Clown Of Slipknot Compares ‘Iowa’ To ‘The Shining’

With the upcoming deluxe edition reissue of their album 'Iowa' just days away, Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan sat down to talk about the album and compared it to 'Apocalypse Now' and the beloved Stanley Kubrick adaptation of Stephen King's 'The Shining.'

During a recent interview with Artist Direct, Clown was asked to compare their album 'Iowa' to a film. The Slipknot percussionist sounded as if he had been waiting for someone to ask him that question as he delivered his well thought out answer:

Well, a lot of times back in that tour cycle, we'd make it snow when we played live. There was snow falling on stage. I would say, not necessarily 'The Shining', but if you can imagine that child running through the maze at night with the snow falling and back-stepping his footprints to trick his father. It's not so much the movie itself. However, think about this kid running through a maze. I guess the metaphor would be life and having forces out of control, which would be the weather. It's deep snow coming down. It's freezing. You've got to fight all of this. He's running. Sometimes, he has to back-step and use trickery to move forward and be able to survive.

Clown further explained that a specific song really embodied the feeling of the Kubrick horror classic:

That scene would depict "Gently" pretty well. The song is about being in your head but almost being threatened by life and knowing you have to go to places in yourself to make it. That child back-tracking his steps and waiting for his father to go by so he can move forward and survive is kind of what it was.

'The Shining' isn't the only well-respected cinematic classic that Clown used as a basis for comparison, he wont on to compare the album to a critically acclaimed Francis Ford Coppola Vietnam War film:

"I wouldn't say 'The Shining' as a story at all or even Jack Nicholson in it. I think you understand. Also, I'd say 'Apocalypse Now' going down the river not to fear but to face yourself. That's why Colonel Kurtz was at the end of river and Captain Willard [Martin Sheen] was on his way down the river to basically confront himself. Colonel Kurtz needed to be killed like a solder in order to complete his circle of life, but Willard had to go confront what he could become. He had to make a decision... Good and evil is going on in one's head. The whole time down the river, you're wondering what's going to happen. Is he going to turn to the dark side? Or, is he going to stay human and face life? That would be another good example. 'Apocalypse Now' is a movie to more clearly explain that."

The 10th anniversary reissue of 'Iowa' hits stores November 1st -- a day that will also see releases from fellow metal giants Megadeth and Metallica -- and will come with a bonus disc of live performances from their 2002 DVD 'Disasterpieces' and a Clown-directed documentary about the making of the album titled 'Goat.'