Music / .5: The Gray Chapter

Maybe I should let her go, but only when she loves me.

.5: The Gray Chapter is the fifth studio album by Slipknot, released in October 17, 2014.

The album was released after an indefinite hiatus where the fate of the band was put into question. This was due to internal conflicts between various members as well as the death of bassist Paul Gray and departure of drummer Joey Jordison, two members integral to the band's sound.

The bass and drums on the album were filled in either by the members of Slipknot or Alessandro Venturella and Jay Weinberg respectively, both of which became official members of the band later. The album's title is a Due to the Dead to Gray himself, and several songs on the album pay tribute to his memory.

Compositionally, the album is essentially a fusion of Iowa and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). In other words, it combines the more chaotic stylings of the former (ex: prominent scratching, electronic sounds, borderline-rapped vocals) with the more melodic stylings of the latter (ex: traditional song structures, grooves, guitar solos).

The album debuted at #1 in their native United States, as well as Japan, Canada, Australia, Russia, and Switzerland. It also made the Top 5 of United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, Mexico, Denmark and Finland.

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Tracklist:

1. "XIX" (3:10)
2. "Sarcastrophe" (5:06)
3. "AOV" (5:32)
4. "The Devil In I" (5:42)
5. "Killpop" (3:45)
6. "Skeptic" (4:46)
7. "Lech" (4:50)
8. "Goodbye" (4:35)
9. "Nomadic" (4:18)
10. "The One That Kills the Least" (4:11)
11. "Custer" (4:14)
12. "Be Prepared for Hell" (1:57)
13. "The Negative One" (5:25)
14. "If Rain Is What You Want" (6:20)

Special Edition

1. "Override" (5:37)
2. "The Burden" (5:23)

Hidden Tracks

1. "-Silent-" (2:00)
2. "-Talk-" (6:20)
3. "-Funny-" (1:30)

Contributors:

Principal Members

• (#0) Sid "DJ Starscream" Wilson - turntables
• (#3) Chris Fehn - custom percussion, backing vocals
• (#4) Jim Root - guitars
• (#5) Craig "133" Jones - sampling, keyboards
• (#6) Shawn "Clown" Crahan - custom percussion
• (#7) Mick Thomson - guitars
• (#8) Corey Taylor - lead vocals

Other Contributors

• Donnie Steele - bass
• Alessandro Venturella - bass
• Jay Weinberg - drums

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The Tropes Chapter:

• Call-Back: "The Burden" brings back the klaxon previously heard in "The Negative One".
• Cluster F-Bomb: While most songs favor either Precision F-Strike or no swearing at all, "Custer" features this in the chorus.
  Cut, cut, cut me up and fuck, fuck, fuck me up...
  CUT, CUT, CUT ME UP AND FUCK, FUCK, FUCK ME UP!
  CUT, CUT, CUT ME UP AND FUCK, FUCK, FUCK ME UP!
  CUT, CUT, CUT ME UP AND FUCK, FUCK, FUCK ME UP!
  CUT, CUT, CUT ME UP AND FUCK, FUCK, FUCK ME UP!
  CUT, CUT, CUT ME UP AND FUCK, FUCK, FUCK ME UP!
• Country Matters: "AOV" features the word in its lyrics, the opener no less.
• Drugs Are Bad:
  • "Killpop" is about a girl who resorts to using drugs, likely as a result of a bad relationship.
  • "Skeptic" follows suit with Taylor talking about the promises to "keep our systems clean" in the bridge.
• Due to the Dead: Several songs pay tribute to the aforementioned late bassist Paul Gray, such as "XIX", "Skeptic", "Goodbye", and "If Rain Is What You Want". The title of the album itself is also a reference to him.
• Epic Rocking: Five songs on the album are over five minutes, and most of the other songs fall just short of that.
• Everything Is an Instrument: As usual, beer kegs and baseball bats are among the instruments for this album. Also, turntable scratches are featured almost as prominently as the lead guitar, and sometimes Sid gets a "DJ solo" of his own in the place of a guitar solo.
• Miniscule Rocking: In contrast to the other songs, "Be Prepared for Hell" lasts just under two minutes.
• New Sound Album: An interesting variation in that it's basically the fusion of two old sounds: the mostly heavy Iowa and the experimental Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), creating something that's familiar yet refreshing as a result.
• Sanity Slippage Song: "The Devil In I", which is about facing one's own inner demons.
• Say My Name: Not a dramatic one, but in the Vanilla Edition of the album the last thing you hear is a distorted "Paul".
• Soprano and Gravel: Corey does a one-man variation in most songs, going from singing melodically to screaming harshly at a moment's notice.
• Step Up to the Microphone: "Be Prepared for Hell" has Clown doing the vocals rather than Corey.
• Take That!: Initially people believed "The Negative One" to be this to Joey Jordison, but "Lech" is a clearer example. Averted when you consider that Joey left the band because of health issues more than anything else.
• Word Salad Lyrics: Some songs, such as "The Negative One" and "Nomadic," have some rather vague lyrics.

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