SLIPKNOT - We Are Not Your Kind LP

Label: Roadrunner

The masked Iowans sixth full-length effort, We Are Not Your Kind, sees a confidant and apoplectic Slipknot in full command of their craft, delivering a searing 14-track set that's as versatile as it is observant of nu-metal's architectural truisms. Far removed from the desultory aggro-metal being dished out by veteran contemporaries like Saliva and Limp Bizkit, We Are Not Your Kind bristles with both intent and imagination.

Corey Taylor and company have weathered their fair share of personal and professional woes over the years -- overdose, divorce, lineup changes, and lawsuits, not to mention an increasingly mercurial musical landscape -- but they have consistently managed to turn misfortune into grist for the sonic mill. More than anything else, We Are Not Your Kind feels locked-in on a personal level -- that aforementioned sense of melancholy resides uncomfortably close to the surface throughout -- and that human touch resonates, even as the band unleashes volley after volley of tribal rhythms, scorching riffage, and fathomless decibels.