Friday (November 5th) was a big day for Slipknot. The Iowa metal juggernaut jumpstarted it with the release of their first new song in two years, "The Chapeltown Rag." They closed it with a pyrotechnic headlining set at Knotfest Los Angeles, which marked the group's first-ever livestreamed concert. The historic show was opened by Bring Me the Horizon, Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, Code Orange, Vended and the rock & roll dance troupe Cherry Bombs, but of course the night belonged to the Nine, who took the opportunity to give their brand spankin' new single its live debut. Watch above.
Sonically, "The Chapeltown Rag" is classic 'Knot, encompassing high-contrast clean and mostly uclean vocals, multi-pronged percussion, extreme-metal riffage and an absolutely chest-caving breakdown. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Netflix documentary The Ripper, which covers the crimes and capture of the Yorkshire Ripper serial killer who murdered 13 women in the U.K. suburb of Chapeltown in the Seventies. (The song's title references a fictional newspaper.) Taylor saw a parallel between the moral failings illuminated by the film and some of the issues bedeviling today's social media age, a juxtaposition that plays out across the song's lyrics.
In addition to "The Chapeltown Rag," Slipknot performed an array of new and classic cuts. See the full setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm) below.
Slipknot setlist at Knotfest L.A.:
Unsainted
Disasterpiece
Nero Forte
Before I Forget
The Heretic Anthem
Psychosocial
The Devil in I
The Chapeltown Rag (Live Debut)
Wait and Bleed
Vermilion
All Out Life
Duality
Spit It Out
(515)
People = Shit
(sic)
Surfacing
