Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) by Slipknot

Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), Slipknot's third album, came out on Roadrunner on May 25, 2004, and it's the sound of the Des Moines nine-piece learning that a scream hits harder when there's a melody next to it. Rick Rubin produced it, the only time he worked with the band, and the sessions weren't easy. After touring the second album in 2002, members had drifted into side projects like Murderdolls, To My Surprise and a revived Stone Sour, and when they moved into The Mansion in 2003 to write, not much happened at first; Corey Taylor was drinking heavily. They pulled it together anyway and came out with more songs than they needed.

The lineup was the classic nine: Taylor on vocals, Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn on percussion, Joey Jordison on drums, Paul Gray on bass, Mick Thomson and Jim Root on guitars, Craig Jones on samples and Sid Wilson on turntables. For the first time they let in proper song structures, guitar solos and even acoustic instruments, and the brutality still lands. "Duality" lurches from a hushed, haunted verse into a full-scale riot, "Before I Forget" pummels like a jackhammer with a hook, "Vermilion" creeps along in a fog of dread and "Circle" is a strange, gentle surprise.

It went Platinum in the US and made the top ten in eleven countries. "Before I Forget" won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance, and Roadrunner has named the "Duality" video the best in the label's history. A special edition with a bonus disc followed on April 12, 2005.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.