among the main influences of the band can be named to black sabbath, pantera, metallica, slayer, sepultura, iron maiden, carcass, judas priest, korn, ac/dc, kiss, beastie boys and mushroomhead. thrash metal has been mentioned several times as a great influence to define them, together with nu metal. slipknot uses three types of guitars (main, rhythm and bass), two percussionists in addition to drums, and electronics (samplers and turntables). the band's sound has been described as "a threshing machine devouring a military drum corps."