REVIEWS/ 03/16/25 IOWA BY SLIPKNOT

As part of a contest from my Instagram, and honestly I just really wanted to review this, today's review is Iowa by Slipknot. What can I say, it’s like the quintessential Nu-Metal album, and what a killer first outing for this band-oh, wait Iowa isn’t their first album? I just assumed it was. Nevertheless I consider this album, a perfect entry point into the Nu-Metal genre, along-side Wisconsin Death Trip by Static X. Aside what is with these pivotal early Nu-Metal albums and like naming them after the most boring states, I mean I can’t talk shit, I’m from Connecticut, not even one of the cool New England states. The one thing about this album, which plagues most metal albums in general, is just how samey they all sound. I don’t know how many times I can hear that drum-line over, and over again. However Slipknot does find ways to make each song have a bit of identity, My Plague has that chorus everyone loves it for, Everything Ends is kind’ve hilarious, The Heretic Anthem has that weird ass intro, and who could forget People = Shit. Every song in their own right is very catchy, it has that loveable punchy angst that Nu-Metal is known for. Too bad Nu-Metal is dead. It’s one of those albums that make you long for a time that no longer exists. The beauty of albums like Iowa is that they’re not really trying to be anything, and modern Nu-Metal is trying to hard to sound like the old, so much so that they sound boring, and it loses the charm and replayability of the angsty, angry, young and alive energy that Iowa brings. Overall this album is a 9/10, the front half of the album very much so holds up the back half, I do find most of the songs quite samey, but at least catchy. Next week another requested review by Papporatier.