When Garth Ennis wrote The Boys comic 15 years ago, he imagined a world where ordinary street vigilantes, unafraid to break some heads and skirt the law, would rise up and take on villainous superheroes for the greater good. With Amazon set to give us the TV adaptation of that world, Uproxx knew fans needed an appropriately badass anthem to get them hyped for the thrashing ahead — and no one shreds harder than the heavy-metal kings, Slipknot.
In collaboration with Uproxx and The Boys, the band just released a video for a track timed to the premiere of the show, which stars Karl Urban and Jack Quaid as two men hellbent on revenge against God-like heroes with abilities that they call “supes.” The video blends live footage of the band and crowds head-banging to the rage-filled track with scenes from the show of Urban’s Billy Butcher smashing a man’s face into a porcelain sink, Quaid’s Hughey rinsing a supe’s blood off his face, and other bits of mayhem. All of this is set to the beat of the band’s intense lyrics and insane guitar shreds. It’s the perfect marriage of disenfranchised rebellion and chaos that both fans of The Boys and Slipknot will appreciate, but the artists have a deeper connection to the story of The Boys.
Slipknot lead singer Corey Taylor is a mega Ennis fan who met the iconic writer at New York Comic Con in 2012. Taylor went on a tour of the con where he relayed his love of comic books like Preacher before making his way to Ennis’ signing booth and professing his reverence for the man himself. Fast forward just a few years and the band is now crafting a signature song and music video for one of Ennis’ most beloved stories — a wild ode to revolutionaries who aren’t afraid to get a little bloody for their cause. With that and a collection of characters who adopt alter-egos like Butcher, Mother’s Milk, The Female, and Frenchie, Slipknot fans might see a bit of the band in the story of The Boys. The masks, the aliases, and the determination to upend the status quo — these are all traits that both sets of maggots (as Slipknot diehards are proudly known for how they literally feed off the band’s radical energy during performances) have. The Boys, like the band, revel in going against the establishment, they find power in their unrestrained self-expression and incite the same passionate, visceral response in others. It’s what makes this team-up so satisfying. That and the killer video above.
‘The Boys’ premieres on July 26th, only on Amazon Prime Video.
