.5: The Gray Chapter
.5: The Gray Chapter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot.[3] It was released in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands on October 17, 2014, the UK on October 20, 2014 and in North America on October 21, 2014.[4] It was the first studio album by the band in six years and the first not to feature original founding members bassist Paul Gray and drummer Joey Jordison due to the death of Gray in 2010 (the title of the album being a reference to his surname), and Jordison being fired from the band in late 2013, as well as the only Slipknot album to feature original guitarist Donnie Steele on bass, although the tracks he played on are unknown.[3] The album includes six singles and has received commercial success and acclaiming reviews. A standard and deluxe edition of the album was released. It is also the band's final studio album to feature their longtime percussionist Chris Fehn before his dismissal from the band due to a lawsuit in March 2019.
.5: The Gray Chapter | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 19, 2014 | |||
Recorded | March 1 – July 28, 2014 at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California and Jim Root's garage | |||
Genre | Heavy metal, nu metal[1] | |||
Length | 63:57 | |||
Label | Roadrunner | |||
Producer |
| |||
Slipknot chronology | ||||
| ||||
Slipknot studio album chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from .5: The Gray Chapter | ||||
|
"The Negative One" received a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 57th annual Grammy Awards.[5] The album was nominated for Best Rock Album the following year, along with a Best Metal Performance nomination for the song "Custer".[6]
Background
The writing process of the record began in late 2013. Wanting to dedicate more time to the album, guitarist Jim Root decided not to tour with Stone Sour in January 2014.[7] According to frontman Corey Taylor, the sound of the album is somewhat of a cross between 2001's Iowa and 2004's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses).[8] Taylor stated that the material contains "gorgeous melodies" and the artistic direction as Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) but yet retains some of its "brutality" from the Iowa era.[9]
A new bassist and drummer were added to the lineup during live shows. Taylor told Loudwire that two similar masks were created for their appearances in music videos and stage performances, as, when the new members were given the opportunity to make their own masks, the results were, according to Taylor, "kind of cartoony" and did not fit the mind set of Slipknot.[10] Both members were briefly shown in the music video for "The Devil in I", but their identities have not been announced by Slipknot amidst speculation.[11][12] Root revealed in an interview that founding guitarist and former touring bassist Donnie Steele was involved in some of the studio sessions for the album, but that ultimately Steele declined to rejoin the band in favor of starting a family with his wife. Bassist Alessandro Venturella of Krokodil was identified by the unique tattoos on his hands, performing in the video for "The Devil in I".[13] Jay Weinberg from the band Against Me! was brought in to audition on drums after Joey Jordison was fired from Slipknot.[14] Jay Weinberg is the son of Max Weinberg the drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and Conan O'Brien's drummer and band leader for his late night talk show. Max Weinberg introduced Jay Weinberg to Slipknot and from there on forged a friendship by going to several concerts and being invited backstage; the band liked what he brought to the table and was told he was free to join if he wanted and he accepted. The album was produced by Greg Fidelman and mixed by Joe Barresi. Fidelman is known for his work with Metallica, System of a Down, Audioslave and more, as well as mixing Slipknot's third album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), in 2004.[15]
Promotion and tour
On July 15, the band began releasing short teasers for the new album for over a two-week period that turned out to be clips from the official video along with samples from a song entitled "The Negative One".[16][17] The song was released on August 1, 2014 and an accompanying video was released on August 5, 2014. It was directed by Shawn Crahan; however, it did not feature any of the band members.[18] On August 13, 2014 the band revealed the cover art for their official radio single entitled "The Devil in I",[19] and the single premiered on August 24, 2014.[20] The official video for the single was unveiled on September 12 featuring the members with new variations of their masks with the exception of Taylor who debuted a new mask and the new bassist and drummer's masks which were very similar.[12]
Slipknot began their world tour at the second iteration of Knotfest as headliners on October 25 and the 26 with Anthrax, Five Finger Death Punch, Otep and Black Label Society among others in California.[21] A co-headline North American and European tour with Korn dubbed the Prepare for Hell tour commenced afterwards with King 810 in support.[22][23] Slipknot and Korn embarked on the British leg of the Prepare For Hell tour in January 2015.[24] In addition to the standard edition, a deluxe edition featuring two listed and three unlisted bonus tracks, and a special edition featuring a T-shirt of the album cover have also been released.[25]
Reception
Critical response
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 77/100[26] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Alternative Press | |
Blabbermouth.net | 8.5/10[29] |
Exclaim! | 7/10[30] |
The Guardian | |
Kerrang! | |
Metal Hammer | 8/10[33] |
Q | |
Revolver | |
Rolling Stone |
.5: The Gray Chapter received generally positive reviews, as most critics praised the return of their older sound from Slipknot and Iowa, while maintaining the melodies the band explored on Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Florino characterized it as "the most abrasive work since their self-titled debut,"[37] The Guardian's Dom Lawson as "every bit as warped and explosive as previous records"[38] Ray Van Horn of Blabbermouth.net hailed the album as "a return to their punishing roots" and noted that "AOV" showcased some elements of thrash metal.[39] Exclaim! critic Bradley Zorgdrager pointed out that Slipknot "wastes no time kicking it back to 2001's Iowa" while Metal Hammer's critic Dom Lawson noted that "there’s plenty of [...] brutal, turbocharged Slipknot [...] here,"[40] while Rock Revolt mentioned that the album uses elements from their previous studio albums while "pushing the creative boundaries of [their] past albums into new territory."[41] Q' magazine's Tom Bryant complained that the album's lighter tracks, namely "Goodbye," "Killpop," and "The One That Kills The Least," were "disappointingly timid." However, he followed by commenting that "It's possible to entirely forget these when Slipknot play to their strengths: unrelenting darkness and attack," using "Custer," "The Devil in I," and "Lech" as examples.[34]
Several critics praised the way the album acknowledged Gray's memory.[35][42] Rock Revolt noted plenty of lyrical content relating to Gray.[41] while Revolver magazine critic Dan Epstein and Gregory Heaney from AllMusic concluded that "they don’t try to sugarcoat their loss, anger or grief anywhere on the album," and that "from that deep well of pain, another great Slipknot record has emerged,"[35] and that "they're able to channel their grief into a productive album, allowing them to continue moving forward [...] with one of the strongest albums of their career," respectively.[42] Zorgdrager saw it as "it's a considerable accomplishment and a lovely eulogy to their fallen comrade."[43] Several critics appreciated the composition of the album, with Van Horn characterizing it as "a largely dark, often moving listening experience."[39] Loudwire critic Chad Childers wrote noted the "mix of all the different sounds" creating "a musical journey" and pointed that while the album "rocks and pummels you in all the right places like you would hope, it also shows a depth in emotion and some heavily personal moments on a much grander scale,"[44] while Artistdirect critic Rick Florino gave the album a perfect rating concluding that "by the time this journey ends, it feels as if Slipknot have come full circle."[37] Billboard critic Gary Suarez was a little more critical of the album stating, "for such an emotionally loaded comeback, .5: The Gray Chapter is Slipknot's least gripping LP. [...] "Skeptic" is lyrically awkward, but the band recovers well on processional closer "If Rain Is What You Want." Emblematic of both Slipknot's strengths and its weaknesses, perhaps this album is the sort of warts-and-all eulogy Gray would have wanted."[45]
Accolades
The album's lead single, "The Negative One", was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 57th Grammy Awards.[46] Additionally, the album was nominated for the Best Rock Album and "Custer" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards.[47]
Commercial performance
.5: The Gray Chapter landed in the number one spot in Australia on the ARIA Albums Chart with 14,188 first week sales.[48][49] It was Slipknot's second album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart by selling 132,000 copies in its first week.[50] The album also debuted at number one in Japan, Canada, Russia and Switzerland. It had top 5 debuts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, Mexico, Denmark and Finland.
Track listing
All songs credited to Slipknot. Writing credits taken from ASCAP.[51]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "XIX" | 3:10 | |
2. | "Sarcastrophe" |
| 5:06 |
3. | "AOV" |
| 5:32 |
4. | "The Devil in I" |
| 5:42 |
5. | "Killpop" |
| 3:45 |
6. | "Skeptic" |
| 4:46 |
7. | "Lech" | Taylor | 4:50 |
8. | "Goodbye" | Taylor | 4:35 |
9. | "Nomadic" | Taylor | 4:18 |
10. | "The One That Kills the Least" |
| 4:11 |
11. | "Custer" |
| 4:14 |
12. | "Be Prepared for Hell" |
| 1:57 |
13. | "The Negative One" |
| 5:25 |
14. | "If Rain Is What You Want" |
| 6:20 |
Total length: | 63:57 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
15. | "Override" |
| 5:37 |
16. | "The Burden" |
| 5:23 |
17. | "-Silent-" | 2:00 | |
18. | "-Talk-" | 6:38 | |
19. | "-Funny-" | 1:39 | |
Total length: | 84:38 |
There are three hidden tracks. The first is silent. The second starts with distorted music, before moving on to an interview with distorted audio. The interview is with a man who claims to have written massively famous heavy metal albums. The third is a farewell track played at the end of their live shows.
The tracks are commonly referred to as "-Silent-", "-Talk-" and "-Funny-" respectively, but don't have any official names.[52]
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US Main. Rock [85] |
AUS [86] |
UK [87] | ||
"The Negative One" | 2014 | — | 33 | 76 | 71 |
"The Devil in I" | —[A] | 2 | 88 | 135[88] | |
"Custer" | — | 29 | — | — | |
"Killpop" | 2015 | — | 10 | — | — |
"Goodbye" | 2016 | — | 22 | — | — |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Other charting songs
Year | Title | Chart peaks | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rock Digital Songs[89] | US Main. Rock[90] | |||||||||||||
2015 | "XIX" | 36 | — | |||||||||||
"—" denotes a release that did not chart. |
Notes
- A ^ "The Devil in I" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 23 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[91] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria)[92] | Gold | 7,500* |
Canada (Music Canada)[93] | Gold | 40,000 |
Germany (BVMI)[94] | Gold | 100,000 |
Hungary (MAHASZ)[95] | Gold | 1,000^ |
Russia (NFPF)[96] | Platinum | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[97] | Gold | 100,000* |
United States (RIAA)[98] | Gold | 500,000 |
*sales figures based on certification alone |
Personnel
Slipknot
- (#8) Corey Taylor – lead vocals, bass on 'Goodbye'
- (#7) Mick Thomson – guitars, bass
- (#6) Shawn "Clown" Crahan – percussion, backing vocals, drums on the beginning of 'Goodbye' as well as on the beginning of 'If Rain Is What You Want', lead vocals on 'Be Prepared For Hell'
- (#5) Craig "133" Jones – sampling, keyboards
- (#4) Jim Root – guitars, bass
- (#3) Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals
- (#0) Sid Wilson – turntables
- Alessandro Venturella – bass on some tracks, those of which are unknown[99]
- Jay Weinberg – drums
Additional personnel
- Donnie Steele – bass on some tracks, those of which are unknown[99]
- Greg Fidelman – production
- Joe Barresi – mixing
- Vlado Meller – mastering
References
- Tagat, Anurag (November 18, 2014). "Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter". The Hindu.
- Owen, Neila (October 23, 2014). "Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Allmusic. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
Combining the punishing, pummeling metal of the band's early work with the more melodic focus of their later years, The Gray Chapter shows off just how unexpectedly wide the band's range is, going from a plaintive, atmospheric ballad like album-opener "XIX" to a thrash-inspired pummeling like "Sarcastrophe" without missing a beat.
- "Slipknot To Release '.5: The Gray Chapter' In October". Blabbermouth.net. August 25, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
- ".5: The Gray Chapter: This item will be released on October 20". Amazon UK. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
- "Tenacious D Wins 'Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance' Grammy Award". Blabbermouth.net. 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- "58th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees". Grammy.com. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- Pasbani, Robert (2013-12-04). "SLIPKNOT So Serious About Writing New Music That Guitarist Jim Root Is Sitting Out The Next STONE SOUR Tour". MetalInjection. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- Kennelty, Greg (2013-10-21). "SLIPKNOT Frontman Says New Material Is "Really Dark," Will Be A Mix of Iowa & Vol. 3". MetalInjection. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- Hartmann, Graham (2014-05-23). "Corey Taylor on New Slipknot Album: 'People Are Gonna Lose Their Minds When They Hear It'". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
- Full Metal Jackie, Full Metal Jackie (2014-09-10). "Slipknot's Corey Taylor Talks '.5: The Gray Chapter,' 2014 Knotfest + Moving Forward". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
- "New Slipknot Bassist's Identity Revealed? - Blabbermouth.net". Blabbermouth. 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
- Kreps, Daniel (2014-09-12). "Slipknot Host Asylum Rave in Terrifying 'The Devil In I' Video". RollingStone. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
- Hartmann, Graham (2014-10-08). "Slipknot's Corey Taylor on New Bassist's Identity Leak: 'I Was So Upset'". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
- "Joey Jordison: I didn't deserve cowardly Slipknot sacking". 21 June 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- "Greg Fidelman Revealed as New Slipknot Producer". Ultimate Guitar Archive. 2014-10-08.
- Pasbani, Robert (2014-07-23). "Another Day, Another SLIPKNOT Teaser". MetalInjection. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- Hartmann, Graham (2014-07-31). "Slipknot Continue to Tease New Album With Cryptic Written Message". Loudwire. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- Wyatt, Daisy (2014-03-19). "Slipknot unveil first new song in six years 'The Negative One' - News - Music". The Independent. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- "Slipknot unveil the devil in i artwork". Kerrang!. 2014-08-13. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- Grow, Kory (2014-08-25). "Hear Slipknot's Pummeling 'The Devil in I' From '.5: The Gray Chapter'". RollingStone. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- Pasbani, Robert (2014-08-11). "KNOTFEST Announce New Bands & Another Stage Added". MetalInjection. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
- "Slipknot unveil details of fifth studio album". The Guardian. 2014-08-25. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
- "Slipknot's Prepare For Hell Tour with Korn and KING 810". Roadrunner Records. 2014-08-26. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
- "Watch Korn and Slipknot Cover Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage' - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 2015-01-24. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ".5: The Gray Chapter (Cd + T-Shirt - Xlarge) by Slipknot: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ".5: The Gray Chapter - Slipknot". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- Owen, Neila (October 23, 2014). "Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". AllMusic. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
- .5 is a fitting tribute to a musician who can never be replaced. [Nov 2014, p.88]
- Van Horn Jr., Ray (October 30, 2014). "Slipknot - ".5: The Gray Chapter"". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
- Zorgdrager, Bradley (October 17, 2014). "Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
- Lawson, Dom (October 16, 2014). "Slipknot: .5: The Gray Chapter review – Iowan rockers' suitably unhinged return". The Guardian. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
- Musically, this is the most extreme Slipknot have sounded since 2001's Iowa. [25 Oct 2014, p.52]
- Lawson, Dom (October 15, 2014). "Review: Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter". Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
- Q #341, December 2014
- Epstein, Dan (October 1, 2014). "Review: Slipknot — .5: The Gray Chapter". Revolver. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- Dolan, Jon (October 21, 2014). ".5: The Gray Chapter". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- "Album Review: Slipknot ".5: The Gray Chapter" – 5 out of 5 stars". ARTISTdirect. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- "Slipknot: .5: The Gray Chapter review – Iowan rockers' suitably unhinged return". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- "CD Reviews - .5: The Gray Chapter Slipknot - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- "REVIEW: Slipknot – .5 The Gray Chapter". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- "ALBUM REVIEW: SLIPKNOT - .5: THE GRAY CHAPTER - RockRevolt Magazine". RockRevolt Magazine. 2014-10-12. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- Heaney, Gregory. ".5: The Gray Chapter - Slipknot - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- "Slipknot". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- Childers, Chad (October 21, 2014). "Slipknot, '.5: The Gray Chapter' – Album Review". Loudwire. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
- Suarez, Gary. "Slipknot, .5: The Gray Chapter". Billboard. ProQuest 1636124545. Missing or empty
|url=
(help) - "SLIPKNOT, ANTHRAX, MASTODON, MOTÖRHEAD Among GRAMMY AWARDS Nominees". MTV. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
- "58th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees". grammy.com. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- New Slipknot album .5 The Gray Chapter beats Karise Eden’s Things I’ve Done to number one on ARIA chart. News.com.au. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- "Slipknot Land No 1 Album On ARIA Chart". Roadrunner Records. 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
- "Slipknot Scores Second No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
- "Slipknot". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- "Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter".
- "Australiancharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Austriancharts.at – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Ultratop.be – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Ultratop.be – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Slipknot Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Danishcharts.dk – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Slipknot: .5: The Gray Chapter" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Lescharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Oricon Top 50 Albums: {{{date}}}" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
- "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2014. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
- "Irish-charts.com – Discography Slipknot". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- "Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 43 (dal 20-10-2014 al 26-10-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- "Charts.nz – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Norwegiancharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
- "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
- "Portuguesecharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Spanishcharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Swedishcharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Swisscharts.com – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Slipknot | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
- "Slipknot Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Slipknot Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "Slipknot Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 100 Albums 2014". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
- "Jahreshitparade Alben 2014". austriancharts.at. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- "Jaaroverzichten 2014". Ultratop. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- "2014 Year End Charts - Top Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- "2014 Year End Charts - Hard Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- "2014 Year End Charts - Top Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- "Slipknot – Chart History: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- "Taylor Swift Shake It Off Tops ARIA Singles - Noise11.com". Noise11. 2014-08-30. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- Peak chart positions for singles in the United Kingdom:
- All except "All Hope Is Gone": "Slipknot – Official Charts Company" (select "Singles" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- "All Hope Is Gone": Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: DJ S - The System Of Life". zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update : Chart Date 06.09.2014" (TXT). Zobbel.de. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- "Slipknot - Chart history". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
- "Slipknot - Chart history". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
- "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2015 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- "Austrian album certifications – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- "Canadian album certifications – Slipknot". Music Canada. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Slipknot; '.5: The Gray Chapter')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- "Adatbázis – Arany- és platinalemezek – 2016" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- "Russian album certifications – Slipknot – .5 The Grey Chapter" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF). Missing or empty
|url=
(help) - "British album certifications – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type .5: The Gray Chapter in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- "American album certifications – Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
- "Jim Root: 'Seems Like Stone Sour Can't Even Write a New Record. They Lost a Good Writer'". May 13, 2015. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
Yes, I did. I can't remember exactly what tracks I played on but I think it's the majority of them. I think VMan played on five or six of the tunes and I played on all the rest. "Did Donnie Steele play bass?" He did but there were certain songs that Greg Fidelman [producer] didn't want him to play on. You know that liquid thing and that fluid vibe thing we were talking about? Fidelman wasn't quite sure that Vman had that for us yet. He definitely has the technical ability but there's something more to it that needs to be Slipknot. Since most of the arrangements were written by me anyways, he felt more confident with me playing those parts so they'd be closer to the vibe of what the demos were.