In 1999, Slipknot’s self-titled debut announced them as the most intense new band on the block. As nu-metal was roaring up to speed, the nine masked terrors tore their way out of Des Moines, Iowa with a record that not only matched the anger of this new wave of heaviness, but upped the ferocity until it was basically on fire. It was a fine introduction to a band who would quickly become one of the most important of their time, and help shape the metal world for the next quarter of a century. A few years and 4,000 miles away from the band’s mid-American home city, a young Harvey Freeman discovered them. And with it, the future Graphic Nature frontman realised there was much more to music than just Nickelback bangers… “The first Slipknot album changed the...