Slipknot - Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. 1996 Demo CD - MINT CD - MFKR - Fast Ship

Recording and productionIn late 1995, Slipknot and producer Sean McMahon entered SR Audio, a studio in the band's hometown of Des Moines, Iowa to work on what they intended to be their debut album.[3]Retrospectively, McMahon said that the band was "driven" because they spent the majority of their time in the studio for the four months it took to produce the album.[3] Slipknot self-financed the production, which came to an estimated $40,000.[3] The band expressed how much of a learning process this time was, being the first time they had recorded their music, specifically the challenge of capturing additional percussion elements.[4]

The band aimed for a tribal sound, but encountered problems including minuscule timing errors. However, during this period, Slipknot refined their percussive sound by experimenting with erecting walls to isolate the drums and rearranging parts.[4] In February 1996, during the mixing process, guitarist Donnie Steele decided to leave the band for religious reasons and as a result, Craig Jones joined the band to fill the spot.[5] However, the band realized that they were incorporating too many media samples on their recordings and could not replicate these sounds live. To solve this problem, Jones abandoned his position on guitar and moved to the position of sampler—at that point Mick Thomson stepped in to join as guitarist.[6] Originally, the band had planned to include twelve tracks on the CD,[7] two of which – "Fur" and "Part of Me" – already appeared on their first demo in 1995. In the end, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. was released with only eight tracks. The band threw a release party at The Safari, a club in Des Moines where the band played many of their earliest gigs.[8]

Musical and lyrical themesMate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. is a mix of genres centered on nu metal and death metal;[1][2] it is the band's most experimental release and differs significantly from the heavier style for which the band became known.[9] One of the band's initial aims was to mix many genres of music to achieve their own style; an early incarnation of the band was called "Meld" based upon this.[9]However, tracks such as "Slipknot", "Some Feel" and "Only One" feature a heavy metal influence, specifically in the guitars.[10] Tracks such as "Tattered & Torn", "Killers Are Quiet" and "Gently" also include the slow, cerebral angst buildup style that the band retained in some of their more recent work.[10] The album implements elements of jazz and funk, although "Confessions" is the only track on the album led by these styles.[10] "Do Nothing/Bitchslap" could be considered the album's most complex song, combining both of these styles and even elements of disco.[10]

The album title and the majority of the lyrics are references to the role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse.[11] Vocalist Anders Colsefni and percussionist Shawn Crahan shared a mutual interest in the game, which largely influenced the band. Colsefni said: "The attraction was being able to play a different person", declaring that this was the essence of Slipknot.[11]

ArtworkThe artwork shows a metal cage, made by Shawn Crahan, with Joey Jordison sitting inside of it. This cage was named "Patiently Awaiting the Jigsaw Flesh" by Joey Jordison, as whenever they carried the cage, someone got cut brutally. It was also known as the "Death Cage" and was a part of the stage show during the release party of the album. Willing "victims" sat inside of it while the band played