Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)

After the Iowa tour several members worked on other projects, and the band said afterwards that those projects helped them break out of the box they were in. Slipknot moved into The Mansion in Los Angeles in 2003 to record with Rick Rubin, who produced only this Slipknot album. It is the album where songs such as Circle and Vermilion Pt. 2 are led by an acoustic rather than an electric guitar. The cover shows the maggot mask designed by Crahan. Opinions on Rubin differed among the members. Taylor said he saw him about four times, while Jim Root said Rubin listened to the band's work and had them retrack what needed it.

The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 with 242,683 copies sold in its first week, and was certified platinum in the US in February 2005. Rolling Stone gave it three stars, and AllMusic's Johnny Loftus praised its dedication to making a Slipknot album. Before I Forget won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2006, the band's first. In a Kerrang! reader poll it was rated 31st among the 50 best albums of the 21st century.