Capping a cutting edge rollout indicative of the progressive collective of Slipknot, the arrival of “The Chapeltown Rag” marks the first new single from Iowan innovators in more than two years.
Over the course of the last week, key phrases from the single like, “Read all about it if you really want to know…” and “When everything online is God / Nothing Is” permeated online via Knotfest.com – all of which steered fans to a digital hub in thechapeltownrag.com.
Further enticing fans, the website furnished a series of nine limited eco-friendly NFTS, hosted on the WAX blockchain and minted under the user account desmoines515 – a veiled nod to the Iowan fixtures of heavy culture.
Amid a swell of speculation, each day offered another drop of digital assets, suggestively steering fans to assemble the abstract visuals and the accompanying snippets of music. For those savvy enough to complete the construction of the pieces, the payoff was a first look at the single artwork as well as a completed snippet of “The Chapeltown Rag”.
Implementing an element of real-world utility with the eco-friendly NFTs, fans that collected all nine of the free-to-redeem tokens are encouraged to watch for various special redemption options, where owners of the tokens can opt to hang onto their collection or redeem their digital assets for something applicable to the physical world of Slipknot.
As for the track itself and it’s eventual reveal, “The Chapeltown Rag” marks the beginning of the next chapter for Slipknot with an incendiary 4-minute jaunt that offers a scathing assessment of the digital age and the subversive side of internet culture.
In yet another visceral showing from vocalist Corey Taylor, the frontman tears into the track, “EVERYTHING IS GOD ONLINE… and it’s as evil as it gets // This is not another trick: either Follow or Repent, delivering the kind of caustic commentary on brand with a band that has shifted the culture of heavy music by regularly confronting the status quo.
Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor commented on obvious volatility of “The Chapeltown Rag,” sharing, “It’s a punisher man. It’s classic Slipknot. And it’s frenetic. But lyrically, it’s coming from a point of talking about the various manipulations that can happen when social media meets media itself. And the different ways that these manipulations can try to pull us in different directions, in the fact that we’re all becoming addicts to it, which is very, very dangerous.”
M. Shawn Crahan, best know as clown of Slipknot, also weighed in, “‘The Chapeltown Rag’ facilitates a sort of mindset that you’re going to like: it’s along the barnburner side of things.”
Complete with calculated blast beats, menacing guitars, eerie accents and a kind of vocal showing that resonates as audio violence, “The Chapeltown Rag” is as much insightful observation as it is relentless onslaught.
To mark the release of the new single, Slipknot has confirmed that the band will showcase the live debut of the track just hours after it’s global premiere – performing “The Chapeltown Rag” live for the first time ever on the biggest heavy music stage of the year in Knotfest LA.
Ensuring that fans the world over will be able to witness the spectacle in real time, Slipknot will livestream their performance from Knotfest LA in a festival first, broadcasting from the new confines of Banc of California Stadium.
The broadcast will begin at 6:00PM PT / 9:00PM ET tonight with tickets for the livestream currently available at knotfest.veeps.com. In addition, Knotfest Members are eligible to purchase the livestream option at a discounted price.
Fans will be able to access the Slipknot full-set performance along portions of Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, Code Orange, Vended, and special guests Cherry Bombs for a full 72 hours afterwards following the broadcast launch.
Stream the highly anticipated arrival of Slipknot’s new single, “The Chapeltown Rag” below.
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