.5: The Gray Chapter

Grief and loss aren't something typically associated with horror-core specialists Slipknot, but when founding bassist Paul Gray died in 2010, it crippled the band. Dedicated to their friend, The Gray Chapter is Slipknot's first album in six years, and it's both a eulogy and a means of moving on. "I don't want to get up, but I have to," sings Corey Taylor on the opener, "XIX." What follows is a blitzkrieg of a tribute. "Skeptic" is a cement mixer of pummeling blast beats and scorching riffs, while "Sarcastrophe" is an exhausting expression of sustained ferocity. Music this vicious is hard to call poignant, but the emotion that powers this tumult is palpable.