Iowa is a beautiful state full of wide open plains, fields full of corn for as far as the eye can see, and some of the
friendliest people you'll meet anywhere. And lest we forget, it is of course the future home of one James T. Kirk. I
personally have incredibly fond memories of Iowa from my own childhood. My favorite Aunt (who, like me, was born on
October 6 and shared my left handedness) lived there with her
husband, who was Professor Emeritus at University of Northern Iowa. I spent several summers with my three cousins
in and around Cedar Falls, Iowa, and have often referred to those visits as my "Tom Sawyer summers", wonderful days
full of fishing in streams, long bike rides along country lanes and fun sleep-outs on a huge screened in porch my cousins
had on the second floor of their old converted farmhouse. And so color me somewhat surprised, even shocked, to find
out Slipknot, one of the most manically aggressive metal bands currently performing in the contemporary rock scene,
hails largely from Des Moines, an otherwise placid Iowa city where in fact one of my cousins lives to this day. Slipknot
has achieved a certain level of notoriety not just for its visceral music, but for stage shows that often verge on outright
violence. The band has also had several run-ins with the law, both personally and in a more tangential way, when
several crimes (including at least one murder) have been tangentially linked to the band when it turns out the
perpetrators have been devoted "maggots", the band's own term for its rabid fan base. Slipknot is not a band
for the faint of heart or weak of ear, but they have developed a massive following worldwide, with several platinum
(and even multi-platinum) albums to their credit and a fairly recent 2006 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for
"Before I Forget" (one of the songs included on this Blu-ray). The width of their appeal is instantly apparent from this
June 13, 2009 performance at Download Festival, held in Donington Park, England, where the band played before an
intimate crowd of some 80,000 screaming, yelling and mosh-pitting fans.
For those not up to speed vis a vis Slipknot, the band performs in bizarre masks which are actually kind of
spooky looking and the band members also go by numbers instead of their names (though in a particular piece of semi-
hilarity, Number 5's "real" name is supposedly 133). The band suffered a major setback in 2010, not too long after
Download occurred in fact, when Slipknot's bassist Paul Gray (otherwise known as Number 2) was found dead in a hotel
room in Urbandale, Iowa. Probably to no one's great surprised, it was later determined Gray had died of a drug
overdose (though the autopsy also uncovered several heart disease as well). The insert booklet included with this Blu-
ray includes this nice remembrance, which may prove that there are actual hearts beating inside these weirdly masked
band members:
Paul Dedrick Gray, No. 2, was one of the founding members of our band. Slipknot was everything Paul ever wanted
and needed. He lived and breathed Slipknot to its fullest potential every day. He also loved each and every fan of the
band. The maggots were everything to him.
Paul was the type of person who would help keep you in check. He would do everything he could to keep the band's
closeness intact. He'd even give you the shirt off his back, with no questions asked. Paul was a musical genius, a great
son, brother, husband, and would have been an amazing father. [Note: Gray's child was born after his death.]
The times we shared with him over the last fifteen years are irreplaceable and unforgettable. We wake up every
day and still it's hard to comprehend that one of the brothers has fallen. Life is not the same and never will be the
same, nor will the band. Not a day will go by where we won't say his name.
This is in remembrance of one of the greatest musicians, songwriters, and friends that we eight have ever had the
pleasure to know. Paul, we know you're out there and we know you will be with us forever. We love you, we miss you
and there are no other words to explain this void. We dedicate this film to you, your life, your family and your unborn
daughter, October. Thank you for everything you were, and everything you gave us in this life. Until we meet again,
brother.
If you've never seen a Slipknot performance, prepare to be aurally pummeled to the point where your ears may be
ringing. The band is known for its battery of percussion, including a lot of great looking custom "drum" sets that look
like something out of a Mad Max film. It's kind of funny to hear lead vocalist Corey Taylor (Number 8) talk about
how "personal" the band's lyrics are, because if we're being totally honest, it's next to impossible to understand most
of what he's growling in many of the songs, especially given the bombastic nature of the accompaniment, not to
mention the nonstop crowd noises, which are completely overwhelming a lot of the time.
The band is in incredibly energetic form throughout the concert, but the sheer size of Download is also a partial
downfall. Shots taken from several "rows" back in the audience (rows being a decidedly relative term, given the
absolute chaos of the fans) are repeatedly blocked by huge flags and banners that various people are waving. There's
also manic partying going on out in the crowd, as might be expected, including at least one young woman who delights
the crowd by removing her blouse (the video features a "blurred" pixellation over her face, as if somehow she might
sue for having been "outed" in front of more than just the 80,000 people in attendance that day). But despite the
distractions, Taylor and the rest of the boys never let up throughout the concert, delivering one blistering performance
after another.
Slipknot {sic}nesses Live at Download contains the following songs:
Slipknot {sic}nesses Live at Download is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision (a division of Eagle Rock
Entertainment) with an
AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. The good news here is the actual video presentation is a lot better than
these screencaps might
suggest. The band is so kinetic that capturing frames of an interlaced presentation like this is proves to be an
extremely
formidable task, so take these screencaps with a visual "grain of salt", so to speak. The presentation here is often
sparklingly clear and precise,
though combing artifacts do occasionally briefly come into view, especially with regard to the percussionists, their arms and
their various sticks
and mallets. Colors are nicely saturated and there's no posterizing since the stage is not bathed in deep hues very often.
The one problem just
from a pure enjoyment standpoint is the maddening array of flags and banners that repeatedly block the view of the stage.
Down in front!
Slipknot {sic}nesses Live at Download features both a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix as well as an
uncompressed LPCM
2.0 stereo fold down. To say that Slipknot's music is propulsive may well be the understatement of the year, and the good
news is both of these
tracks are able to handle the ferocious low end of most of these songs with effortless ease. The huge battery of
percussion never devolves into
distortion. There are a couple of niggling concerns with regard to the mix, however. Taylor is often just buried in the
overall mass of sound
coming from the band, and adding to that is his propensity to growl in a quasi-Satanic voice, making a lot of what he's
"singing" virtually
unintelligible. There's also persistent crowd noise which is actually more evident in the 5.1 mix than the 2.0. Other than
those complaints,
though, these tracks offer superior fidelity if no real dynamic range to speak of (all of these songs are, to quote a certain
Spinal Tap member,
"turned up to 11").
Audible Visions of {sic}nesses (SD; 40:42) has the cheery little subtitle "all hope is gone" (the title of
Slipknot's fourth album and resultant tour) and is a kind of
backstage documentary that captures a wide variety of performances, including everything from Moscow, Russia to a
January 28, 2009 concert at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as well as various behind the scenes footage. It's
kind of funny to see the guys, all in their masks, just kind of hanging out and talking backstage as if it were the most normal
thing in the world to be dressed that way.
Music Videos include: Snuff (1080i; 6:16) Dead Memories (SD; 5:00) Sulfur (SD; 5:07) Psychosocial (SD; 5:06)
The Making of Snuff (SD; 10:19) has a lot of backstage footage of the music video being filmed, along with
thoughts from director M. Shawn Crahan ("Clown" and/or Number 6 in the band) and members of the band. There's some
fun footage with guest star Malcolm McDowell as well. Corey Taylor makes for one of the oddest looking cross dressers
ever in this video.
Slipknot {sic}nesses Live at Download shows the band off in all of its bad-assed fury, but if you've never
experienced Slipknot, take a
deep breath before diving in, for this is some of the most over the top metal you're likely to hear this or any year. This Blu-
ray serves as a fitting
epitaph for the band's sadly departed bassist, Paul Gray. Video is excellent and audio is stellar. For Slipknot fans at least,
this release comes
Recommended.
Eagle Rock Entertainment have officially announced and detailed their upcoming Blu-ray release of Slipknot: {sic}nesses - Live at Download. The release will be available for purchase online and in shops across the United States on July 31.
Slipknot: {sic}nesses - Live at Download Blu-ray, Forum Discussions
