It has been twenty-five years since Slipknot unleashed the hellish Iowa onto the world, and the album is still as relevant today as it was back then. The record was heavily influential for future metal subgenres such as deathcore, with Joey Jordison's blast beats and Corey Taylor's guttural vocals. Plenty of tracks from Iowa have been covered over the years including "The Heretic Anthem" (Majin, Carnifex, Purulence), "New Abortion" (Etheria), "Disasterpiece" (VCTMS), "Left Behind" (MSRY), and of course "People = Shit" (Cognitive, Divitius).
Now Paleface Swiss have joined in on the fun with their version of "People = Shit". To my knowledge, this is the first time that the band has performed this song live. They played at a small venue in Dallas, Texas called the Tea Room which provides a very intimate experience with the performers. There are no barricades and the capacity doesn't seem to hold many people at all. Everyone seems to be having the time of their life, crammed together in the back of this dive bar, but that makes for the best vibes.
The flashing strobe lights throughout that coincide with the music was a fantastic visual that really added to the chaotic performance. Fans got on stage with the band to jam out before stage diving, and vocalist Zelli does a fantastic job of commanding the room and bringing the energy. If there is one thing to take away from this video, it's that clearly both the band and the fans absolutely love this song. You can just feel the shared bond and the mutual understanding that this track is a fantastic piece of art that still inspires and invokes madness all these years later. One commenter on YouTube put it perfectly:
"@Spookehh: Sometimes I think the remaining Slipknot members tend to forget how much their first couple of albums mean to people. Everyone in this crowd knows the song - its like being in a club. There is an unexplainable joy that these old songs bring to people of a variety of ages. The songs have inspired so many different bands. I know for me personally the first two albums altered my brain chemistry."
Here's to hoping Paleface Swiss release an official cover onto streaming services one day, because they absolutely killed it.
Check out the live performance here:
