Iowa

Released in 2001, Iowa is Slipknot's second studio album and is widely regarded as their heaviest and most uncompromising work. Recorded at Sound City with producer Ross Robinson, the sessions were famously volatile, marked by the band members' substance abuse and deteriorating interpersonal relationships. This internal friction resulted in a sonic shift away from the rap-metal influences of their debut toward a more technical, death-metal-adjacent sound. The album is notable for its inclusion of blast beats, a rarity for a multi-platinum mainstream release at the time. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and solidified Slipknot as a global force in heavy music. The title track, a 15-minute experimental piece, features Corey Taylor performing while naked and cutting himself with broken glass to achieve a specific vocal intensity, epitomizing the 'hellish' recording environment described by the band. Critics often cite Iowa as the high-water mark for the nu-metal genre's capacity for genuine extremity.