Aggro-metal marauders Slipknot return from four-year layoff with new masks, new energy, familiar bleak worldview.
“I’m hungover as fuck,” says Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor. “I took a buddy of mine out for his birthday last night. We went to this strip club where I know everybody. It ended up getting religious real quick.”
Such are the perils Slipknot face recording their fourth album, just outside their hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. “We’d done the L.A. thing—we’d done three albums out there,” Taylor says. “But there’s nothing like kicking ass for five hours in the studio, then sleeping in your own bed.”
The new album, which is being produced by the band with Dave Fortman (Evanescence, Mudvayne), will likely feature more pianos, more melodies and a tighter, cleaner sound than past efforts. That said, Taylor describes the as-yet-untitled disc as “really dark,” crossing the ferocity of their 2001 release
Iowa with the maturity of 2004’s
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses).
“I’m probably going to get in a lot of trouble for the shit I’m saying [on the album],” Taylor says. “I hit on religion, the war, the presidency and what kind of weird Captain Kangaroo place America is … and more personal issues—love and loss and shit like that. I think I’ve found a way to offend everyone.”
The singer is loathe to reveal any song titles yet but describes one tune as having “an industrial-machine sound, churning” behind “pounding drums” and “a badass riff,” as he sings “in and out of the beat” toward a “huge, melodic chorus.”
“A lot of bands get in ruts around the fourth album and start rewriting themselves,” Taylor says. “With us, there’s a lot of different vibes on this album. It’s not the same old shtick. It’s not the same old bullshit.”
All About Our AlbumProducers Dave Fortman, Slipknot
Studio Soundfarm in Jamaica, Iowa
Last Album Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), 2004
New Album untitled, due August 12