Slipknot’s ‘Duality’ Cracks 1 Billion Streams On Spotify

Slipknot have bulldozed their way into Spotify’s billion streams club, with their 2004 anthem ‘Duality’ becoming the band’s first track to cross the milestone.

Dropped in May 2004 as the lead single from Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), ‘Duality’ quickly became a gateway drug for countless fans diving headfirst into the intensity of the Iowa nine. It’s the track that found a middle ground between Slipknot’s aggression and a sheen polished enough to dominate rock radio. We’re talking profanity free (to the relief of DJs everywhere), while still opening with one of metal’s most unhinged lines: “I push my fingers into my eyes.”

A Defining Slipknot Moment

All nine members had a hand in crafting the song, a showcase of serrated riffs, relentless percussion, and grooves designed to shake stadium foundations. Lyrically, Corey Taylor dug into the fractures of identity, good vs evil, and the dualities that live inside all of us. Heavy as hell, yet strangely accessible, it became the band’s most recognised anthem, the track that broke them into the mainstream without sanding off their edges.

The Visuals

Part of ‘Duality’s legend lies in its music video. Directed by Tony Petrossian, it was filmed inside a house set for demolition. The band tore through the rooms, surrounded by a horde of fans, or “maggots” who helped literally wreck the place. Roadrunner Records reportedly had to shell out around $50,000 in damages, but the video went on to be hailed as one of the greatest of its era.

Billion Streams and Beyond

‘Duality’ isn’t the only Slipknot song making moves on Spotify. ‘Psychosocial’ sits at over 764 million plays, while Grammy winner ‘Before I Forget’ has surpassed 667 million. Both are creeping toward that same billion mark, showing the streaming power of a catalogue that still slams two decades later.

The milestone comes as Slipknot reportedly edge closer to a $120 million deal with HarbourView Equity Partners, selling their publishing, recording masters royalties, and archival catalogue – though future releases remain theirs to control.

Two decades on, ‘Duality’ hasn’t lost an ounce of bite and now it’s got the numbers to prove it.