Slipknot set to shock and rock the Arena

Orchestras and middle-aged rockers are common employers of multiple percussionists, but speed metal doesn’t usually necessitate an additional arsenal of drums. The masks are a bit over the top, too; thus is Slipknot.

“It’s been like that since the beginning,” said Chris Fehn, one of the band’s three percussionists. “(We) always have had that driving ambition, that thunder. It’s kind of what made us different.”

Different may be a stretch. The music is speed-metal with pop-rock appeal and isn’t breaking any barriers. Slipknot’s nine members wear masks, but Louis Armstrong, Peter Gabriel and KISS beat Slipknot to the distorted-face shtick years ago.

“It’s a little more liberating than being in a regular band,” Fehn said of wearing a mask, his featuring a significantly long nose. “You can kind of get away with things you wouldn’t normally get away with.”

Slipknot, with support from Shadows Fall and Lamb of God, hits the Spokane Arena’s Star Theatre for a 7 p.m. show Sunday. Tickets are $35 through TicketsWest, (800) 325-SEAT or www.ticketswest.com.

Regardless of its motives, Slipknot’s shock-rock image has paid off; the band already has two platinum albums to its credit. But the band’s image is in no way indicative of the helplessly commercial hard rock featured on the band’s most recent album, “Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses).”

The lyrics on “Vol. 3” aren’t scandalous – no profanity or satanic messages. And if you’re looking for dark, Elliot Smith’s easily got Slipknot beat. Lyrics such as “Tell me everything’s gonna be alright/ ‘Cause I don’t think I’m gonna make it through tonight” and “Oh my God/ It’s judgment day and I’m not prepared,” from “Opium of the People,” send the message of insecurities and fears, rather than death and destruction.

“We just talk about real things in life, real emotion: love, hate, pain,” Fehn said before a show in Fresno, Calif.

Plus, if the band was to move beyond its superficial hard-core image, it may have an adverse affect on the sale of Slipknot T-shirts – available at many department stores – and alienate its considerably underage fan base.

“I play a lot of golf,” Fehn said. “So much for the evil part, huh.”