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Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.

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Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. is the first release by American metal band Slipknot. Released originally on October 31, 1996, it was limited to production of 1,000 copies. The band originally self-distributed some of these copies, but went on to release the remaining units through -ismist Recordings in 1997. Due to its limited release, the album has become much sought by fans since Slipknot's rise in fame.

Despite considering it their first album upon release, the band now considers Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. to be a demo and have evolved and released the majority of the songs on future releases, albeit usually in radically altered forms. It was recorded in Des Moines, Iowa, over a period of four months. The music of the album contains many influences including funk, jazz, and disco which weren't as apparent in later material. Many of the lyrics and the album's title are derived from the role playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse. The songs contain an "emphasis on non-traditional songwriting" and melodic themes more than subsequent releases.[1]

Recording and production

In late 1995 Slipknot and producer Sean McMahon entered SR Audio, a studio in the band's home town of Des Moines, Iowa to work on what they intended to be their debut album.[2] Retrospectively McMahon said that the band was "driven" because they spent the majority of their time in the studio for the four months it took to produce the album.[2] Slipknot self-financed the production, which came to an estimated $40,000.[2] The band expressed how much of a learning process this time was with it being the first time they had recorded their music, specifically the additional percussion elements were challenging to capture.[3] The band were aiming for a tribal sound but encountered problems including minuscule timing errors and during this period they refined their percussive sound, they experimented with erecting walls to isolate the drums and re-arranging parts.[3] In February 1996 during the mixing process, guitarist Donnie Steele decided to leave the band for religious reasons, as a result Craig Jones joined the band to fill the spot.[4] However the band realized that they were incorporating too many samples on their recordings and could not produce these sounds live. In order to solve this problem Jones moved to full-time sampler and Mick Thomson joined as a guitarist.[5] Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. was released on October 31, 1996 with a release party at The Safari, a local club where the band played a lot of their earliest gigs.[6]

Musical and lyrical themes

The musical style of Slipknot is constantly contested due to the genres their music covers, however Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. is the band's most experimental release and is significantly different from the heavier style the band became known for.[7] One of the band's initial aims was to mix many genres of music to achieve their own style; an early incarnation of the band was called "Meld" based upon this.[7] However, there are still similarities in the sound of which Slipknot became known for. Tracks such as "Slipknot", "Some Feel" and "Only One" feature a dominantly heavy metal influence, specifically in that of the guitars.[8] Tracks such as "Tattered & Torn", "Killers Are Quiet" and "Gently" also include the slow, cerebral angst build up style that the band also retained in some of their more recent work.[8] The album implements elements of jazz and funk, although "Confessions" is the only track on the album dominantly led by these styles.[8] The funk metal song "Do Nothing/Bitch Slap"[9] is the album's most complex song, combining both of these dominant styles as well as implementing areas of disco.[8] The album also incorporates elements of death metal.[1] The album title and the majority of the lyrics are references to the role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse.[10] Vocalist Anders Colsefni and percussionist Shawn Crahan shared a mutual interest in the game which was a large influence on the band, Colsefni said: "The attraction was being able to play a different person", declaring that this was the essence of Slipknot.[10]

Legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

The original pressing of the album was limited to 1,000 copies and since the band's rise to fame in 1999 it has been a sought after rarity for Slipknot fans.[11] Upon its initial release the band distributed the album independently, handing them out to fans, radio stations, and record labels.[11] On June 13, 1997, -ismist Recordings took over the distribution of the remaining copies of the album.[11] These original pressings have since grown in value considerably. Due to the large amount of interest in the album and the low numbers of originals there have been many bootlegged versions of the album sold including CD, MP3 and even vinyl.[12] Reportedly, as of 2003, no member of the band owns a copy of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.[13]

There is often deliberation whether Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. is a demo or actually the band's debut album. The band currently strictly consider it to be a demo due to the drastic change in sound and major changes in the line-up before the band's self-titled debut. The band would also rework the majority of the songs on later albums, and the title of their album Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) shows that the band has disregarded Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.

Specifically, the songs re-worked in latter Slipknot works are:

Track listing

All tracks are written by Slipknot

No.TitleLength
1."Slipknot"6:55
2."Gently"5:16
3."Do Nothing/Bitchslap"4:19
4."Only One"2:33
5."Tattered & Torn"2:35
6."Confessions"5:05
7."Some Feel"3:36
8."Killers Are Quiet" (The song "Killers Are Quiet" ends at 10:25. The hidden track "Dogfish Rising" starts at 15:35.)20:42
Total length:51:01

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b c Birchmeier, Jason. "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat". AllMusic. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  2. ^ a b c Arnopp 2001, pp. 45–47
  3. ^ a b Arnopp 2001, pp. 48–49
  4. ^ Arnopp 2001, pp. 50–51
  5. ^ Arnopp 2001, p. 57
  6. ^ Arnopp 2001, p. 62
  7. ^ a b Mciver 2003, pp. 16–17
  8. ^ a b c d Mciver 2003, pp. 23–25
  9. ^ Dickson, Andy. "Slipknot – Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat". Musicscramble. (November 8th, 2013)
  10. ^ a b Mciver 2003, pp. 15–16
  11. ^ a b c Crampton, Mark (2001). Barcode Killers: The Slipknot Story in Words and Pictures. Chrome Dreams. pp. 20–26. ISBN 1-84240-126-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  12. ^ "MFKR Real or Fake?". MFKR.com. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  13. ^ Buckley, Peter; Jonathan Buckley (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock: the definitive guide to more than 1200 artists and bands. Rough Guides. p. 954. ISBN 1-84353-105-4.

Works cited

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