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Slipknot is an American band from Des Moines, Iowa. Slipknot consists of nine members, the current band members are Sid Wilson, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor. The band's line-up has remained unchanged since 1999. Each member of the band wears a unique mask.

Slipknot formed in 1995 and underwent several line-up changes following the independent release of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996. Their self-titled debut studio album was released in 1999 and was followed by Iowa in 2001 and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) in 2004. On August 25, 2008, the band returned to release their fourth studio album, All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 charts. The band has released three DVDs including 2002's Disasterpieces, which was certified quadruple-platinum in the United States.
Members:
(#0) Sid Wilson - turntables
(#1) Joey Jordison - drums
(#2) Paul Gray - bass, backing vocals
(#3) Chris Fehn - custom percussion, backing vocals
(#4) James Root - guitars
(#5) Craig "133" Jones - samples, media
(#6) Shawn "Clown" Crahan - custom percussion, backing vocals
(#7) Mick Thomson - guitars
(#8) Corey Taylor - lead vocals

History:
Early years (1995–1998)
Early formations of the band were beginning to form as early as 1992 with the core band members, drummer Shawn Crahan, vocalist Anders Colsefini, and bassist Paul Gray enlisting the help of guitarists Donnie Steele and Quan Nong.In September 1995, the band The Pale Ones was created comprising Crahan on drums, Gray on bass, Colsefini on vocals and guitarist Steele.Joey Jordison joined the band shortly after, taking up the role of drummer and, subsequently, Crahan moved to percussion.The band continued to develop their vision of what the band would be, deciding to add a second guitarist, recruiting Josh Brainard and moving Colsefini to percussion along with lead vocals.The band played their first live performance under the name of Meld on December 4, 1995 at a club called Crowbar in Des Moines.Soon after, Jordison suggested renaming the band "Slipknot" after their song that eventually appeared on Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat..The band also began experimenting with their image, wearing grotesque make up and eventually the anti-image concept developed towards the members wearing masks.Up until this point, the band had remained mainly obscured due to their desire to wait until their music was fully developed.
Self-titled debut album and commercial success (1998–2001)
In late 1998, Slipknot entered the recording studio to work on their debut album.In the early new year, guitarist Brainard decided to leave the band due to personal reasons.His replacement was Jim Root leaving the band with the line-up they retain.Recording finished in early 1999, and the band attended the Ozzfest which began in March.On June 29, 1999, the band released their eponymous album Slipknot.Regarding the album, Rick Anderson of Allmusic wrote "You thought Limp Bizkit was heavy? They're The Osmonds. Slipknot is something else entirely.Slipknot included variations of previously released songs, including "(sic)"; a version of the previous song "Slipknot". These versions were faster than their previous recordings and this shift in intensity was welcomed by old fans.In the same year, Slipknot released their first home video Welcome to Our Neighborhood (which was later released on DVD in 2003). In early 2000, Slipknot was certified platinum, a first for an album released by Roadrunner Records.In July 2001, Q named Slipknot as one of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time".
Iowa and side projects (2001–2003)
The band had created a huge fan base, and the expectations for their follow up album were great. They went back into the studio in early 2001 to work on a new album.Iowa, the band's second album with Roadrunner Records, was released on August 28, 2001. Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic said "It's really all you could ask for in a Slipknot album, and then some", and David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the album "the first great record of the nu metal era."It was also a commercial success, peaking at number three on the Billboard album charts, and at number one on the UK album chart.In mid-2001, the band once again toured with Ozzfest.[13] The band also appeared in the concert scene of the 2002 movie Rollerball.In the same year, the BBC said that Slipknot stole the show and proved entertaining after the band performed at Reading Festival in England.In the same year Slipknot released their second visual output with the release of their DVD Disasterpieces.2002 also saw the first serious musical projects for Slipknot members outside of the band. Lead vocalist Taylor and guitarist Root revived their band Stone Sour with the release of t

HISTORY:
Vol.3 (The Subliminal Verses) and hiatus (2003–2007)
In late 2003, Slipknot began writing and recording with producer Rick Rubin, who had previously worked with artists such as Johnny Cash, System of a Down, and Slayer.Roadrunner Records also announced they would be no longer be distributing Slipknot's albums in Scandanavia, due to fanancial terms. However Slipknot managed to pen a deal with Nuclear Blast Records in early 2003 for the releases in Scandanavia. The band released their third album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) on May 24, 2004, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200.Johnny Loftus of Allmusic called the album "a satisfying, carefully crafted representation of [the band's] career to date", while Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone said the album "experiments with even newer extremes, which in Slipknot's case means tunefulness and traditional song structures."The title of the album denotes that this is their third album, band members later mentioned that they do not consider Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. as an album which reflects the band.In 2004, the band toured on the Ozzfest for a third time, the same year they made their first appearance at Download Festival where Jordison replaced Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich after he was rushed to hospital.In 2005, Slipknot made live appearances without percussionist Crahan—who was supporting his wife during an illness—including their return to Download Festival.
All Hope Is Gone (2008–present)
Slipknot has released their fourth studio album All Hope Is Gone on August 20, 2008.Preparation for the album started in October 2007 with recording pushed back to February 2008.For this release the band has expressed an interest in making it their heaviest album to date with an expansion of the thrash metal riffing introduced on Vol. 3.However, they also want to make it their most experimental record, and will be including more acoustic guitars and melodic vocals, as well as introducing hi-hats and cymbals to the additional percussion.The album will be the band's first work with Dave Fortman as producer.Along with the album, the band have debuted "evolved" masks and uniforms, which match the style of the new album.Slipknot will headline the first ever Mayhem Festival festival in July and August 2008.The band was scheduled to play in the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2008, but was forced to cancel after drummer Joey Jordison broke his ankle.
Influences and style:
The band's primary influences include Black Sabbath, Slayer, Judas Priest, Korn, AC/DC, Kiss and Beastie Boys.Death metal, black metal and heavy metal have been mentioned as a key influence on the band's musical direction alongside nu metal, the category the band is generally listed as.They have also stated that they are influenced by industrial bands like Head of David, Godflesh and Skinny Puppy as well as Neurosis and jungle music like Roni Size.Slipknot are seen as pioneers of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal developing a lean and aggressive brand of metal formed from thrash, hardcore and death metal. In this they can be compared with groups such as Pantera, Machine Head, Biohazard, Life of Agony, and Prong and are known for often chaotic and energetic live shows.The extreme performance style provided by their large line-up featuring a typical heavily down-tuned guitar set-up (lead, rhythm, and bass guitars), two percussionists in addition to the primary drummer, and electronics (samplers and turntables).Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone compared the band's sound to "a threshing machine devouring a military drum corps".Their early work hosted a diverse range of vocal styles, ranging from rapping to occasional singing to growled vocals.In more recent work, this vocal style remains present, but now includes more melodic singing.The lyrics generally follow a very aggressive tone and feature themes such as darkness, nihilism, anger, disaffection, love, misanthropy and psychosis.Rick Anderson of Allmusic regards the group's lyrics as "not generally quotable on a family website".There has been controversy surrounding Slipknot's lyrics, including a case in which a pair of young killers blamed the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece" for their vicious crime and a case in 2006 in which lyrics from the song "Surfacing" were found at the site of a grave robbing.However, the band has never faced official allegations that their lyrics incite violent or criminal behaviour.