When Iowa metal band Slipknot debuted with their 1999 self-titled album, the members were known only by their numbers (from zero to eight) and wore masks in all public appearances, cultivating an air of mystery and menace that went along with their intense, angry music. Since then, as the band has become more popular, the members have revealed themselves and worked without their masks on a number of outside projects, but Slipknot itself remains a unified force of nine people making music as one. The band’s 2014 album .5: The Gray Chapter, is their first since the death of original bassist Paul Gray, and it marks a return to the heaviness and intensity of their early albums, along with a more mature tone in the lyrics.
Around the same time that Slipknot debuted, Virginia metal band Lamb of God released its own debut album, and both bands are key influences on the metal scene in the last 15 years. Slipknot’s layered sound and Lamb of God’s more streamlined approach will combine for a double bill that offers the best in American heavy metal since the turn of the century.
MGM Resorts Village, 5 p.m. Aug. 28, $35 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
