Live Review : Slipknot + Bleed From Within @ Co-op Live Arena, Manchester on December 17th 2024

Every band reaches a tipping point, where their rapid ascendancy slows, and they enter that “selective appeal" phase. It is the law of diminishing returns, the moment where the number of fans losing interest due to age, indifference and evolution of musical tastes outweigh the accumulation of new devotees. It is the point where stadium-sized bands recede to arenas, where those bothering Apollo's shift to Academies and festival headliners become special guests or even worse inhabit the dreaded "Legends" slot, an abomination designed to preserve the egos of artists yet to fully comprehend their decline. What is astonishing about Slipknot is that 25 years in they are still accelerating. They have a momentum that continues to gather both pace and followers to this very day. For some inexplicable reason, this group of mask-wearing grandad's well into their fifties are still able to speak to the freaks, geeks and disenfranchised of the generations below them.

Live Review : Corey Taylor + Cherry Bombs @ BEC Arena, Manchester on October 21st 2022

When beloved Slipknot/Stone Sour front man Corey Taylor announced he would be appearing at this weekends For The Love of Horror convention in Manchester, my friend and I immediately started hatching a plan. And just as quickly we abandoned said plan after seeing the price of the guest tickets for the con. We’re single mums, it’s nearly Christmas.

Live Review : Slipknot + Behemoth @ MEN Arena, Manchester on January 16th 2020

Mainstream Metal tends to keep Black Metal at an arm's length. It is reluctant to invite its it's uncouth younger sibling to prestigious occasions, for fear that they will say the wrong thing (like hail Satan in old Norse), burn a couple of churches down or attempt to sacrifice the pet cat. Behemoth however seem to have got in under the wire and are viewed as the acceptable (corpse painted) face of the extreme genres, without actually in any way tempering their approach. They maybe playing one of Europe’s biggest arenas as the opening act for the hottest show in town, but they are still one hundred percent a nasty venomous Satan worshipping machine.