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Slipknot and Ultra-Violence

Slipknot - Duality [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

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Representation of Collectivity To be clear, Slipknot is not a communist group. Yet, some of “the key metaphors of communist utopia,” including “fraternity, equality, … [and] the disappearance of the state, of property, of economic structures” (Todorov 364) appear throughout some of the band’s most popular videos, which is strangely logical considering there are very few concepts more contrary to “normal” American culture than the collectivity of communism. In many ways, the music video for “Duality” plays out like a (communist) revolution for maggots and a call for equality. The video starts by showing a mob of young, angry, white men – an accurate representation of the fan demographic described earlier – charging toward and tearing apart a dilapidated house in a nondescript rural setting. This is not violence for the sake of violence; rather, the destruction of the house represents the dismantling of the establishment. Beginning around the 2:18 mark, a period of stillness follows this chaos as the crowd realizes its fraternity or “comradeship [which] does not arise from religious love, but from the technological togetherness of bodies in the work process” (Todorov 371). Finally, the calm breaks around 2:54 and the moshing resumes (though the destruction of property is over), signaling that the maggots have succeeded in creating their alternative utopia. Under this reading, the music video, a poor image, “creates ‘visual bonds’” that connect the outcasts through “a sort of communist, visual, Adamic language that [can] not only inform or entertain, but also organize its viewers” for a call to action (Steyerl).

To a lesser extent, the video for “Before I Forget” also produces visual bonds instructing fans to rise above the infection of individuality (Todorov 367) in exchange for unity. “Before I Forget” is the only video that shows the band without their masks, though the video does not reveal their faces either. The band’s costuming – the masks, the barcoded jumpsuits, and identifying themselves by numbers instead of by names – are all tools to suppress identity, as the band’s DJ Sid Wilson asserts that “the whole point of this band is not knowing who [they] are so [the listener] can pay attention to the art and soul of it” (Bozza, “Slipknot: Highway”). But, the individual band members are still able to express their personalities through unique masks, so by removing the masks and faces and dressing the band in all black in the video, the band transcends the realm of humanity to be a pure symbol of unity with the maggots.
Collectivism Despite the abundant and extreme misanthropy in their lyrics and their affinity for violence, Slipknot prizes their community of maggots and reinforces this bond through emphasizing the aesthetics of collectivity. In the past century, numerous remarkable iterations of collectivism have achieved a high level of global awareness – in politics (communism, especially in Russia, Nazism in Germany, and more recently the rise of Neo-Nazism among Trump supporters in America), in the military (heightened in the United States since the Vietnam War and the more recent war on terror), and even in popular culture (the violent Project Mayhem in Fight Club (1999) comes to mind). But what do these instances of collective male action (and violence) have in common? To be clear, Slipknot is not a communist or Nazi or Trump-supporting group. Yet, some of key components of collectivity including “fraternity, equality, … [and] the disappearance of the state, of property, of economic structures”[1] are common throughout collectivist organizations and appear in the band’s most popular representations, including at concerts described above where fans engage in self-contained violence through moshing as a positive expression of ultraviolence, forming a sort of “brotherhood through blood.”[2] This collective male action is never more apparent than in the crowd’s choreographed reaction to the breakdown for “Spit It Out” at the band’s live shows (though interestingly not in the music video for the song). Chronicled in hundreds of concert footage videos online, the band’s practice of Corey Taylor ordering the crowd to get on the ground before shortly thereafter commanding them to jump up together at the shouted climax of the song has become a ritual in its own right signifying the collectivism of maggots.

The music video for “Duality” plays out like a revolution for maggots and a call for equality. The video starts by showing a mob of young, angry, white men – an accurate representation of the fan demographic described earlier – charging toward and tearing apart a dilapidated house in a nondescript rural setting. This is not violence for the sake of violence; rather, the destruction of the house represents the dismantling of the establishment and the empowerment of the collective. Beginning around the 2:18 mark, a period of stillness follows this chaos as the crowd realizes its fraternity or “comradeship [which] does not arise from religious love, but from the technological togetherness of bodies in the work process.”[3] Finally, the calm breaks around 2:54 and the moshing resumes (though the destruction of property is over), signaling that the maggots have succeeded in their revolution. Under this reading, the music video, a poor image, “creates ‘visual bonds’” that connect the outcasts through “a sort of communist, visual, Adamic language that [can] not only inform or entertain, but also organize its viewers” for a call to action. [4]

To a lesser extent, the video for “Before I Forget” also produces visual bonds instructing fans to rise above the infection of individuality[5] in exchange for unity. “Before I Forget” is the only video that shows the band without their masks, though the video does not reveal their faces either. The band’s costuming – the masks, the barcoded jumpsuits, and identifying themselves by numbers instead of by names – are all tools to suppress identity, as the band’s DJ Sid Wilson asserts that “the whole point of this band is not knowing who [they] are so [the listener] can pay attention to the art and soul of it.”[6] This video, which highlights the band’s signature masks more than any other, seems to emphasize the act of wearing a costume as a coping mechanism for feelings of toxic masculinity that are shared by the maggots. Many Slipknot songs deal with these toxic emotions – “Eyeless” from their debut album stands out as a prominent example with lyrics like “How many times have you wanted to die?/It’s too late for me all you have to do is get rid of me” – where self-hatred appears as a natural precursor to erasing one’s individuality with masks and costumes. Thus, although the band claims that the costuming is to elevate the music, it also subconsciously affirms their ideology of redirecting ultra-violence through self-expression. But, the individual band members are still able minimally to express their personalities through unique masks, so by removing the masks and faces and dressing the band in all black in the video, the band transcends the realm of humanity to be a pure symbol of unity with the maggots.

[1] Vladislav Todorov, “Introduction to the Political Aesthetics of Communism,” Textual Practice 5, no. 3 (1991): 364, Taylor & Francis Online.
[2] Todorov, “Introduction,” 371.
[3] Todorov, “Introduction,” 371.
[4] Steyerl, “Defense.”
[5] Todorov, “Introduction,” 367.
[6] Bozza, “Highway.”