked ever since. Ever since they hit the scene I've heard nothing but complaints bashing them. It added to my respect. Here were guys playing nu-metal, the most loathed sub-genre in the history of music, and even though I have heard many a hard fast metal band, I have never heard anyone sound as pissed off as Slipknot. Not to mention I've never heard anyone who sounds as unique as Slipknot. Their last 3 albums and their live album put them on the list of my favorites.

So when the single "All Hope is Gone" was dropped a few months ago, I listened and I began counting down the days to this album, practically salivating for its release. I bought my copy and expected to be impressed. I quite frankly have never been more disappointed and frustrated with an album in my life.

The album starts off with .execute which is a perfect weird intro to get you psyched up for Gematria. The song is nothing short of amazing, it's like elements of thrash, nu-metal, metalcore and an angry hornet's nest thrown in a blender. It's one of the hands-down best songs they have put out. Unfortunately the majority of the remainder of the album doesn't live up to that. Heck, it doesn't even live up to the standard of being called good.

Tracks like "Sulfur," "Wherein Lies Continue," "Psychosocial" and others all start off like strong metal tracks, but when the melodic choruses kick in the music all of a sudden changes to a simple bland rock sound. It completely castrates any brutality and hardness that the songs have and it so jolting it ruins the songs. It's not like these guys have never put melodies and clean vocals in their stuff before ("Left Behind" and "Duality" come to mind) but this just sounds horrible. They manage pull it off on "The Butcher's Hook," so it just makes those other tracks even worse.

I'm not one of those guys complaining about how this isn't Iowa or the album isn't 100% non-stop brutal, I liked the stuff they added to their sounds in Vol. 3. Heck, "Danger - Keep Away" is one of my favorite tracks by them. But the stuff they added on Vol. 3 had one thing going for it...it was unique. Tracks like "Snuff," "Vendetta," and "Dead Memories" sound like stuff we've heard five thousand times over on rock radio (key word `rock,' not metal). It's cookie cutter. It's infuriating to hear it on this album. It may be cliché to say it now but the tracks really DO sound like Stone Sour, which would be great if I paid for a Stone Sour CD.

That's not to say the entire album is crap. "This Cold Black," "All Hope is Gone," and the aforementioned "Gematria" are killer. They are a change from the norm, infusing their old style with thrash and other metal elements. "Gehenna" is the only time they sound unique with their melodic attempts. The song sounds like a booze and acid induced depression anthem, the type of song that Marilyn Manson wishes he made.

Fanboy maggots are complaining that people who dislike this album simply can't handle the fact that Slipknot's sound has "evolved" and "matured." Why is it the preconceived notion that to mature your sound you have to sound like every other band on the planet? And what's the point of evolving if you're not going from a unique sound to a commercialistic mess? It's not like metal can't be complex, mature, brutal and unique, if you don't believe me you should listen to bands like Meshuggah and Gojira. You say "mature" and "evolved", I say "bland" and "uninspired." Is it such an unrealistic concept to expect a band comprised of 9 members in masks and jumpsuits to sound different?

Basically about 4 tracks on this album actually sound like the band is trying to please their old fans and actually gain new ones with this album, by adding some new to the old. The majority of the album sounds as if this band is limping along on its last leg, bored out of their skulls, and trying to please the unadventurous masses.

If these guys make a Vol. 5 (if they don't break up before then) I hope its impressive, or all hope is indeed gone for this band