It Rips. So Who’s Scratching?
Slipknot surprise dropped “Arsenal” today, and it’s a pretty cool song. It’s also the first single with Eloy Casagrande on drums, and certainly the first since Sid Wilson was unceremoniously fired from the band.
The track landed with no warning and no album attached, backed by a video Shawn Crahan directed for (sic)est Records, the band’s own imprint. It’s their first new music in three years, going back to the “Bone Church” single in 2023. Jim Root said in July that album eight is deep in progress with Matt Wallace producing and roughly fifty arrangements on the table, but nothing has been announced.
Casagrande is heavily featured here and his drumming is undeniable. Technical precision with some brutality mixed in, and how hard this man hits really comes through on the track. It was a bummer to see Jay Weinberg get let go a few years ago, but Eloy has really filled in better than I think anyone thought he would. Corey called the song “a pummeling experience” on BBC Radio 1, and for once the press quote is accurate.
The most interesting thing I’m hearing here is that there’s a lot of DJ scratching on this. Is it Sid Wilson? Is it not? Nobody has said, and Loudwire and Vice are asking the same question, so it isn’t just me. Then there’s the press photo going around, which shows eight members instead of nine. Is Slipknot going down to eight? Is somebody else in the band taking over DJ scratching responsibilities? Craig Jones has been gone since 2023 and his replacement still has no name, so this band is clearly fine letting a question sit.
My general thoughts are that it’s pretty good. This feels more like old Slipknot. It’s kind of chaotic, it has some great riffs and some great headbang material, and it’s the most interested I’ve been in what this band does next in a long time.
Check the song out below and let me know your thoughts.
Source: Knotfest