Rock and metal are knot dead. 

Slipknot, one of the top heavy metal bands in the world, released their sixth studio album, We Are Not Your Kind, on August 9th and officially have their third number one album on the Billboard 200 chart. They sold 102,000 copies of WANYK and gained 16,000 units via streaming services for a total of 118,000 units(via Billboard). Some of those albums sold came from the band’s ticket deal where if you purchased a pair of tickets to the Knotfest Roadshow tour, you got a digital copy of the album. Not only did they hit #1 in the U.S., but they also hit #1 in the U.K.

The Iowa natives made their way to Bonner Springs, KS (KC Metro) with new tunes, classics, and a lot of maggots. The Knotfest Roadshow featuring Slipknot along with Behemoth, Gojira, and VOLBEAT rolled into town on Saturday night.

This was my very first-time seeing Slipknot live other than watching videos online and they blew me away. They immediately made their way into my top five shows of all time. Even after 20 years of touring these guys still bring the heat. They used pyro, video boards, and (of course) kegs to their advantage in the production. They band members are very energetic and run around on stage and interact with the crowd a lot. They’re true entertainers. You won’t find them just standing around and playing.

Corey Taylor (lead singer) expressed gratitude to the audience several times even mentioning that one of the reasons he loves playing in KC is because he’s only about three hours from his front door.

The bottom line with Slipknot is that if you haven’t started listening and banging your head, you are way behind. They’re living proof that heavy music is still alive and well. If you get a chance to catch them on this tour cycle, take it. You will not regret it.