There's hardly a single heavy metal band in recent memory that has stamped their image on popular culture more deeply than these crazy critters from Iowa. Like 'em or not, they were key players in a new wave of metal that dominated the US airwaves in the late '90s (a movement lazily defined by industry marketing goons as ?Nu-Metal?... a useless term I've always hated). With the kind of following not seen since the likes of KISS in their prime (thanks to a consistent, marketable image represented by their uniform coveralls and ever-present masks), these menacing anti-heroes possessed the creative skills to break free the mall-metal stigma and forge a new musical path, while retaining much of the thrash, death metal and even hip-hop styles that gave birth to one of the most popular incarnations of extreme music in recent memory.

I'd forgotten how much time had passed since their previous release, Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. With frontman Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root devoting most of their creative time to straight-rock outfit Stone Sour, and other band members quite busy touring with other groups and working on side projects of their own, Slipknot more or less fell off the radar for a while, even as tracks from Vol. 3 continued to enjoy a fair amount of rotation. Murmurings of their impending breakup floated for a while before word eventually got out they were heading back to the studio... perhaps, some say, for the last time.

Rumors of the band's demise may be a bit exaggerated, but I'm not really going there, because most internet rumors are crap. When it comes to metal, the only thing I put my faith in these days is a righteous riff. Thankfully there are tons of those on hand in Slipknot's new album All Hope Is Gone, which hit the streets this week and is just full of skull-crackin' goodness. Although admittedly a mixed bag in terms of quality, there's a lot to love here, as the band continues to expand the horizons opened in their previous release, opening themselves up to even more experimentation and a mixture of styles. It doesn't always work, but when it does ? damn, it burns.

Case in point is the stage-setting Intro track ?.execute.? ? a terrifying noise-rock set opener if ever there was one, all neck-scrapes and radio samples propelled by interlocking drumbeats. This kicks us straight into ?Gematria (The Killing Name),? which signifies the band's firm embracing of thrash-metal blastbeats, chainsaw riffs and the occasional flurry of neck-tapping. A blistering lyrical assault on America's violent international image (?Start a war in another backyard/And we'll destroy your house of cards... We will burn your cities down!?), it delivers on the take-no-prisoners promise first delivered earlier this summer with the first single (the title track), a death/thrash epic which bookends the album.

The well-entrenched and easily recognizable Slipknot style comes through in tracks like ?Sulfur? (which climaxes with one of their patented percussion explosions), ?Wherein Lies Continue? (with its massive riff-stacking), the fist-pumping chorus of ?Vendetta? (?Are you ready for the time of your life??) and the oh-so-ready-for-radio ?Psychosocial.?

But for my money the standout tracks are the ones that pull further away from the early-era sound, like the full-bore, gut-blasting monster ?This Cold Black,? with its cross-talk death vocals and bone-peeling solos, the moody ghost-house vibe (with theremin!) of ?Gehenna? ? shades of Alice In Chains ? and the math-metal style of varying time signatures and goosebumps-inducing vocal harmonies in ?Butcher's Hook,? one of the band's most original and memorable works.

The mellower tracks, though well-done, were a bit too reminiscent of Stone Sour for my taste, although ?Dead Memories? takes a page or two from Metallica's playbook (don't even try to tell me it doesn't sound like ?Enter Sandman?) to pretty good effect. But power-ballad ?Snuff? just didn't spark my pipe, and kind of killed the mood.

Thankfully, the title track which follows it closes the album by firing on all cylinders again ? a no-nonsense, down-to-business track, highly reminiscent of brutal icons Napalm Death, and one of their all-time best. Perfect pick for the first single, even if it's got the same name as the album. It's well worth your investment ? whether you just dabble in their catalog as I have, or if you regularly enjoy moshing naked in your living room wearing one of many handmade replicas of the band's masks. (Actually, that sounds like something I might enjoy... I'll get back to you on that.)

Fans will probably want to bypass the downloadable version and head straight for the special edition CD, which has a nice collection of extras, including a massive booklet and a bonus DVD featuring a documentary on the creation of the album, as well as a few bonus tracks.

No matter what format you choose, you?ll be rewarded with mostly solid, often powerful and brutally aggressive album that continues the evolution of the masked ones with a wealth of memorable and wildly entertaining material. Personally, if this is an indication of where the band is headed, I'd hate to think it was their last effort, since there's definitely some venom left in their spines. Time will tell, I guess.