A lucky fan has managed to secure an early copy of the highly anticipated, long-shelved Slipknot project Look Outside Your Window ahead of its official April 18 Record Store Day release, offering the metal community its first real taste of the mythical album.
Recorded concurrently with the band’s 2008 studio effort All Hope Is Gone, the experimental collection features a stripped-down lineup consisting of vocalist Corey Taylor, percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan, guitarist Jim Root, and turntablist Sid Wilson. Over the past decade, the band has frequently teased the unreleased material, describing it as highly melodic and drawing heavy comparisons to Radiohead.
Taking to the Slipknot subreddit over the weekend under the username ‘InsuRn’, the fan shared their initial reactions after spinning the record. They noted a distinct “slowness” to the music that reminded them of Pink Floyd, while also dropping a massive revelation: Lacuna Coil frontwoman Cristina Scabbia provides guest vocals on “one (maybe two?)” tracks. This collaboration tracks perfectly with the timeline, as Scabbia was in a relationship with Jim Root during the 2008 recording sessions.
Addressing the overall sonic landscape, the listener clarified that the album is “not very electronic.” Attempting to categorize the unique atmosphere, they explained, “hard to name a band with the same sound, but the vibe is definitely Slipknot except no screams, no double bass drum.” They also drew a direct parallel to the melodic closer “Til We Die“, a track originating from these exact sessions that was ultimately attached to the deluxe edition of All Hope Is Gone.
Interestingly, the fan pushed back against the long-standing narrative that the project heavily channels Radiohead.
“Some elements here and there, but overall not that much,” the user stated. Instead, they found a much stronger connection to an earlier era of the band’s own catalog: “The first thing that I thought was that most of these songs would really fit on [2004’s] Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. They have the same vibe.”
The rest of the music world will finally get to make their own assessments when Look Outside Your Window officially drops this Saturday for Record Store Day.
