Slipknot should be studied by bands who want to enjoy a lengthy career in heavy music. Iowa’s 36-limbed wrecking machine instantly drew buzz during the nu metal takeover, donning nightmarish masks while dispensing furious music and playing incensed live shows. Then, once the shock wore off, The Nine stayed relevant with a series of musical switch-ups. Their seven albums have mined not just nu metal, but groove metal, thrash, and even pop-rock and electronica. No band releases nothing but hits, however. These are the 10 least popular songs to make it onto a Slipknot album, according to Spotify streaming numbers.
(Editor’s note: we’ve disqualified introductory tracks and instrumental interludes, like (515), along with songs from the recently released The End, So Far, because that just wouldn’t be fair.)
10. Wherein Lies Continue (All Hope Is Gone, 2008)
Slipknot don’t like All Hope Is Gone, with several members having gone on record saying it sounds too tame and/or wasn’t produced properly. Wherein Lies Continue, sadly, suggests they may have a point. It’s a sluggish groove metal landslide that oozes onwards for six minutes, resulting in just 12.33 million streams.
9. Butcher’s Hook (All Hope Is Gone, 2008)
Much like Wherein Lies Continue, Butcher’s Hook is a song with all the momentum of a dying sloth. Slipknot’s halcyon days as mainstream metal’s angriest band are deep in the rear-view mirror here, resulting in 11.35 million streams and, even worse, not a single live airing since 2008. We don’t blame them, mind.
8. Metabolic (Iowa, 2001)
Metabolic, with its 10.96 million streams, is so unpopular that it convinced Slipknot to never play deep cuts live. Corey Taylor’s said: “Every other fucking fan-page is like, ‘You fuckers never play Metabolic.’ Then we bring it out and you could’ve heard a pin drop.” Shame – that pre-chorus riff rules.
7. My Pain (We Are Not Your Kind, 2019)
The first “new ’Knot” song on this list, My Pain epitomises the experimental spirit of We Are Not Your Kind. Rather than a tirade of metallic angst, it’s a creeping detour through ambient music and whispered vocals. The masses seemingly weren’t won over, though: there’s only 10.63 million streams on this one.
6. Be Prepared For Hell (.5: The Gray Chapter, 2014)
Despite being sandwiched between two of .5: The Gray Chapter’s biggest songs, Custer and The Negative One, Be Prepared For Hell has just 10.62 million streams. Its sinister tone, built with murmured singing and John Carpenter-esque keys, nonetheless set the stage for the album’s more avant-garde followup, We Are Not Your Kind.
5. The Virus Of Life (Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses, 2004)
Vol. 3 was the first time Slipknot truly fucked with their formula, introducing more melody and even acoustic guitars. The Virus Of Life is emblematic of those broadening wings, drowning in layers of industrial atmospherics. It’s far from the most drastic departure on the album, but still returned merely 10.60 million streams.
4. This Cold Black (All Hope Is Gone, 2008)
Although it’s the least streamed All Hope Is Gone track (10.53 million and counting), This Cold Black is far superior to Wherein Lies Continue and Butcher’s Hook. With Corey’s opening cry of “Welcome hoooooome!” and, later, his rare back-and-forths with backing vocalists Chris Fehn and Shawn “Clown” Crahan, this actually feels purposeful.
3. Skin Ticket (Iowa, 2001)
Spoilers: the three songs that “top” this list are all from Iowa, which, considering it’s Slipknot’s masterpiece, is bullshit. Skin Ticket perfectly exemplifies the album’s unsettling and apoplectic aura, dropping from a funk-metal-from-hell riff into Corey’s near-isolated, begging voice. Creepy – but not too creepy for 10.50 million brave maggots.
2. New Abortion (Iowa, 2001)
New Abortion may be a deep cut, but it’s prime golden-age Slipknot. It’s as blistering as ropeburn, of course, and – thanks to lyrics like ‘My children are legion serial! They stick to my skin like beloved cysts!’ – both cerebral and haunting. Yet here we are, with 10.44 million streams. Criminal.
1. Iowa (Iowa, 2001)
8.89 million?! A meagre 8.89 million listens for the necrophilic odyssey that ends Slipknot’s finest album?! If you ever needed evidence that popularity is not a measure of quality, then this is it, since those who’ve endured Iowa’s title track are united in awe and disgust. Patient and progressive yet psychologically disturbing, it deserves so, so much better than to show up here – let alone at number one.
