The Heretic Anthem

"The Heretic Anthem" (released as "Heretic Song" as a single) is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot. The song was released as a promotional single from their second album Iowa. Revolver magazine praised the track and described that it "flirt[s] with full-on death metal in their extremity, both sonic and thematic."

Song meaning
The song was written about record labels who initially showed no interest in signing a recording contract with the band. The lyrics, "I bleed for this and I bleed for you/ Still you look in my face like I'm somebody new/ TOY – nobody wants anything I've got/ Which is fine, because you're made of/ Everything – I'm – NOT", reflect this attitude.

Track listing

 * Promo single


 * UK promo single


 * EU promo single

Covers

 * The American band Periphery covered the song in 2012 and released as a bonus track for the limited edition of Periphery II: This Time It's Personal.
 * Deathcore band Spite covered the song and released it as a single in 2014
 * Carnifex covered the song on their 2018 EP Bury Me in Blasphemy

Slipknot

 * (#0) Sid Wilson – turntables
 * (#1) Joey Jordison – drums
 * (#2) Paul Gray – bass
 * (#3) Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals
 * (#4) Jim Root – guitar
 * (#5) Craig Jones – samples, media
 * (#6) Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals
 * (#7) Mick Thomson – guitar
 * (#8) Corey Taylor – lead vocals

Production

 * Ross Robinson – producer
 * Mike Fraser – engineer
 * Andy Wallace – mixing
 * Monte Conner – A&R
 * Steve Sisco – assistant engineer
 * George Marino – mastering
 * Steve Richards – executive producer