Slipknot's Biography

Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa, formed in 1995. Slipknot consists of nine members. The current band members are Sid Wilson, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor. The band's line-up has remained unchanged since 1999. Each member of the band wears a unique mask.

Slipknot formed in 1995 and underwent several line-up changes following the independent release of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996. Their self-titled debut studio album was released in 1999 and was followed by Iowa in 2001 and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) in 2004. On August 25, 2008, the band returned to release their fourth studio album, All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 charts. The band has released three DVDs including 2002's Disasterpieces, which was certified quadruple-platinum in the United States.

Early years (1995–1998)
Early formations of a band were beginning to form as early as 1992 with the core band members, drummer Shawn Crahan, vocalist Anders Colsefini, and bassist Paul Gray enlisting the help of guitarists Donnie Steele and Quan Nong.[1]

In September 1995, the band The Pale Ones was created comprising Crahan on drums, Gray on bass, Colsefini on vocals and guitarist Steele.[2] Joey Jordison joined the band shortly after, taking up the role of drummer and, subsequently, Crahan moved to percussion.[3] The band continued to develop their vision of what the band would be, deciding to add a second guitarist, recruiting Josh Brainard and moving Colsefini to percussion along with lead vocals.[4] The band played their first live performance under the name of Meld on December 4, 1995 at a club called Crowbar in Des Moines.[5] Soon after, Jordison suggested renaming the band "Slipknot" after their song that eventually appeared on Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat..[6] The band also began experimenting with their image, wearing grotesque make up and eventually the anti-image concept developed towards the members wearing masks.[7] Up until this point, the band had remained mainly obscured due to their desire to wait until their music was fully developed.[6]



All Hope Is Gone (2008–present)
Slipknot has released their fourth studio album All Hope Is Gone on August 20, 2008. it is the first Slipknot album to ever peak at number 1 on the Billboard 200.[63][64] Preparation for the album started in October 2007 with recording pushed back to February 2008.[65] For this release the band has expressed an interest in making it their heaviest album to date with an expansion of the thrash metal riffing introduced on Vol. 3.[66] However, they also want to make it their most experimental record, and will be including more acoustic guitars and melodic vocals, as well as introducing hi-hats and cymbals to the additional percussion.[67][68] The album will be the band's first work with Dave Fortman as producer.[69] Along with the album, the band have debuted "evolved" masks and uniforms, which match the style of the new album.[70] Slipknot will headline the first ever Mayhem Festival festival in July and August 2008.[71] The band was scheduled to play in the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2008, but was forced to cancel after drummer Joey Jordison broke his ankle.[72]

Slipknot also toured Australia, Japan, Europe and the UK in the latter months of 2008, with the bands Machine Head and Children of Bodom opening at their concerts.[73] The UK dates were announced on August 20, for an early December tour.[74] Slipknot were also forced to cancel their show in Israel, due to 2 of the members having family problems, it was stated by Corey that the show would be rescheduled to the tour.[75] It was also stated in an interview by Jim Root that "Were just going to tour our asses off and then we are going to figure out how to sneak out some of the music that we created, that didn't make it to the record." making it a possibility of All Hope Is Gone being re-released, similar to their self-titled album.[76]