“It's like a heavier version of Vol. 3”: Corey Taylor on the “killer” new Slipknot album

Slipknot in 2021
(Image credit: Alexandar Gay)

Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has offered his latest update on the state-of-play with the Iowa band’s forthcoming seventh album.

Speaking with US metal media personality Eddie Trunk on his SiriusXM Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk show, Taylor confirmed that the follow-up to 2019’s We Are Not Your Kind is currently being mixed, and that a new single will preface the album release, “hopefully three months from now.”

"The artwork's done,” he tells Trunk. “We just came up with the title. I'm not gonna tell you it right now. But we're really stoked.

"It's really killer, man," he continued. "It's darker than We Are Not Your Kind, but there's a ton of melody. I've been telling everybody that it's like a heavier version of Vol. 3. It's got so many textures and layers. The heavy stuff has attack but the melodic stuff you can just sink your teeth in; there's a lot of great melodies and hooks. I'm really, really excited for people to hear it."

Slipknot have already released a taster for the album, which they've been recording in Los Angeles with Joe Barresi (Avenged Sevenfold/Melvins/Kyuss), in the form of 2021 single The Chapeltown Rag.

“It’s an expansion of where we were at on We Are Not Your Kind,” the singer stated in July. “This band has always prided itself on expanding boundaries, expanding our musical vision.” “There’s a couple of songs on here that people are gonna be, like… There’s definitely some pit openers that are gonna fucking freak people out.”

“It’s got the heavy… There’s so many different elements on this one, man, that let’s just say I’m really excited to get the vocals on it. I’ve got all the lyrics written and whatnot. I’m starting to fine-tune everything. It’s gonna be interesting, man.”

Slipknot recently unveiled dates for a Knotfest Roadshow tour of the US and Canada to begin in mid-March.

Split into two legs, March 16 through to April 17, and then May 18 through to June 18, the tour will feature support from In This Moment and Jinjer on the first set of dates, and Cypress Hill and Ho99o9 on the second leg.

Announcing the tour, Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan said: “It feels so good to get back out on the road with our Culture. Get ready for a brand new experience. See you soon.”

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.