It’s June 29th, 1999, and Roadrunner Records, a label that at the time is making waves in the emerging Nu-Metal scene, unveils a new artist to the world. A strange, nine-member band from Des Moines, Iowa, clad in jumpsuits and sporting disturbing masks. A band relatively unknown outside of the United States, and even there, they are small. A band that, after being passed over by Sony Music, signed a multi-album deal with Roadrunner in 1998, cementing a partnership that would be instrumental in launching both the band and the label to massive mainstream success.
The world of metal was forever changed as we were introduced to Slipknot, and with them came their now-iconic self-titled debut album. Now, I want to clear one thing up before the scholars descend into the comment section. Some would argue that technically, Slipknot was a second album, following Mate, Kill, Feed, Repeat, while others would argue it was little more than a demo, and I would agree with the latter. MFKR was a self-financed and self-released record that was released in small numbers, and while the band’s lineup was still in a state of flux, and didn’t include Corey Taylor or Jim Root. MFKR would lay the groundwork for the band to slowly gain attention and ultimately, after a small evolution, secure a record deal. MKFR is also a vastly different listening experience from Slipknot, featuring a much more abstract sound that would predate the nu-metal stylings the band would later include in their sound.
As far as official label releases go, Slipknot is the debut, and MFKR would go on to gain its own legendary status as a rare collectible among fans as they tried to track down copies all over the world once the band found global success, forever separating the two records and establishing the proto-Slipknot from the real deal. I myself spent a couple of years trying to get my hands on a CD copy that didn’t require a small loan to buy, in the days before streaming.
With that out of the way, and our timeline agreed, we go on to state the obvious… Slipknot was a groundbreaking record; not only were the band eye-catching, with elements of shock-rock and horror movie masks, their arrival on the scene and their relentless sound and chaotic live show turned the slow-burning popularity of the Nu-Metal scene into a raging inferno, quickly becoming one of the leading acts within the polarising sub-genre. Just one year after release, the album would earn platinum certification, which itself was a significant achievement, as it was the first album released by Roadrunner Records to achieve this status in the United States.
Fast forward ten years, and Slipknot had fast become a household name and a global powerhouse. Their follow-up album, Iowa, had taken the juggernaut band to a whole new level of popularity, and when the anniversary of the debut album came around, fans were clamoring for a special edition re-issue. Also by that time, Vol 3 and All Hope Is Gone had gained the band radio play and furthered their influence. The tenth anniversary edition of Spliknot gained huge popularity for its inclusion of the bonus tracks ‘Purity’ and ‘Get This’. Slipknot lore affecenados would tell you all about the “lost track” ‘Purity’ and how it had to be pulled from the original release at the eleventh hour due to copyright issues. Corey Taylor was said to have been inspired by an online story about a kidnapped girl named Purity Knight who was buried alive in a box in the woods. The story was published on a website that apparently presented fictional crime cases as real-life events without a disclaimer. The copyright dispute was further complicated by the fact that the song’s preceding interlude, ‘Frail Limb Nursery,’ directly sampled audio from said website. To avoid having the entire album pulled from shelves, the band removed both tracks from subsequent pressings of the album, replacing them with ‘Me Inside.’ The tenth anniversary edition of the album restored ‘Purity’ to its original place on the track list, but ‘Frail Limb Nursery’ has not seen the light of day since.
‘Get This’ was another selling point, as originally this track was only available on the Digipak or Japanese releases of the album; having it now included on a worldwide re-issue filled a gap in the collection for many fans. There was also the inclusion of the bonus DVD featuring Shawn “Clown” Crahan’s film, (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams, a raw and rare glimpse into their early days of the band and a significant part of the package at the time. Slipknot – Tenth Anniversary Edition was in many ways a victory lap, a confirmation of the band’s status as a major force in heavy music and a reminder of where they had started. It was more than a straightforward, celebratory release; it was a statement. The band was going nowhere.
It’s now 2025, and the debut album’s status as a landmark is clear with its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition reissue. This new edition offers fans a deeper dive into the band’s chaotic early years, studio stories, unpredictable live shows, and their raw, visceral appeal. This version offers more bonus content than the Tenth Anniversary Edition, most notably for fans, there are the pre-studio demos for tracks such as the massive single ‘Wait and Bleed,’ a track that would be the gateway to the band for many, ‘Snap,’ and ‘Prosthetics. ’ What’s really on display here is the nascent stage of the songwriting process. I personally really like the demo version of ‘Wait and Bleed’, with its staggered vocal patterns and additional harmonies. It’s fun to take a journey into the band’s past and pick out small lyrical changes, different song structures, or simply bask in the rawer vocal delivery from Corey Taylor. If you thought the polished final product of Slipknot was intense, then you’ll get a real kick out of these demos. I know I sure did.
Alongside these demos are the Indigo Rnach sessions, unpolished mixes from the recording sessions with producer Ross Robinson that have been a talking point amongst die-hard “maggots” for years. These demos showcase the band’s initial sonic vision before the final mastering and polishing would take place and become the tracklist for the record we know so well today. The sound is a snapshot of the time, a more raw, maybe a little less refined, but still full of the band’s primal energy.
Then there are the test mixes from producers Jay Baumgardner and Ulrich Wild. These are particularly interesting as they represent alternative paths the album could have taken. They show the band (and label) exploring different approaches to their sound. The Jay Baumgardner mix of one of my all-time favourite Slipknot tracks, ’Surfacing’, hits different with its frontloaded bass and drums and around “heavier” feel; this mix really draws out those extra vocal and percussion parts that are less noticeable in the debut album mix. Jay’s take on ‘Only One’ and ‘No Life’ both get similar treatment, more bass and vocals on top that really offer a glimpse into what Slipknot could have sounded like with Baumgardner at the helm instead of Ross Robinson. We also get a cheeky Ulrich Wild mix of ‘(sic)’ which sounds more like a demo, the opening roar is noticeably deeper before the familiar “Here comes the pain” sample. It’s a much more modern and polished version of the track when compared to Robinson’s raw, “live show” takes. The bonus tracks are then rounded out with a “Molten Injected” Mix of ‘(Sic)’, an early version of the track that has been floating around for a number of years now, and further highlights how Ross Robinson stripped down the band’s vision to its core in order to deliver the chaos that Slipknot is now known for. We also have the Terry Date mix of ‘Wait and Bleed’ and the “Hyper” and (the excellent) “Stamp You Out” versions of ‘Spit It Out’, which have also been passed around the fanbase for some time and require less explanation.
All in all, it feels like this anniversary edition is the complete package. The tenth edition teased fans with the knowledge that a treasure trove of unreleased, unheard, and maybe forgotten mixes was out there, somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered. If the tenth was a tribute to a finished product, then the twenty-fifth is a chronicle of the creative process. With this re-issue, this celebration, we finally have all the pieces of the puzzle, and we can fully dissect and relive the early days of a band that has gone on to dominate the heavy music world, constantly re-inventing themselves and evolving, and all these years later, there are still new stories to tell and new layers to uncover about this foundational album and this giant of a band. Maybe we can hear some of those stories if the mythical lost album of rarities and B-Sides, Look Outside Your Window, ever releases. Here’s to hoping, and until then, give this one a spin.
