Slipknot unleash ferocious new song 'The Chapeltown Rag' - listen
Partially inspired by the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper murders
Last updated 1st Dec 2021
Slipknot have unleashed their ferocious new single ‘The Chapeltown Rag’, which is partially inspired by the police investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper murders in the late 1970s and into 1980.
Described as ‘brimming with incandescent rage’ but with ‘sadness at its centre’, ‘The Chapeltown Rag’ takes its name from the Leeds suburb of Chapeltown, which was a stalking ground for Peter Sutcliffe.
Corey Taylor was inspired to write the song after watch The Ripper documentary about the Yorkshire Ripper on Netflix, which led to him to watch more serial killer documentaries after being sent down a rabbit hole by streaming service’s algorithm.
Corey says: “At that moment, everything was just kind of steering towards violence, or a history of violence.
“And it was just such a weird echo of social media. And the fact that social media tries to steer you towards violence or steer you towards the most toxic thing – the most toxic moment. So, I looked at it from that standpoint.”
‘The Chapeltown Rag’ is the name of a hypothetic newspaper detailing all the grisly goings on in the world.
Commenting on the police investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper, Corey says: “They wasted all this time. All this money, all these resources – all because they refused to be wrong. Now what does that sound like in this day and age?”
Describing the sound of ‘The Chapeltown Rag’, Corey says: ‘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.”
Shaun ‘Clown’ Crahan adds: “‘The Chapeltown Rag’ facilitates a sort of mindset that you're going to like: it's along the barnburner side of things.”
Listen to Slipknot's 'The Chapeltown Rag' (warning: it's very sweary):
'The Chapeltown Rag' is the first taster of Slipknot's upcoming seventh studio album.
Slipknot began teasing the single this week by launching a thechapeltownrag.com website containing nine different nine second snippets of new music.
The Iowan masked metallers will premiere ‘The Chapeltown Rag’ during their set at Knotfest Los Angeles tomorrow (5th November) at the Banc Of California Stadium. The show is being livestreamed and tickets are on sale right here.
If crushingly heavy metal music is your thing, have a listen to our Kerrang! Radio Premium station Full Metal Racket.
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