It may seem strange to suggest this, but for Slipknot, Vol 3: (The Subliminal Verses) was arguably a crossroads album.
Despite, or maybe because of, the enormous success they’d enjoyed with the previous two albums (1999’s self-titled debut and Iowa two years later), the band seemed on the point of disintegrating. The sheer intensity of their lifestyle was threatening to tear them apart. They needed the space and time to gather thoughts, and got this through taking a comparatively lengthy break from one another, getting involved in other projects.
