The first thing that you should know is that Stonesour is not a Slipknot side-project. Sure, Corey Taylor and James Root are, respectively, the dreadlocked vocalist and the jester-masked guitarist of the Iowa-born metal marauders. But the pair’s involvement in Stonesour predates their time in Slipknot, even though this eponymous record is the band’s debut.

Immediately, it’s clear that this is a radically different beast to Slipknot: boasting a grungy, punk-metal edge that points towards a love for Alice In Chains and Metallica, Stonesour turns down the militaristic assault in favour of an intimate, earnest and comparatively conventional heavy rock collection. The beefy opener, "Get Inside" is a meaty rock-out for the dedicated ‘Knothead. But further in, there’s some real surprises: "Cold Reader" and "Monolith" match their intense riffs with a bare lyrical edge far more revealing that any Slipknot song. All the same, neither can prepare you for "Bother"--a confessional, acoustic song that faintly calls to late-period Metallica, Corey singing "Wish I was too dead to care / If indeed I care at all" over keening violins and a mellow guitar line that, impossibly, recalls Eric Clapton. Easy listening? Yeah, but all but the most narrow-minded Slipknot fans should lap it up. And for fans of Corey, well, this might just be the album they’ve been waiting for. --Louis Pattison