SlipKnot "The Heretic Anthem" // Pastor Rob Reaction & Analysis 

"I wanna be a sinner!" *pastor grabs pen*

“It’s an anti mainstream song” Exactly

A deeply religious man who is open to these concepts and looking past the lyrics and being this cool with it is awesome.

Any of my maggots headbanging like crazy to this classic?

The whole song is a song against the Record Labels that were basically saying 'go soft or die' to them. The IOWA record is so heavy because of that. One rep from Sony went to see them live and afterwards told all record labels 'never sign these people'.

This was the biggest "F*** YOU" to the music industry who snubbed them and tried having them black listed from the music industry entirely.

Corey explained this song in one of his books. One of the record execs literally told them, "why don't you make more mainstream music, you know music for the 9 to 5ers". Their answer was, "if you're 555, then I'm 666"!!!

Pastor is 100% correct! This is THE anti mainstream song! Awesome reaction as always! They really aren’t anti Christian, they love all of their fans no matter what religion, race or sexual orientation. Slipknot’s fans are called maggots, and we are a family.

glad Rob understood the true meaning behind the song

As an atheist, I cant help but tune in to this channel when you post. The open mindedness and the growth from the first few videos has been crazy to watch. It's so interesting to hear the takes you guys have on these songs that I've been listening to for years. Keep up the content guys.

The song is about record labels. Before Roadrunner picked up Slipknot, Sony went around saying "If Slipknot is the future of music I don't want to be alive." And they wrote the Heretic anthem about the music industry and not conforming to who the music industry wanted them to be. And after Iowa got insanely popular, Slipknot sent Sony a bouquet of dead flowers saying "we are the future of music and we want you dead "

Went to the IOWA tour in London back in 2002, the disaster pieces DVD infact. They played this song towards the end of the show and man... one of the best bands I have ever seen live. They totally gave the media and the world the middle finger that day. So much doubt around them and to this day, IOWA was their heaviest/best album imo

My understanding of the use of 666 in this song is to imply, "This is how we make our music. This is who we are. We are not mainstream, and we never will be. We are not afraid of being repulsive or offensive to some people. We would rather freely express ourselves as 666 than conform to being 555." Edit: This was already their intentions in their self-titled debut album. The song "Wait And Bleed" actually did end up becoming a major hit in mainstream rock, and their record label wanted them to "just make more Wait And Bleed's" on the 2nd album. Slipknot did not agree, and proceeded to make an even darker album than the first.

Iowa is easily Slipknot's most "death metal" offering.

I'm a Christian love the lord love my bible and I still listen to slipknot they were my dad's favorite band and since he past slipknot just stuck with me I've always been fascinated with there talent. I also like that they Dont care what no one thinks.

Basically “If you’re going to call me evil either way then I’d rather just stay true to myself and not become a hypocrite like you.”

You guys need Cory on this show, just so he can give you his explanation on the songs. Pastor rob, you are correct. It was against mainstream media and also record labels.

I love how you guys actually notice the artistry and skill in these songs where some people would just say it's a bunch of noise. Great video as always.

I am a long time christian. I love slipknot and Love this song, and many others!

Love the discussion on this one. Agree with both points. As a huge Slipknot fan and a Christian... I used to skip this song as a kid until I came to understand the real meaning. This song is supposed to draw emotions and does just that. Powerful.

"If you're 555, I'm 666!" I'm a God fearing man but I love that line. Song is so heavy and so much death metal influence.

Guage is becoming more comfortable, it's pretty cool to see. I'm 37 and still awkward as hell.

I think one of Rob's first reactions was to Slipknot - All out life! And you could tell this was really not something he was 100% comfortable with, and made some bad comments about Metal and stuff... So its really fun to see how much he has grown as a person and being more accepting than what he was when he started out! Love you Rob!

I liked the point you made about challenging yourself as a relugious person or atheist, and viewing other opinions, great video! Also, i would love to see your reaction to Popular Monster by Falling in Reverse

Just letting you guys know slipknot is not anti Christian, Corey Taylor himself Is more of an agnostic more than anything else.😊 just like many people I would say their more against the institutionalized kind of religion. Also since this album came out 20 years ago Corey's view had changed a bit, I know he used to be an atheist but as he got older last time I checked he was agnostic or believes in some form of a God at best.

Do Nero forte or Purity

“I bleed for this and I bleed you but you look at my face like I’m somebody new” is the hardest and my most favorite line in all types of music I listen to

Love how the head bobbing says "not bad" but the facial expressions say "not good". So cool to see a different perspective though

I always thought that "if your 555 then I'm 666" was a play on words for "if your fine fine fine then i'm sic sic sic" , linking back to the first album

Iowa is such a Slipknot masterpiece.....also love Disasterpiece!!

Pastor Rob you freaking rock brother..so open minded and rooted simultaneously. Thank you for being you

finallyyy i’ve been waiting for this video for two years and i’m really impressed how your analysis was pretty correct

I always felt like the lyrics “If your 555 then I’m 666” meant if your this I’m not, I’m something else. Basically a way of saying, I’m not going to be like the masses, I am me.

So it never use to be written "If you are 555 then I am 666" in the original cd booklet that had the lyrics it was " If you are 555 then I am 6(sic)6."

The pastor hit the nail on the head. Great take on the lyrics. 100% accurate

This is the best analysis i've seen on a reaction video! Like really going through the lyrics and talk about them and not just goofing around

Thats actually amazing how you managed to get some much out of this song,without knowing a context.I know this channel is kinda ment to be about сhristian point of view on things,but you are doing pretty good music reviews.Usually all this musical channels are not diging deep and just reading wiki facts,but you are actually putting work into it.Very good.

Ya'll need to do Iowa (Album titled track), and Skin Ticket by Slipknot.

Most of the guitar riffs from IOWA was recorded in Drop A. Slipknot is used to tuning drop B (a whole tuning step higher) and that is why this album had a huge increase in heavyness compared to other albums.

It's 6(sic)6 My fave part is "everybody's so infatuated. Everybody's so completely sure of what we are. Everybody defamates from miles away but face to face they haven't got a thing to say." Makes the song pretty much timeless. The whole verse is one of the best imo. Anybody can relate regardless of your flavor of jams.

Have you reacted to Meshuggah? They’re pretty mellow. Soft, mellow with a tinge of jazz funk sprinkled throughout. Very conservative, yet progressive undertones.

Corey Taylor has said before that they wrote this in response to someone telling them that they need to be more radio friendly. haha! Also here’s a curious recommendation: I’ve always been curious on the depth of “god hates us” by avenged sevenfold because they wrote it while angry about the death of their drummer The Rev, but it seems so out for them to be so direct with topics like that (considering that they are considered a more radio friendly band) and would even later cover songs like “god only knows”.

Love your take on this awesome song guys!! Keep up the great work

Now this is called proper analysis of a song!! Good job guys

It's nice to see a Christian channel reacting to this kind of music, most reaction channels are all on board with what a lot of heavy metal bands say & don't really critique their content.

Your son kinda looks like Cliff from Metallica

Pastor Rob nailed it! Love these guys and this channel

You guys are the best reaction channel I’ve ever seen because most people who reacts to songs they just air guitar and cheer saying nothing but “that’s dope as shi boi” but you guys put actual input of yours and that’s what makes you guys the best. Keep it up ❤

Review: Slaughter to Prevail - Demolisher

I definitely recommend Architects - Broken Cross. That could definitely give you guys a lot to talk about since the entire song is pretty much how God doesn’t love us because of what he puts us through. I would love to see it! Great video as always!

Seriously so happy you did this one !!! Out of every slipknot song you already did

This is one of the songs I've been waiting for since almost day one

I would love to see you react to the song "I Am" by POD. Definitely one of the most controversial songs in the Christian community.

Like I'm sure some people have already mentioned, it's a middle finger to the record labels so like if you're 555 like the Hollywood phone number

My favourite thing about you guys is the dedication to NOT blindly believe something. Even if it is your own faith and to always challenge your morals and what you believe to find ways to improve yourself as a person. It always feels like, you advocate more for personal growth while faith takes the back seat. It's just that for you guys, your faith is a large part of the way you exist in this world. All the love.

Love to hear your opinion on stuff. It's always great to get another view on things even if our beliefs do not align. Always love to have serious talks about differing opinions and beliefs that don't consist of belittling people.

It’s actually not an anti-religion song. It was actually an anti-mainstream song like you said later in the video🤘

As someone who grew up in a Christian household but fell away from religion as I grew older, it's refreshing and interesting to get you and your son's takes on some of my favorite music. Keep up the good work, you guys!

Rely appreciate what you guys are doing here as a Christian who just loves music! Thanks for being brave to tackle and orchestrate dialogue about music outside of Christian music

I so much love how the pastor is totally vibing to the song! He cant help but bring out a bit of headbanging

This song was just them responding to critics that told them they need to write more radio friendly songs. So they wrote one of the heaviest songs and album in response.

"breakdowns and obscenities is all I want to be" makes it clear to me that this song is anti mainstream. Yes that's exactly what I love about them. I also love how the growls are still clean and how they mix growls with melodic choruses like you hear in The Devil in I.

Another great reaction with very interesting notes. Really enjoying listening you. Thx

Rob you're right on the button. Great job. I love how you're very open minded.

I love me some metal but I’m also devout Christian I like the way you portray the median good job guys I’ll keep praying you keep doing what you do🧡

This song is so incredibly awesome live

Love your videos. Thanks for reviewing. Love Slipknot.

Excellent analysis! I listened to this type of music since I was a kid in the early 80s. I put everything I had into it, and now the regret I have for my actions is almost overwhelming for me, to the point I turned it off completely from my life. It's dangerous to the mind, body and spirit. I love what you said about being more of a rebel by reading your bible because no one is doing that. I'm glad I gave this stuff up and started thinking for myself, because nowadays, no one is doing that. Great work!

Disasterpiece in my mind is very heavy. Basically sings about how he was bullied

React to Slipknot - Gematria (The Killing Name)

First time watching via my nephew suggestion. I agree with your work here and know it is blessed by the Holy Spirit.

Good job Rob. You hit the nail on the head on the meaning.

Nailed it right on the head, it's not an anti Christianity song its anti mainstream! They wanted to say they are going to do it their way with being heavy and obscene and not bow down to the music industry. I love the open mindedness to this channel and this is the first video I've seen from you guys. I'll definitely be subbing and watching more. Very cool to see you guys see under the surface and realize the true meaning 👍🏻

Oh this has gotta be good!

God bless you, Slipknot fan for life, thanks for your reaction

I been watching your videos for a few and I wanna say you inspire me to wanna do something like this with my kids

He mentions 555 as a reference to Hollywood (area code) and that he is better than them.

While my religious views couldn’t possibly be more different from yours, I truly enjoy watching your videos and how you keep an open mind. Trust me that is not normally the case, if there were more people like you guys in this world it would be a better place. Keep the videos coming

i never thought the day would come. Love the reaction btw

I just wanna say again how much I appreciate the quality of the tracks you choose. This song has me rocking, and the stereo effects are clear and the sound is crisp. Thanks for paying attention to that little detail as there are so many videos out there of the same songs with absolutely horrendous quality.

I’d rather my children grow up listening to slipknot than to cardi b

Another amazing reaction and discussion! This song was written as an anti sell-out anthem, like you were saying, it was written as they were saying this is us and we will never change to fit someone else's narrative. I found this from a fandom page which explains it better with an interview from Corey Taylor aswell but please *be warned it has ALOT of cuss words* : The Heretic Anthem is about Corey standing his ground of becoming the exact opposite of what people want him to be, to prove a point. The point of not selling out, not following people, not taking orders from people. With lyrics describing a man as 555, Satan as 666, and God as 777, the theme of hate once again prevails. It is also a large 'Fuck You' to the music industry and bands that have sold out. It also states that now, Corey is teaching the young of our race (teenagers) which refers to showing them the truth of life. That it's not all pink and happy, that it can be a brutal and scary place at times. Here's some detailed info about the heretic anthem, Corey said this in Paris on May 29/2001 before Iowa was released. "A couple of months ago, some evil people, some money hungry, cocksucking, idiot motherfuckers came to us and said: "You know, if you want your next album to be huge, you gotta write a radio friendly fucking song"...Now being that we are Slipknot, we are 9 crazy people from the middle of nowhere, 9 people but do not give one rat fuck about what the fucking music industry fucking thinks, we stood there politely, we processed the information and we said: " Well, thank you Mr. Businessman, but if you'll excuse me suck my motherfucking dick! And this next song is a result of that fucking conversation.

You all are doing a good job. Two people I can respect and more people need to have your open minded mentality. Keep doing these videos guys!

The fact that a pastor is nodding his head to this song and understands it is awesome. You should do reactions more often.

Fit for a king is a great Christian death core band!

The IOWA album saw this band at its darkest. They were all going through their own addictions and life challenges. They were fighting amongst themselves. The record label was pushing them to produce. Putting pressure on them. The fact that they didn’t dissolve during this album amazes me. But they held together and started to heal after this album. Cover to cover, this album is an expression of pain, anger, frustration and ultimately a middle finger to conformity. It’s an explosion of expression from the moment you push ‘play’. Corey described this album as a thick, disgusting second skin. It is my favorite out their anthology thus far. And this Iowa boy snaps his neck to this album constantly.

Thank you guys for these videos, I love them! 555 is a military term that means "all good" as in station fiver. Common radio report

I like how opened minded you two are.

When texting people in some countries they use 555 to mean they are fine. I think this was slang for radio operators who would say five by five meaning “loud and clear”. I take this particular lyric to mean that if you are one thing then we are something else. Not conforming to be like you type of a statement.

I wish I was this close with my dad

This is a top channel, great job!

Lmao his look during the chorus says it all. Great react vid guys

This being from their second album, this came out of their most aggressive and pissed of era. When they recorded it, Corey was almost on the height of his drug abuse.

I'm an atheist but I always try to challenge myself just like science always challenges every hypothesis. That being said, out of all the react channels I follow, I really enjoy seeing your perspectives on the music I love so much. We can disagree on God, but we can bond over music. Thank you for doing what you are doing. Earned a like a subscribe.

I've been waiting for this... lol

I love this channel. I was raised agnostic in a faithless home but, came to Jesus on my own much later. It's difficult at times explaining to people why I still listen to music like this since my awakening but, this channel is helpful. I went through a period where I felt like I had to hide my faith from metal friends and hide my music from my church friends. Thanks for staying open-minded and for being so thoughtful when experiencing these things.

“Everyone defamates from miles away, but face to face they haven’t got a thing to say.” Pastor: I gotta use that for my sermon on gossip.

Pastor Rob: Tells dad joke in every video Gauge: "Why was 6 afraid of 7?" The student has become the master. Also, I would recommend Mesus "Christiant", I think you would like the message.

Awesome that you referenced Ricochet Rabbit! Ping, Ping PINGGGGG!!! GREAT VIDEO GUYS!!

yall are cool yall have some great content keep it up