What year did the band Slipknot form?

Slipknot formed in 1995 in Des Moines, Iowa. The group began when percussionist Shawn Crahan, vocalist Anders Colsefni, and bassist Paul Gray started developing a new band in the city’s active heavy metal scene.

The musicians initially used the name the Pale Ones. They soon expanded the lineup, adding drummer Joey Jordison, guitarist Donnie Steele, and guitarist Josh Brainard. Slipknot made its public debut at a benefit show in Des Moines on November 5, 1995, performing under the name Meld. Later that year, the band adopted the name Slipknot, taken from one of its songs.

The group’s early identity developed through constant lineup changes, multiple percussionists, aggressive visual presentation, and a sound that combined extreme metal with elements of alternative metal and nu metal. Its self-financed debut album, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., followed in 1996, while the major-label breakthrough Slipknot arrived in 1999.

The year 1995 is the standard formation date, even though some founding members had played together in earlier Des Moines projects. Those earlier bands helped create the personnel and local network from which Slipknot emerged, but they were not Slipknot itself.