I remember getting Slipknot's Iowa when it came out in 2001. I was 11 years old, and I listened to that disc until I hated it, and then I did the same thing with Vol. 3 and its successors. Now, as a 26 year old, I'm still just as much a fan, though I never arrived at the conclusion that Slipknot is its own genre.
It seem as though vocalist Corey Taylor has, however, in an interview with Aggressive Tendencies (below).
"I think we're just kind of our own genre, to be honest. I mean, there's all these different genres, and then there's Slipknot, because when you hear us, you immediately know it's us. As far as labeling Slipknot a 'nu metal' thing, I think that really kind of came down to A) the timing, when we came out; and B) the fact that we were still using a lot of hip-hop elements and whatnot. But I think, honestly, we were more of a precursor to what they called the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal. I thought we were kind of filling in that gap."
Taylor is dead on when he says the band is identifiable in its own sound. You can hear its influence on other artists (new Whitechapel, anyone?), and you could hit play on a new Slipknot song and immediately know it was them. That being said, are they really their own genre? There are heaps of bands out there that are off doing their own thing, who are instantly identifiable, and who are extremely talented guys just like Slipknot's members are, but I think once you get past the extremely broad genre classifications of "oh, that's metal. That's death metal, black metal, etc." everything sort of falls into its own weird, splintered category.
On the flip side of that argument, who cares? If Taylor says "Slipknot is an extreme polka free jazz band with metal leanings," then so be it. It's still the exact same music I grew up with.
In related news, check out the killer Slipknot photo gallery we posted from their current summer tour.
