# Iowa at 25: The Album That Redefined Extreme Drumming

> Slipknot's Iowa turns 25 on August 28, 2026. A look back at Joey Jordison's drumming on the record — the verified Pearl and Paiste rig, the tracks that still test drummers, and where to find the gear today.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Joey Jordison](/llms/drummers/joey-jordison.md)
**Band / Album:** Slipknot — *Iowa* (2001)
**Genre:** Nu Metal / Death Metal

## Overview

Slipknot released Iowa on August 28, 2001, through Roadrunner Records. The album debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart and #3 on the US Billboard 200 — chart positions that made it, and remain among the reasons it's widely cited as one of the heaviest albums ever to top a national albums chart. Twenty-five years later, on August 28, 2026, that record still gets pointed to as a ceiling for how extreme a mainstream metal album can sound.

At the center of it was Joey Jordison. His drumming across Iowa's 67-minute runtime — blast beats sustained well past 200 BPM, six-tom fills that never lost the plot, a snare tuned to cut through nine instruments at once — is the reason the album still gets studied rather than just remembered. This piece marks the anniversary through that lens: the verified gear Jordison used to make Iowa, and where a drummer can still find it 25 years later.

## The Sound That Set the Bar

Iowa's drumming was built for extremity from the ground up. Jordison recorded the album on a Pearl Masterworks kit in the now-iconic purple/black fade, running six toms (8" through 18") that let his fills move across the whole kit rather than just hammering forward. The signature Pearl 13" x 6.5" steel snare gave every stroke a tight, high-pitched crack built specifically to cut through Slipknot's nine-piece wall of guitars, samples, and percussion. Paiste's RUDE and 2002 series cymbals — raw, unlathed, built to survive being hit as hard as Jordison hit them — supplied the crashes and Chinas that punctuate tracks like "Disasterpiece" and "People = Shit."

None of that would matter without the playing behind it. Tracks like "Metabolic" and "Disasterpiece" sustain blast beats well past 200 BPM for minutes at a time, and "The Heretic Anthem" proves the same drummer could groove as hard as he could blast. A quarter century on, that combination of raw speed and musical sense is still the reason Iowa gets assigned as homework for extreme metal drummers.

- Pearl Masterworks kit in the purple/black fade, six toms from 8" to 18"
- Pearl 13" x 6.5" signature snare tuned high and tight for definition
- Paiste RUDE & 2002 series cymbals for crashes, hi-hats, and Chinas
- "Disasterpiece" and "Metabolic" sustain 200+ BPM blast beats

## A Quarter Century of Influence

Iowa's drum chair has a direct line of succession: Jay Weinberg held it for nine years (2014–2023) after Jordison's 2013 departure, building his own identity on the foundation Jordison poured on records like this one — the two are compared directly in our Joey Jordison vs Jay Weinberg breakdown. The influence runs well past Slipknot's own lineup, too — Sepultura's Eloy Casagrande has cited Jordison's extreme-metal intensity as one of his defining influences.

Twenty-five years after release, Iowa still functions as a reference point rather than a museum piece — the gear is still in production, the tracks are still played live, and the drumming is still the standard extreme metal drummers get measured against.

## The Gear Behind Iowa

Every major piece of Jordison's Iowa rig is documented in detail on MetalForge, and most of it — the signature snare, the signature sticks, the Paiste RUDE lineup — is still in production 25 years later.

- [His Complete Kit & Gear Setup](https://metalforge.io/drummer/joey-jordison) — Full drummer profile: drums, snare, cymbals, hardware, and career timeline
- [Iowa Drum Setup — Full Breakdown](https://metalforge.io/articles/iowa-drum-setup) — Track-by-track gear notes, recording techniques, and the Pearl Masterworks build
- [Signature Sticks — Promark TX515W](https://metalforge.io/drumsticks/signature/joey-jordison) — Limited availability since 2021 — verify stock before buying
- [Cymbal Setup — Paiste RUDE & 2002 Series](https://metalforge.io/cymbals/setups/joey-jordison) — Full per-piece breakdown of the Wild Hi-Hats, Power Crashes, and Wild Chinas
- [Signature Snare — Pearl 13" × 6.5"](https://metalforge.io/snares/signature/joey-jordison) — The snare built to cut through Slipknot's nine-piece wall of sound
- [Joey Jordison's Legacy: 5 Years On](https://metalforge.io/articles/joey-jordison-legacy) — The full tribute — kit, sticks, sound, and the drummers carrying it forward

## Key Facts

- Released August 28, 2001 on Roadrunner Records
- Debuted #1 on the UK Albums Chart and #3 on the US Billboard 200
- Widely cited among the heaviest albums to ever top a national chart
- Joey Jordison's drumming remains the album's technical benchmark
- 25th anniversary lands August 28, 2026

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: When was Slipknot's Iowa released?**

A: Iowa was released on August 28, 2001, through Roadrunner Records — making August 28, 2026 the album's 25th anniversary.

**Q: How did Iowa chart?**

A: Iowa debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart and #3 on the US Billboard 200, and is widely cited as one of the heaviest albums to ever top a national albums chart.

**Q: Who played drums on Slipknot's Iowa?**

A: Joey Jordison played drums on Iowa. His performance across the album — sustained blast beats, six-tom fills, and a signature snare tuned to cut through Slipknot's dense mix — remains one of the most demanding drum performances in mainstream metal.

**Q: What drum gear did Joey Jordison use on Iowa?**

A: Jordison recorded Iowa on a Pearl Masterworks kit (purple/black fade finish) with a Pearl 13" x 6.5" signature snare and Paiste RUDE and 2002 series cymbals. The full track-by-track breakdown, including hardware and recording technique, is in our Iowa drum setup article.

**Q: Is Joey Jordison's Iowa-era gear still available?**

A: Yes. The Pearl Joey Jordison Signature snare and Promark TX515W signature sticks remain in production, and the Paiste RUDE cymbal lineup he used is unchanged. The original purple/black fade Pearl Masterworks kit itself is a vintage/collector item found through Reverb and dealers specializing in used drum gear.

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/iowa-anniversary

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*Last updated: 2026-07-13 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*