Heavy-metal icons Slipknot, have released ‘Yen’, the third single (following November 2021’s ‘The Chapeltown Rag’ and last month’s ‘The Dying Song’) from their seventh studio album – The End, So Far.
‘Yen’ opens with an excellently executed disturbing atmosphere; a chilling sound effect reminiscent of menacing footsteps, claustrophobic synths, and ominous chimes accompany the soft deep crooning of Corey Taylor and the indelibly dark lyrics “You’re the sin that I’ve been waiting for, the hands around my throat.”
The ensemble quickly builds, with understated drums, bass, and guitar joining the chilling backdrop for Taylor’s haunting vocals. The timbre and dissonance of the guitar in particular are immediately associable with the archetypal slower Slipknot track and give the music a noticeable sense of gradual crescendo.
The crescendo builds to a prototypical Slipknot chorus – well-executed chaos full of drum fills and heavy riffs. Tayor screams and the band revert from subtle accompaniment to full-on heavy metal.
Following the second verse and chorus, resident turntablist Sid Wilson adds a perfectly timed palate cleansing section of rhythmic scratching (reminiscent of early 2000’s nu-metal) before the track returns to heavy metal bliss.
A particular highlight of ‘Yen’ is the ethereal semi-ambient bridge-Esque passage prior to the final chorus in which Taylor angelically sings “I wish this pain could last forever, forever. I wish this kill could make me suffer for good.”
Reminiscent of tracks like ‘Vermillion’, ‘Snuff’, and ‘Killpop’; whilst dark, Yen, is significantly more accessible than a great portion of the bands typically heavy/alternative metal oeuvre whilst still managing to retain the band’s trademark edge and aptitude for atmospheric brilliance (commonly on display in tracks from Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) onwards).
The End, So Far is to be released on September 30, 2022, via Roadrunner Records.
Words by Luke Horwitz
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