Slipknot are continuing their work on their seventh studio album. However, it looks like they may be veering into new territory for the We Are Not Your Kind follow-up.
This week, Corey Taylor revealed that Slipknot have a lot of new ideas for their upcoming music. In fact, he teased that there’s a chance they could have a concept album on their hands if they manage to execute all of the plans that are brewing.
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It’s been nearly two years since Slipknot put out their last full-length album We Are Not Your Kind. So, it’s no surprise fans are already itching to hear new music from the heavy metal favorites. This week, Taylor offered another update on just how things are going in the recording studio.
Taylor recently caught up with Matt Pinfield for his 95.5 KLOS show New & Approved. During the 30-minute interview, the duo talked about a number of things including Slipknot’s secretive new music. Taylor remained rather cryptic when it came to talking about specifics. However, he did share that he’s been bouncing around various new ideas with Shawn Crahan.
“I can’t say too much about it. I can tell you that currently, we’ve compiled a lot of material,” he said on New & Approved. “Me and Clown have talked about something really, really cool if we could pull it off.”
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Taylor notes that the material created for Slipknot’s next album is a continuation of what they did on We Are Not Your Kind. However, Slipknot’s new material could eventually become a concept album, but they’ll have to get everything just right if they want it to happen.
“There’s a chance that it could be conceptual if we can really do it right,” Taylor continues. “The music is brilliant, it expands on what we did with We Are Not Your Kind and kind of blossoms from there.”
Ultimately, Taylor promises that the band’s new music is as dynamic as ever. This time around, they are really experimenting with their sound and are incorporating elements that will appeal to all of their listeners.
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“The great thing is, it’s got not only that, but it’s got everything that you would want from a Slipknot project,” Taylor says. “There’s the heavy stuff, there’s the dark stuff, there’s the melodic stuff, there’s the weird stuff. We have so many different flavors that we can play with now. At this point, it’s just us mixing and matching and seeing what excites us.”
For Taylor, this next chapter for Slipknot is very exciting for him. As a band that’s been around for nearly 30 years, Taylor finds Slipknot’s ability to continuously reinvent themselves both thrilling and satisfying.
“That’s all I can say for right now but I can tell you that it’s really, really good,” Taylor says. “We’re entering a realm that we’ve never been and that to us is exciting. Especially after all of these years, we pride ourselves on always being able to try and top ourselves, and if we can pull this off, this may be the ultimate top ourselves.”
Watch Taylor’s full interview on 95.5 KLOS below.
More on Corey Taylor and Slipknot
Although Slipknot canceled their summer 2020 tour dates amid the pandemic, last year was still pretty eventful for them. They managed to bring Knotfest to fans in the form of exclusive online content. As well, V-Man married Lisa Graham over the summer before Slipknot’s merch store seemingly revealed Tortilla Man‘s true identity.
After settling their lawsuit with former member Chris Fehn, Slipknot turned their focus toward their next album last fall. Back in September, Taylor first hinted that Slipknot are getting very creative with their new music.
“We’re obviously thinking about what the next album could be like,” he said on That Jamieson Show. “And he’s [Crahan] in this trippy place, dude, which is rad. I love it when he’s in this crazy mindset, because I know I’m gonna hear stuff that I’ve never heard before. He’s so goddamn creative, and that inspires Jim [Root]. And all the tumblers really start to fall. So it’s pretty rad. I can’t wait.”
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As well, last summer, he also shared that Slipknot hope to tour sometime this year once it is safe to do so. Since their 2020 tour dates were canceled, Taylor’s aware fans are anxiously waiting to see them live.
“Once everything starts to fire back up–knock on wood—it’s probably going to be another year of touring with Slipknot, just to cover our bases and make sure we get around the world, and get to the fans,” Taylor told Kerrang!. “And I’m not going to hold that up, because I know the fans have been waiting for a long time for us to get there.”
For Taylor, he really used his newfound time off amid the COVID-19 pandemic to his advantage. Back in May, Taylor spilled that he secretly recorded and finished his debut solo album. Just two months after the confession, Taylor introduced his album CMFT with “CMFT Must Be Stopped,” his explosive collab with Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie.
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While gearing up for the release of CMFT in October, Taylor confirmed that Stone Sour are on a hiatus. In August, he told The Green Room with Neil Griffiths podcast that the project has run its course for now.
“We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus,” he told the podcast. “That’s the way it is. We’ve put it on the shelf for now. Everyone’s kind of going and doing their own thing.”
For now, Taylor is focusing on Slipknot’s new music and the other projects he has in the works. Last month, he revealed that he’s finished five different movie scripts. During the interview with 105.5 WDHA, he said his script for Zombie Versus Ninja is one he is pushing to get made right now. However, there are a lot of moving pieces involved to make that happen.
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“It’s definitely what I’m doing with the script that I’m shopping right now, which is called Zombie Versus Ninja, and it’s exactly what [the title] implies,” he told 105.5 WDHA. “And it’s rad. I’m shopping that right now with a group of people who have actually helped me kind of tighten the script up. They’ve got the contacts. We’re kind of doing that right now. But there’s a couple of roles in there that I’ll probably mess with. They’re not the main roles, but they’re just kind of tucked in the background, and people will go, ‘Oh. Hey.’ So it’s stuff like that that interests me.”
Back in 2019, we learned that Taylor also has a new horror film in the works. According to Daily Dead, Taylor is reportedly directing the movie himself and has hired Tom Savini and his team for special effects.
“I am thrilled that we are able to finally start slowly talking about the fact that Tom and I are going to be involved with the new Corey Taylor new horror movie,” Tom Savini Studio’s Jason Baker told the Daily Dead. “And that we will be handling the special makeup effects for it. We’re not allowed to talk about plot details or titles or anything like that right now, but I will say that the script is totally f–ked up, Corey’s got some really sick things planned for this, and I’m super excited to be a part of it.”
What are your reactions to Slipknot possibly making a concept album? Let us know in the comments below.