Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind: Every Song Ranked From Worst To Best

8. Spiders

Shawn Crahan's influence on Slipknot's songwriting comes to the forefront on "Spiders": an eerie, experimental stomp that opens the album's expansive third act.

The song sounds nothing and everything like Slipknot at once in that the tones and timbres stretch far beyond the band's usual lexicon, though the grimy, unsettling atmosphere remains. This is exactly what Taylor was talking about when he promised experimentation without sacrificing Slipknot's identity. It's a bold achievement.

"Spiders" begins with stabbing piano notes over a hefty. hammering bassline. This build to one of WANYK's most memorable choruses as Taylor sings "the spiders come in side by side, two by two and night by night, who is food and who is thrown away?". Two minutes in and a hellish lead guitar line takes over before a cyborg-like vocal chants the title like a mantra, leading to the most Crahan moment of all: a falsetto choral line that resembles something straight from To My Surprise, Clown's short-lived side project.

This is true experimentation. Slipknot have evolved; "Spiders" is proof.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.