We Are Not Your Kind was a massive commercial success. It debuted at Number One on the US Billboard 200, marking the band's third consecutive chart-topping album. It also topped the charts in the UK, Australia, Canada, and several European countries.
Critically, it was hailed as a "return to form" and one of the best metal albums of 2019. Critics praised the band for not resting on their laurels; rather than releasing a nostalgia act, they pushed their sound forward. Publications like Kerrang! and Metal Hammer awarded it perfect scores, noting that the band sounded "hungry" again.
We Are Not Your Kind is Slipknot’s most sonically diverse record since 2001’s Iowa. Producer Greg Fidelman (who mixed Vol. 3 and produced .5) pushed the band to incorporate atmospheric electronics, eerie piano, percussive industrial noise, and even choral elements. Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind -2019-
The closing track and second single. Named after a bay in Scotland where a notorious 2006 murder took place (the “Solway Firth Spaceman” photo is a red herring—Taylor uses the location as a metaphor for isolation). The song is a blistering, thrash-driven assault on internet trolls and cancel culture. The music video intercuts band performance with footage from the TV series The Boys. Iconic line: “You want a real smile? / I haven’t smiled in years.”
Mid-tempo and sludgy. A critique of toxic positivity and self-help culture. The breakdown is pure Iowan fury: Why do I deserve it? / The consequence is I am free. We Are Not Your Kind was a massive commercial success
Released: August 9, 2019
Recorded: 2018–2019 at EastWest Studios, Hollywood, California
Producer: Greg Fidelman (engineer of Vol. 3, producer of .5: The Gray Chapter)
Length: 63:29
Label: Roadrunner Records
Another interlude, but this one is sinister. Distorted, gargled voices over a minimalist drum pattern. It leads directly into... Critically, it was hailed as a "return to
The title says it all. A meditation on mortality and the feeling of being a ghost in your own life. The song builds from a clean, resigned verse into a colossal, screaming climax. The final minute features the band playing a single, repeating chord while Taylor wails "Killed, Killed, Killed..." It is exhausting in the best way.