1997年，在活结乐队发行了演示专辑《交配、喂养、杀戮、循环》（《Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat》)之后，乐队成员在当地的SR Audio工作室中开始与新主唱科里·泰勒一同创作。[3]乐队开始着手制作一张新专辑，但始终未能进入实质制作阶段[3]在这一时期创作并录制的歌曲包括《Slipknot》、《Gently》、《Do Nothing》、《Tattered and Torn》、《Heartache and a Pair of Scissors》、《Me Inside》、《Coleslaw》、《Carve》、《Windows》和《May 17》。1998年，活结乐队开始受到唱片公司的关注，包括Epic和Hollywood Records 。[4]
这张专辑的录制过程“非常激进和混乱”，制作人罗宾逊努力捕捉乐队在现场表演时创造的强烈氛围。在三天内，所有鼓点的录制全部完成，乐队认为这保留了生猛的现场音效，为乐队的音乐发展方向做出了极其重要贡献。[10]罗宾逊指导了乐队风格的改变，说服乐队减少实验性的部分和吉他独奏，并用直接的金属音效取代。[11]1998年11月11日，专辑的录制已经完成，乐队返回得梅因。[12]在那年圣诞节，吉他手乔什·布雷纳德在录制完所有音轨后离开了乐队。他离开的原因尚不清楚，人们大多认为他是由于家庭原因而离队，然而布雷纳德澄清了这些谣言，说“（乐队）做出的一些决定我并不是特别满意”。 [13]他的继任者是吉姆·鲁特 (Jim Root) ，乐队于1999年2月返回录音室[14] 活结乐队在此期间完成了录制，并录制了一首名为《Purity》的新曲目。混音阶段非常挑战，因为鼓手喬依·喬迪森和制片人Robinson对专辑的制作使用的是模拟设备而非数字制作。[15]专辑还收录了在演示专辑中出现的《Wait and Bleed》和《Spit It Out》；演示歌曲《Interloper》和《Despise》则收录在该专辑的数码版中。
^Stocks, Matt. Joey Jordison's Top 10 Best Drummers Of All Time. Teamrock.com. June 21, 2016 [February 14, 2021]. （原始内容存档于June 22, 2016）. Joey Jordison: Fantômas are the ultimate supergroup, too. When I first heard about them I was like, 'That's my dream band right there. Mike Patton, Buzz Osbourne, Trevor Dunn and Dave Lombardo; it doesn't get any better than that.' I watched them play live at The Troubadour [legendary nightclub in West Hollywood, California], when we were making the first Slipknot record, and I can't even put into words what I saw that night. It was the most insane fucking show I've ever seen; it was magic. You always see one show in your life that you think, 'I wish I could go back and relive that', and that's the show I wish I could go back and see, at The Troubadour in 1998. Of course I've seen Slayer live a bunch of times, and Slayer are one of my favourite bands of all time, but that Fantômas gig showed me that no one can touch that man. So Lombardo is my ultimate drum hero.
^Spence D. IGN For Men: Slipknot Interview Part 3. [February 14, 2021]. （原始内容存档于2021-01-13）. Corey Taylor: ... Plus the Fantômas album, it's so good, dude. It's a very acquired taste. We had the privilege of seein' them live when we recorded our album. We were just blown away. We bought the album when it came out and it was exactly like it was on stage, man. If you can, definitely check it out. And listen to it with an open fucking mind. It makes [Mr.] Bungle look like Lawrence Welk. It's that fucked-up.
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