Once their debut album, now retroactively labeled as a demo album. Slipknot's original incarnation was a curious machination of Death Metal and the emerging Nu Metal groove. If their masked avatars weren't wild enough, the band periodically burst into bizarre tangents of Funk Metal and Disco. Echo's of the early 90s Alternative linger but MFKR is mostly a dark mysterious beast born of loose experimentation.
With original bandmates Shawn Crahan, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray and Craig Jones all present, its an interesting observation that so much of the identity defining guitar work is present. Josh Brainard and Donnie Steele deserve much credit for laying down those darkly brutal riffs. A lot of their material ends up spread over Slipknot's next three albums, often reshaped, the self titled number sped up for the classic Sic.
Yet to find Corey Taylor, the band have a fine frontman in Anders Colsefni, who introduces those little Rap Metal verses, alongside barrages of brutal guttural vocals and raw throaty screams. His cheesy opening lyrics vent frustrations around the game Ultima Online But beyond this silly oddity, the themes get dark and serious swiftly. Gently, heard later on Iowa, has its meditative catharsis, swaying between calm and unease on the march to its grandiose riff that marks a peak as the song closes.
Do Nothing Bitchslap Is the first song to really test the limits. Dropping into a sly Lounge Jazz Funk groove, the song plays a game of pivoting between Death Metal and this easier temperament which gradually shifts into a disco groove. So too does its heavier end sway into manic guitar discordance and feverish grinding intensities. It plays like a bad acid trip walking among the halls of a carnival house of horrors.
Only One and Tattered & Torn are much like on the self titled record. Both fully written, here they just have a rawer edge which Anders does justice too. Confessions has to be my favorite song. Me and a friend used to listen to its, joking about these masked villains would wear their masks, dressed up in with fancy suits, dancing like it's MJ's smooth criminal video. The song beautifully transitions from woeful expressions to a dancey emotive number with spirited singing and a very 80s guitar solo.
The affair ends with Killers Are Quiet and the hidden track Dogfish Rising. Nineteen minutes of brutal downtrodden Metal that ventures into bizarre realms of experimental Industrial Noise. Atmosphere is the key word. This song really showcases Slipknot's unique yet deranged spirit. It's that side of the band we hear in its rawest form, yet to become the mainstream Metal juggernaut that would dominate this alternate culture.
For me, MFKR was a peculiar entity. A band I adored had sequestered a mysterious history. Back then, it was difficult to learn about and get your hands on. Now it's very accessible. But that mystique I experienced really let me connect with this album's strange character and appreciate its experimental approach. What Slipknot would become to be is genius in its own right, but so too is this alternative universe record where the band could of headed on a different trajectory. A cult like, underground act.
Rating: 8/10