Another Death Shocks the Metal World: RIP Paul Gray

Damn. I came out of graduation to hear that Ronnie James Dio passed away and then as I ended my road trip back from Texas I saw that Slipknot bassist Paul Gray died close to home, in Urbandale, Iowa, yesterday.

This is sad news, whether you like Slipknot or not, and I'm sure this is a rough time for both the members of the band, family and all of the friends the group has made while on the road.

Here's to you Paul Gray. May you also rest in peace alongside James "The Rev" Sullivan, Peter Steele, Ronnie James Dio in Heaven ... or Hell (depending on your preference).

UPDATE: Just caught the end of Slipknot's press conference. The whole band (and Gray's wife) were there and seemed very torn up over the bassist's death. Pretty intense stuff and crazy to see all these guys in a room without masks on such a somber occasion.

Slipknot "Lite" Now with only 55 calories!

Wait a minute bartender I ordered a Budweiser!

The new Slipknot video for the song "Snuff" has been making its rounds on the Internet and I finally checked it out just now.

I got into the whole Slipknot game late and I'm not a huge fan or anything, but these seems like a perfect example of a band forgetting their history and isolating fans. I'm not one of those dudes who calls every band a sell-out for not making each album 100% brutal, but "Snuff" is just a lame ballad. Period.

(And I don't give a shit that there is cross-dressing or whatever, that's fine if the song is good).

From what I have gathered about Slipknot, who I have followed over the years, is that their fans are loyal to a band that was all about getting out anger and rage with insane live shows. This song live would be a total mood killer and if you are going for the cleaner melodic stuff, Corey Taylor's other band Stone Sour does it better than this.

Right now, it appears Slipknot has stretched its style too far, and hopefully (if the band ever releases another album) they will get back to a full-on aggressive album, then call it quits if they want to do the arena rock anthems.

But that's just my opinion. An example of Slipknot doing what it does best can be seen below.

P.S. If you want to see Slipknot's video for "Snuff", check it out here.

Rock Is Not Going Wild in Northwood, Iowa.

I briefly mentioned the Rock Gone Wild festival on the blog a few months back, mainly because it had some solid acts, including Saxon (who rarely tour the US), Twisted Sister and Armored Saint.

However, now I am writing about it again to say that the concert (which WAS a little over priced) is now canceled due to a last minute statement from Diamond Jo Casino which said that they could no longer hold the festival.

Maybe it will be rescheduled, but the event has already moved locations once, so who knows if management will want to take the time and money to move it again.

Click on the image below for a list of bands that would have been playing if Rock Gone Wild actually took place.

UPDATE: Slipknot's planned festival on September 9, 2009, in Des Moines, Iowa? Yeah, that's canceled too. What is going on here?!

Slipknot Sulfur Music Video

Hope you all are having a very metal Saturday afternoon. Today Slipknot released a new video for the song "Sulfur", making it the third single from the album "All Hope is Gone".

The video was created by the same dude who did that last two, so it has a similar vibe to the others. Nothing too crazy here. Just some straight-up mainstream metal, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Watch it below.

Slipknot - New Music - More Music Videos

Also I might as well put up the recent Hammerfall video for the song "By Any Means Necessary" off the album "No Sacrifice, No Victory" in stores now. Power metal cheese aside, it's another decent rockin' tune.

Any Means Necessary video clip