 |
| Title: Snuff Artist: Slipknot Genre: Heavy Metal Album: All Hope Is Gone (2008) |
Slipknot released "Snuff" on September 28, 2009 as the fifth single from their fourth album "All Hope Is Gone". "Snuff" is a very mellow song compared to most of Slipknot's other Nu Metal/Heavy Metal songs. The lyrics express vocalist Corey Taylor's feelings towards his ex-girlfriend and their breakup. This statement is confirmed by Corey Taylor's opinion in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, "This is the slow one. It's another personal one. Again, not naming names, it's about someone who helped me through a lot and I thought she felt the same way that I did and then she really let me down. At the same time, it was good that she did, because it was that final push to me figuring out myself. The lyrics are pretty self-explanatory."
If you look at the title, "Snuff" means "tobacco", it could be a metaphor for the death of hope. One of the definitions of tobacco is the material for making a cigarette, which can be relaxing but it is also poisonous. Women are metaphorized as "Snuff" or "tobacco" which means she can be comforting but on the other hand she can also be "poisonous" or hurt us. From the title alone we can already imagine that this song is a song with a deep meaning that contains the story of vocalist Corey Taylor with his ex-wife.
In terms of lyrics, "Snuff" contains a very deep meaning by telling how the woman hurt the man, the suffering after the woman left him, and the desperation of the man. Through the song, Corey seems to want to convey all his feelings so that the entire lyrics are filled with pain, anger, sadness, and even a feeling of giving up. Personally, I was amazed by how Corey puts his feelings into the lyrics. What a song with a very heartbreaking content.
The vocal technique used by Corey in this song is quite interesting because most of Slipknot's songs have scream/growl techniques. Meanwhile, in this song, Corey fully uses clean vocals without any scream/growl which makes the listener more able to enjoy the song. The vocal technique in this song makes it easier for listeners to understand the lyrics and get carried away by the emotion of this song.
Unlike most Slipknot songs that are identical to aggressive instruments, "Snuff" comes with a slow tempo acoustic. This certainly caught the attention of both fans and those who had never heard Slipknot before. Some fans were initially disappointed with this song because they felt that the characteristics of the aggressive Slipknot had to be lost in this song. But on the other hand, many also praised this song because Slipknot succeeded in getting out of their comfort zone by releasing a song with acoustic instruments. As a result, the song charted at number two on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, surpassing "Dead Memories" and being their highest-charted single at the time.
Conclusion:
After looking at some of the aspects above, it can be concluded that this song is a very extraordinary work from Slipknot. This song becomes a break from the songs they released before with an aggressive character. Despite many debates about this song, The song made it to the number two spot on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Many people are amazed by the content of this song, many even feel that this song relates to their life stories. So 8 out of 10 from me.
So, what do you think?
