SLIPKNOT (IA) — Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (review)

SLIPKNOT (IA) — Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. album cover

Demo · 1996 · Alternative Metal

5/5 · 2015-03-14
Unitron

Slipknot-Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.

'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.' is the debut studio album by alternative metal band Slipknot. When someone says 'Slipknot', you most likely will think of their self-titled album or 'Iowa' which saw them gain major success. This album sounds very different from any of the following releases, being much more experimental and having a wide variety of musical styles mixed in. This wide range of styles sometimes makes this one strange album.

The song 'Slipknot' opens up the album with droning guitar and mechanical sounds, with bass strums and on/off avant-garde drumming eventually coming in. After that intro, the heavy crunching riffs enter. Once original vocalist Anders Colsefini's guttural vocals come in, it starts to really remind me of Sepultura. His death growls and aggressive screams combine perfectly with the crushing guitar and Joey Jordison's great drumming. Colsefini also plays percussion, adding in tribal drumming that really gives it a unique touch. A sweet guitar solo comes in, before Colsefini gives an amazing raw growl performance giving some of the most menacing death growls I've ever heard. The song transitions into the beautiful acoustic guitar opening of 'Gently'. After the acoustics transition into heavy guitar, Colsefini briefly shows his cleaner vocals which are very menacing mixing in with the haunting bass. Soon, thrash riffs come in with pounding double bass and growls.

The third song 'Do Nothing/Bitchslap' is where this album gets weird, starting out with some really funky bass and crushing riffs before having a strange brief lounge/jazz interlude. Yup, this song is a weird combination of death/thrash metal, funk, and lounge. After that pattern repeats, it turns completely funk with crazy bass grooves and Les Claypool-esque vocals. After that oddity, the thrash riffs come back in with some really powerful drum work. 'Confessions' is another odd song, being a fully-blown funk/disco song. However, Colsefini keeps his guttural vocal tone for the most part, sounding strange with the music. After the awesome meandering eleven-minute epic of 'Killers are Quiet', we hear the experimental droning industrial sound of hidden track 'Dogfish Rising'.

Unlike the rest of Slipknot's discography 'MFKR' features original vocalist Anders Colsefini instead of Corey Taylor. Colsefini had a much rawer vocal style, mostly singing in death growls but also having some clean vocals. His clean vocals are raw as well though, being very menacing as heard briefly in 'Gently'. His guttural vocals remind me a lot of Max Cavalera of Sepultura, mostly in the opening song though. After leaving, he would form the death metal band Painface. The lyrics on this release are also very different from the following albums, taking a lot of inspiration from an card game the members played called 'Rage'. 'Do Nothing/Bitchslap' has lyrics about the government taking away our freedoms.

Overall, it would be interesting to hear where Slipknot would have went if Colsefini stayed lead vocalist in the band. Perhaps they would have continued with this experimental death/thrash style. This is one amazing avant-garde death/thrash metal album and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something weird and unique.

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