With temperatures in the single digits and about 2 inches of snow falling, the feel and temperatures were exactly the opposite inside the Denver Coliseum. Denver was indeed prepared for hell. The energy and excitement were high for these two pioneering heavy hitters in the metal realm.

Korn came out with their classic track Twist where frontman Jonathan Davis growled and spit out undecipherable sounds while the band thumped out the heavy beats and riffs. They played two songs from their latest album The Paradigm Shift and the rest of their set was mostly from their 90’s albums. They also jammed to the heavy riffing part in Metallica’s classic One and we were all uncontrollably head banging in sync. They ended their particularly short set with the song that started it all for them over twenty years ago: Blind. This was the perfect setting for the next onslaught that was next.

It's been four years since co-founding bassist and principal Slipknot songwriter Paul Gray passed away. A lot of grief and reported pent-up energy have generated the band's return, which emerges amidst the controversial replacement of drummer Joey Jordison. Departure or dismissal, that's as much a mystery as the identity of the new guy under the mask taking Jordison's place. Slipknot has opted to stay mum on the issue. Their set started with the intro track XIX from their latest album 5: The Grey Chapter, a very moody and desperate song that gives the feel that they have been beaten into a corner but now must rise from the ashes, and that is exactly what they did. Almost two hours of punishing riffs, heavy fists and scorching pyro left us without breath and anticipating more.

“Its great to be back here in Denver!” “I have so much love for this special place!”shouted frontman Corey Taylor. As he used to live in Lakewood when he was figuring out his early life. The crowd warmly responded to his genuine comments. Every song that they played had the intensity as if they were playing it for the first time. They are a well oiled machine and now as they are in Japan for two days for Knotfest Japan they will return to the states to continue their onslaught across the country, maybe even back in Denver this spring.

Hail to the Knot

-BRKY

KoRn Setlist: Twist, Here to Stay, Right Now, Love & Methe, Falling away from Me, Good God, Hater, Shoots and Ladders, (with a snippet of Metallica’s One), Got the Life, Freak on a Leash, Blind.

Slipknot Setlist: XIX, Sarcastrophe, The Heretic Anthem, My Plague, The Devil in I, Psychosocial, The Negative One, Three Nil, Eyeless, Vermilion, Before I Forget, Duality, Wait and Bleed, Spit it Out, Custer, 742617000027, (sic), People = Shit, Surfacing, ’Til We Die