Sara Hammerzmith

Well well! Wasn’t the timing perfect or what? Just a day or two after me discussing Lordi’s new costumes, SlipKnot releases a video where you can CLEARLY see their masks, and I figured we’d for the third time go through them. Apparently this videoclip is actually hidden, so instead of embedding it, I’ll link it right here for you.

But okay, let’s talk masks, shall we? I’ll start with Corey, because he freaks the hell out of me so I just want to get it over with. ALL footage below are taken from the video, and are the property of SlipKnot / Roadrunner Records.

Goddamnit. I’ve seen this mask now for the 347238472th time, and it STILL TERRIFIES ME TO DEATH. I just can’t get used to this. It’s something inside of me that is just dead scared of this. I’m not sure what the hell it is, but jesus almighty. I can’t look at it. I guess the job is somewhat done if I can’t even look at it.

The new bassplayer, rumored Alessandro Venturella. This closeup allows you to see the texture a lot better, and it kinda feels like a plastered version of Paul, and I think it’s specifically the nose that makes me think of Paul. I love the detail with the 9-star at the forehead too. Kinda enhances the idea of them standing out as replacements instead of getting their own individual characters.

Let’s move on immediatley with the new drummer, rumored Jay Weinberg or possibly Roy Magora(commentfield). Up and close I have to take back my previous statement about the masks being not so similar, because they are dead similar. I still feels like this could be a plastered version of Joey, but it might be my mind that are playing me tricks. Maybe it’s the hair. I don’t know really.

Sadly, #6 are covering most of his face in this shot, but it still shows off some details I hadn’t paid attention too before, like the “burnt” off skin on the side, or the scar over the eye. While I still find him a bit scary due to my fear of clowns, I still think this is probably his least terrifying of masks he’s had throughout the years.

#3. Can I just say something crazy? (I LOVE CRAZY!) No ok. But anyway – I can not tell you enough how much I’m in love with Chris’ eyes. Like. HIS EYES. GODDAMNIT. HE HAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PAIR OF EYES I HAVE EVER SEEN. Perhaps his mask enhances the effect of his eyes, I don’t know, but seriously, I can’t, masked or not, stop staring at his gorgeous eyes. Anyway, like I’ve said previously, it’s a steelmask, at least to the look of it, rather than the green/red/beige/whatever he had before. I like the details with the seam right over the face. Love it. This is nothing but an improvement!

133 #5. YES. THE SPIKES ARE LONGER. I’ve noticed a lot of people have commented this, so it wasn’t only in my head! I love how they in a way are in the shape of a pyramid. Or like sunrays. I don’t know. Aside that, I think it’s pretty much the same as the previous eras. Silent little 133.

#0. I still think he looks like a fly. A cute, bondage fly. However, this screenshot confirms that the steelplate IS Indeed removable, juast as I thought. Apart from the fact it isn’t a full gasmask anymore, I wouldn’t say it’s a too big of a difference from last. But I do like the update.

#7. Now, can we please, please talk about Mick’s mask? Like, I already talked about how the extra “wrinkles” around his mouth makes me think it adds so much intensity, but hey, can we talk about the crack? OR PERHAPS THE YELLOW STAINS? It’s like someone hit him in the head with a brick (most likely thrown by Clown) and cracked his skull and now there’s a lot of pus coming out of the wound. And it’s making it’s way down to his eyes, infecting his eyes so he cries blood (inside of his mask) leaving even more pus coming out of the eyes.

Ok – joke aside. LOVE THIS. Just fucking love this. This could possibly be my favorite mask out of the bunch, just by these details.

Last but not least – loveydovey #4. Seeing it up close we can conduct one thing – This is going back to “All Hope is Gone” but keeping a BIG self-titled vibe to it with the wrinkles. I’m sort of glad they took away the red parts, I always prefered him with only the black marks. Can we, on the other hand, just discuss the beard? Or you know, love the beard? Like. I absolutely LOVE how they made the mask fit the beard for ultra-epic-beardness! Adds a lot to this jokerimage.

Well, that’s that I guess. It’s only a little more than a month left ’til the new album and I’m getting sooo pumped, like I’ve said millions of times by now. But god. While I do not want time to go faster, I sure as hell can’t wait for time to go faster.

// Sara
2 days ’til “Nailed by the Hammer of Frankenstein”
13 days ’til Lady Gaga
34 days ’til “MASSIVE ADDICTIVE”
34 days ’til “Vol 5: The Grey Chapter”
44 days ’til “Scare Force One”
45 days ’til Lordi

Like, I said yesterday, today was going to be exciting. SlipKnot’s new musicvideo for “The Devil in I” was released earlier today.

Well, what can I say?

FIRST OF ALL. I’m gonna start off here with saying that at the MERE SIGHT of Corey’s new mask made me move as far away from the computer as I possibly could. I shit you not, NEVER EVER have I instinctively moved away the way I did now. And when I couldn’t move anymore I started crying. THAT is how much his new mask terrifies me. I don’t even know why, but JESUS. I sat here shaking and crying because of COREY(#8), not Clown(#6) (terrified of clowns). God. I don’t even know.

Anyway, aside the fear of Corey, I love pretty much everything that’s going on in this video. I’ve previously stated I’m not a too big of a fan of the song, and while that still stands, I am a HUGE fan of the video. It’s grotesque, it’s gory and while making no sense at all, it makes perfect sense. This is pretty much something I’d expect from them.

Let’s start off discussing the masks. This is #8’s new. As you can see, it’s technically not that scary or advanced, but it’s something about it that just freaks the hell out of me. I think it’s the leatherface kind of thing – that he has this extra layer of skin as he can rip off (as you can see in the images). And perhaps it’s the fact he is still so human, but yet not, unlike the others who are more “monster” like, or how to put it.

Next up is my loveydovey and #3. I can’t exactly say there has been done any major changes, aside changing #3’s green mask for a steel silver one, which looks awesome. #4’s mask has gone back to the “All Hope is Gone” era, which I LOVE because I thought his mask was the absolute best at that point. I also love how they made sure to make it fit the beard also.  This was is just perfect.

#6 and #5. #5 has barely had any changes at all, besides having the spikes made longer. Or maybe it’s just me? No. They have definitely been made longer. It’s another story with #6 though. The first thing that came to mind when I saw him pop up in the video was Chucky the Doll, and the first thing I said when I saw him was “Euuuuuuuuuhhhwwww”. But for some reason I adjusted pretty quickly. Still terrifying to some extent though.

#7 and #0. God, some of these screencaps are just so bad, but this was the best I could muster. The crack in the skull and the extra wrinkles are a nice update of #7’s mask, and makes the mask… more intense, if you like. Not sure how to put it better. The shot of #0 is so bad, but I hope you can see a bit. He still has his gasmask, but he’s got an additional steel-plate to cover his mouth (I think this one is removable). He reminds me of a fly when I see him like this, haha. But yes. Love the updates.

Then my friends, we have the two newbies. I’m not sure at all who these people are but, we’ll give them some room!

Unnamed drummer (Weinberg?) and unnammed bassplayer (Donnie?). Their masks are pretty similar, which is why I didn’t put all my life into finding a perfect shot of the drummer. The masks makes me think of some mixture between Paul Gray’s Iowa mask and Kalmas mask, for some reason. Fits them both though, and they mix in well with the bands image.

I must admit, I kinda like the idea of them having identical masks. Like, SlipKnot talked a lot about being “the nine guys” and once they start dropping off for various reasons, their spots are being filled, but they are never replaced. And I kinda like the idea that they’d continue this way. Like, in case Jim leaves, they take in a new guitarists and put on an exact kind of mask that these two has, like, in a way to separate the newbies from the oldies. It sounds a bit harsh putting it this way, but I just like the image of it, that you can literally SEE what people are not original members.

So people, have any opinions on the mask or the video or any comments in general? Up to discussion people!

// Sara

(Screenshots are taken directly from the musicvideo and the images are property of SlipKnot)