Deep Cuts: 5 Great, Underappreciated Slipknot Songs

Stuart Sevastos, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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If you’re a diehard metalhead, you probably know the hits, the classics and the crucial cuts. Our favorite bands play them live and we lose our minds in the pit, scream along, bang our heads and raise up our horns. But the best groups also have tons of awesome songs that fall under the radar and get overlooked. With that in mind, we present the “Deep Cuts” lists, which collect what we consider to be some of the most criminally underappreciated songs from some of heavy music’s greatest acts. Up today, the one and only Slipknot. Check out our picks for their finest deep cuts below, and if you have more to add, sound off on The Pit Facebook page.

“EEYORE”
ALBUM: SLIPKNOT

Deep cuts don’t get much deeper than this hidden track on Slipknot’s self-titled debut. Starting at 13 minutes and 26 seconds into the album’s official closer “Scissors,” and after about three minutes of coughing, gagging and band-member talk about scat porn, “Eeyore” is a ripping, near-grindcore blast that prominently features frontman Corey Taylor roaring “I am the great big mouth!” An insane foray from an insane band, and one that’s a highlight of their live show anytime they to decide to break it out.

“PURITY”
ALBUM: SLIPKNOT

As real Maggots know, “Purity” was the original ninth track on the band’s debut, until a lawsuit compelled the band to remove it (and its intro “Frail Limb Nursery”) and replace the song with “Me Inside.” “Purity” was later restored for the 10th anniversary edition of the album, and good thing, too, because the brooding and explosive cut crushes.

“New Abortion”
ALBUM: IOWA

“People = Shit,” “The Heretic Anthem” and “Left Behind” steal the spotlight, but when it comes to Slipknot’s ferocious sophomore album, Iowa, it’s the noisy, unhinged deeper cuts that truly make the LP so special. Enter “New Abortion,” a death-metal blast punctuated by a echoey, almost-Alice in Chains-esque chorus and, of course, a massive breakdown.

“Opium of the People”
ALBUM: Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)

Packed with shreddy leads, neck-snapping riffs, an almost-rapped verse and an infectious, clean-sung chorus, Vol. 3 non-single standout “Opium of the People” has everything a Maggot knows and loves about their favorite band — and then some.

“Spiders”
ALBUM: We Are Not Your Kind

Eerie and hypnotic, We Are Not Your Kind’s 10th track rides a horror-movie-ready piano line over which Corey Taylor croons seductively as the song builds to a surreal, squealing solo. It’s one of the finest examples of Slipknot spreading their wings and indulges a mellower, if no less harrowing, side.