Source: Blabbermouth.net
SLIPKNOT‘s fifth studio album, “.5: The Gray Chapter”, was officially certified gold on August 31 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales of more than 500,000 copies. The certification came six months after RIAA started including on-demand audio and video streams and a track sale equivalent in gold and platinum album award.
“.5: The Gray Chapter” sold around 132,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores in October 2014 via Roadrunner.
“.5: The Gray Chapter” capped a very turbulent period for the masked rockers in which they dealt with the death of Paul Gray and the firing of drummer Joey Jordison, both longtime members and songwriters. Despite it all, singer Corey Taylor told The Pulse Of Radio he’s proud of what the band has accomplished this time out. “The fact that we were able to kind of pull ourselves back up and not only go in and make a really good album, but make an exceptional album, in my opinion, I think it’s a testament to just how talented this band is,” he said. “It’s a testament to how much passion we have for it. It’s a testament to how much we’re willing to fight to accomplish everything that we want to accomplish. To me, I think it’s one of the best albums we’ve ever made.”
Gray died in 2010 from a drug overdose, while Jordison was let go in December 2013, just before SLIPKNOT began recording the new album.
The identities of their replacements were officially revealed in 2015 to be drummer Jay Weinberg and bassist Alessandro “Vman” Venturella.
SLIPKNOT will perform its 2001 album “Iowa” in its entirety at Ozzfest Meets Knotfest on Sunday, September 25 at San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California.
“Iowa” came out in August 2001 and followed up SLIPKNOT‘s double-platinum 1999 major label debut.
“Iowa” has sold more than one million copies and featured the songs “Left Behind”, “The Heretic Anthem”, “My Plague”, “Disasterpiece” and others.
