"Sulfur" is the fourth single from American heavy metal band Slipknot's fourth album ''

All Hope Is Gone ''All Hope Is Gone'' is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on August 26, 2008 by Roadrunner Records. The album was published in two versions: the standard album in a CD case and a special edition packaged ...

''. The single was released on June 15, 2009, after a video was released on April 18, 2009. This was the last Slipknot video to feature their full original lineup with both bassist Paul Gray, who died the next year, and also the final appearance from Joey Jordison who was fired from the band four years later, before his death in July 2021. "Sulfur", " Duality" and "

Psychosocial The psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is ...

" became downloadable content in '' Rock Band'' on December 8, 2009.

Background

Music video

The video was filmed on March 9, 2009 (just two days before the end of the All Hope Is Gone World Tour) in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

area. It was codirected by percussionist

Shawn Crahan Michael Shawn Crahan (born September 24, 1969), more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of two percussionists for heavy metal band Slipknot in which he is designated #6. Crahan he ...

and

P. R. Brown Paul R. Brown is an American graphic designer, photographer, and music video and commercial director. Biography Brown's early career in graphic design started at Pentagram in London with Peter Saville and Brett Wickens, followed by Frankfurt B ...

; the latter's third Slipknot video. On April 14, 2009 Slipknot released a thirty-second preview of the video through MTV and announced it would be premiered on '' Headbangers Ball'' on April 18, 2009. The video depicts the nine members playing in groups of three as well as footage of each member submerged underwater. Crahan explained that when he writes treatments for their videos he thinks, "What has Slipknot not done? What can we embark upon that will be fun and knowledge-enhancing instead of the same old song and dance?", saying that the members themselves are the treatment for this video. This further shows that they always try to give their fans as much of themselves as they can even though they are tired of live performances; revealing that, to change things up, they shot the members performing in groups of three. The concept of the members appearing individually underwater was modeled after a video installation entitled "Ascension" by

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...

ist

Bill Viola Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...

. Crahan explained that the smell of sulfur is "something people either love or hate, and if you hate it, then it can be suffocating", so they incorporated water as a visual representation of that. He revealed that the members felt uncomfortable when shooting in an eleven-foot glass tank; explaining, "You had to go up this really weird ladder and the water was dirty and it was a five-foot by five-foot tank and it looked like when you stepped into it you were gonna hit your head on the frame that holds the glass and it would just rip your nose off," but added that it was his favorite video so far "because it involved that fear". Chris Fehn expressed anxiety about the jump and Taylor was at one point "impaled" by one of Craig Jones' spikes. When Shawn comes up he does it with his baseball bat. As of September 2021, the song has over 100 million views on

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Track listing

US CD single

"Sulfur" – 4:37

"Sulfur" (Chris Lord-Alge mix)

# "Sulfur" (

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

mix) – 4:37Sulfur
iTunes

Charts

Personnel

*(#8) Corey Taylor – vocals *(#7)

Mick Thomson Mickael Gordon "Mick" Thomson (born November 3, 1973) is an American musician. He is one of two guitarists for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #7. Thomson originally met founding Slipknot members Anders Colsefni, Donn ...

– guitar *(#4)

Jim Root James Donald Root (born October 2, 1971) is an American guitarist. He is one of two guitarists for heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #4, as well as the former lead guitarist for rock band Stone Sour. Life and career R ...

– guitar *(#2) Paul Gray – bass *(#1) Joey Jordison – drums *(#6)

– percussion, vocals, music video director *(#3)

Chris Fehn Christopher Fehn (born February 24, 1973) is an American musician. He was a percussionist and backing vocalist for the heavy metal band Slipknot from 1998 to 2019, in which he was designated #3. He was also the bassist for Will Haven from 201 ...

– percussion, vocals *(#0)

Sid Wilson Sidney George Wilson (born January 20, 1977) is an American musician. He is the turntablist for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #0. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until bassist Alessandro Venturella and dr ...

– turntables, keyboards *(#5) Craig Jones – samples *

Dave Fortman Dave Fortman (born July 11, 1967) is an American record producer and musician. He is the guitarist for rock band Ugly Kid Joe, and has worked with bands such as Superjoint Ritual, Snot, Atomship, Eyehategod, Mudvayne, Otep, Slipknot (on the ...

– producer * Jeremy Parker –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

Colin Richardson Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres. Career Some of the bands he has worked for include: * 3 Inch ...

– mixer * Matt Hyde – mix engineering * Oli Wright – assistant engineering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...

– mastering *

– director

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulfur (Song) 2009 singles Slipknot (band) songs 2008 songs Songs written by Corey Taylor Songs written by Paul Gray (American musician) Roadrunner Records singles Songs written by Joey Jordison Songs written by Jim Root simple:Sulfur Thrash metal songs American hard rock songs Melodic metalcore songs