Slipknot 6 in 2017, Clown thinks

Slipknot percussionist Clown thinks the band’s sixth album could appear in early 2017 – and he says passion for the project is already there.

They’re on the road for the rest of this year with some shows already booked for next, meaning they won’t find time to concentrate on the follow-up to .5: The Gray Chapter until mid-2016.

Clown tells Loudwire: “It takes six months to make a record, so it could be as early as the first quarter of 2017.

“We’re in the rhythm of writing all the time, which is a very helpful tool. It’s not anything that won’t get used. Usually if we’re writing, it’s passion.”

Guitarist Jim Root told Metal Hammer earlier this month that it was difficult to say what direction the material would take.

He said: “There’s a couple of different ways to approach it – we could approach it like we did Iowa compared to the first release, or we could approach it like picking up where The Subliminal Verses or The Gray Chapter left off.

“Do we go more aggro, heavy and death metal, or do we go more cerebral, more Pink Floyd, more kind of experimental? It’s hard to say.”

Slipknot headline this year’s Download festival at Donington before touring the US with Lamb Of God, Bullet For My Valentine and Motionless In White.

Meanwhile, late bassist Paul Gray is to be remembered at an art exhibition at the band’s home town of Des Moines, Iowa, on June 19-20. Memorabilia on view at the Kum & Go Theater include masks, instruments, photos and more.

A memorial book will be on sale, with proceeds going to Gray’s daughter October, who was born after his death from an accidental drug overdose in 2010.

VIDEO: Jim Root on the next Slipknot album and future projects

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.