They're an evolutionary dead end, the final, absolute triumph of nu-metal. No-one is, or probably ever will be, quite as torrentially violent, noisy, sick, tortured, theatrical, absurd and goddamned impressive as Slipknot have become on 'Iowa'.
If, previously, the boilersuited troupe have been easy to dismiss as nine panto misanthropists in maggoty Halloween masks, now that's impossible. 'Iowa', plainly, is the work of a serious band at the top of their game, and an album that even those with little interest in this hysterically fierce genre should hear at least once.
Sure, the dominant mode is insanely overloaded rap-metal, but check the detailing: the way every track is rammed with careering noises by ace producer Ross Robinson; or how the likes of 'People = Shit' and 'Heretic Anthem' are, above everything, profoundly infectious.
The lyrics, meanwhile, take gore-fixated loathing to positively operatic levels, especially when Corey announces, "You f**kin' touch me I will rip you apart/ I'll reach in and take a bite out of that shit you call a heart." Then there are the departures: rogue strains of melody in 'Everything Ends' and 'Left Behind' that suggest Kurt Cobain toying with heavy machinery; and the 15 minutes of seething dirge-metal and distant screams that pass as the title track.
In this astonishing week for music, alongside fine albums by The Strokes, Bjork, New Order and Mercury Rev, Slipknot are crude, uncool and appallingly dressed. Strangely, though, the crassness and sheer horrible extravagance of 'Iowa' is every bit as important. Every genre needs its defining record, its high watermark, and this 66-minute tantrum is nu-metal's gift to history. A classic, terrifyingly.
