Slipknot's Paul Gray Leaves Behind A Legacy To Cherish

With the news that Paul Gray, bassist of Slipknot, had died yesterday the music industry lost a truly unique musician and a man who played a part in shaping heavy metal music in the 21st century.
 
While some bassists simply exist, Gray can truly claim to have actively influenced Slipknot’s sound and demonstrated a stage presence which few can rival.
 
In truth the bassist, who we knew as everything from #2 to the Pig, was always troubled by his own personal demons. Corey Taylor spoke of the band’s troubles with debts and drugs after the Iowa tour had supposedly bankrupted some of the band. Whether Gray was one of those broke is unclear but Gray’s arrest in 2003 when in possession of cocaine and marijuana hinted at a deep personal battle which he had yet to win.
 
While the cause of death is yet unknown, it is feared that his autopsy may confirm Gray’s eventual failure to overcome his demons.
 
And yet if we look back at what Gray achieved in his 38 years, you can only respect the man, whatever his problems. Until his death he remained one of the 3 original members of Slipknot and one of the few who stuck rigidly to the band without distractions. Together with the other members of he broke the mainstream and gave metal music a foothold with a Grammy award and several critically acclaimed long-players.
 
The brooding basslines which Gray leaves behind were best typified in Slipknot’s darkest songs like ‘Tattered and Torn’, ‘The Virus of life’ and most powerfully on the title track of their second album ‘Iowa’.
 
The bassline didn’t just exist, it transformed the song, it took you down to the deepest darkest corner of Slipknot’s collective mind and left you feeling dirty and grimy. It rumbled in the background, like a killer in your closet. Perhaps the biggest compliment to Gray is that the basslines quite often made the song – see ‘Gently’ for example.
 
On stage Gray was an enigmatic presence. The ‘Wait and Bleed’ video and ‘Disasterpieces’ DVD depict Gray as a rumbling ball of aggression. His masks were a reflection of his artistic output – ranging from a ghoulish pig to a leather clad number with metallic bars across the mouth.
 
In his death, Paul Gray, leaves behind a metal scene infinitely thankful to him and an indelible imprint in Slipknot as the man who laid the background for some of the best heavy metal music ever written. RIP #2.

What will you remember about Paul Gray? Leave your tributes below.

Slipknot's Paul Gray - RIP