"Purity" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot, which appeared on the original version of the band's 1999 self-titled debut album. Due to

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issues, "Purity" and the interlude track "Frail Limb Nursery" were removed from later editions of the album. "Purity" was later reinstated for the 10th Anniversary edition of the album where it was preluded by the end of "Frail Limb Nursery".

Writing

"Purity" and "Frail Limb Nursery" were inspired by a story published online about a girl named Purity Knight, who was kidnapped and buried alive. The website, called '' Crime Scene'', presents fictional stories as real life crime cases. Originally, the website included no disclaimer saying that it was a work of fiction. Many readers believed the story to be true, including

Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the ...

: "I still think the story's real. It fucked our whole world up when we read it. Can you imagine a girl being buried in a box and have all this lecherous bullshit drip down on her from this guy? It just hurts your head." According to Taylor, the song "was originally called 'Despise' but it didn't work when we tried to put it together… Ross '' obinson' took it and helped us restructure it." In an interview, Taylor claimed the lyrics had been written five years prior to the song's release, that only the name had been inspired by the Purity Knight story. He also said that inspiration came from films such as '' Boxing Helena'' and '' The Collector'', and not the story. "Frail Limb Nursery" is the prelude to "Purity", and directly samples the audio used on ''Crime Scene''. The outro of the track "Tattered & Torn" features the intro to "Frail Limb Nursery" on the later edition of the album, though the latter was never included on any rereleases.

Release and controversy

After the album's release, the band had to remove the track after allegations of

. The website that inspired the song presents fictional stories as real life crime cases, and originally included no disclaimer saying that it was a work of fiction. The case was complicated by audio samples from the authoring website being included in "Frail Limb Nursery", the prelude to "Purity". However, to prevent the entire album being pulled, the band removed "Purity" and "Frail Limb Nursery". Slightly

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

standard and

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versions of the album were issued in December 1999, replacing both tracks with "Me Inside". Although "Frail Limb Nursery" was never rereleased, "Purity" was included on the DVD ''

Disasterpieces ''Disasterpieces'' is the second video album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Unveiled at an advance screening in New York City on November 1, 2002, and released on November 22 by Roadrunner Records, the two-disc set features a concert at ...

'' and the 10th anniversary edition of ''Slipknot'', and live versions also appeared on the live album '' 9.0: Live'' and greatest hits album ''

Antennas to Hell ''Antennas to Hell'' is the first greatest hits compilation album by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot. The album was released on July 23, 2012, in the United Kingdom and July 24, 2012, in the United States by ...

''.

Personnel

Slipknot * (#8)

– vocals * (#7)

Mick Thomson Mickael Gordon "Mick" Thomson (born November 3, 1973) is an American musician. He is one of two guitarists for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #7. Thomson originally met founding Slipknot members Anders Colsefni, Donn ...

– guitars * (#6)

Shawn "Clown" Crahan Michael Shawn Crahan (born September 24, 1969), more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of two percussionists for heavy metal band Slipknot in which he is designated #6. Crahan he ...

- percussion * (#5) Craig "133" Jones - samples, media * (#4)

Jim Root James Donald Root (born October 2, 1971) is an American guitarist. He is one of two guitarists for heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #4, as well as the former lead guitarist for rock band Stone Sour. Life and career Roo ...

– guitars * (#3)

Chris Fehn Christopher Fehn (born February 24, 1973) is an American musician. He was a percussionist and backing vocalist for the heavy metal band Slipknot from 1998 to 2019, in which he was designated #3. He was also the bassist for Will Haven from 201 ...

– percussion * (#2) Paul Gray - bass * (#1)

Joey Jordison Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison (April 26, 1975 – July 26, 2021) was an American musician. He was the original drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, as well as the guitarist for the horror punk s ...

- drums, mixing * (#0)

Sid Wilson Sidney George Wilson (born January 20, 1977) is an American musician. He is the turntablist for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #0. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until bassist Alessandro Venturella and dru ...

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

Production * Ross Robinson –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, mixing * Rob Agnello –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Chuck Johnson – engineering, mixing * Joey Jordison and Sean McMahon – additional mixing * Kevin Miles – mixing * Steven Remote – location recording engineer * Eddy Schreyer – mastering at Oasis Mastering, Studio City, California Artwork * Stefan Seskis – album cover, tray card photography * Dean Karr – band photography * T42Design – album design, lettering * Lynda Kusnetz – creative director * Slipknot – packing concept Management * Steve Richards – worldwide management for No Name Management * Ross Robinson – A&R * Monte Conner – A&R for

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

* Jeffrey Light – legal representation * Dave Kirby – booking for The Agency Group

References

{{Slipknot 1999 songs Slipknot (band) songs Songs written by Paul Gray (American musician) Songs written by Joey Jordison Songs written by Corey Taylor