Slipknot wrote “a bunch” of new music during the pandemic – and guitarist Jim Root says they’re scrapping all of it

Slipknot in 2024 — (Image credit: Jonathan Weiner)

Slipknot guitarist Jim Root says the nu metal nine-piece wrote a host of material during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that it will never see the light of day.

Talking in an interview with Guitar Interactive, recorded before one of the band’s shows at London’s O2 Arena in December, Root admits (via The PRP), “There’s a bunch of music that was written during COVID that I’m not interested in.”

He adds: “And I think everybody else in the band gets it too, and I think they’re kind of, like, ‘OK, we need to just kind of, like, maybe sweep all that shit under a rug and start fresh.’”

The guitarist also claims that, since drummer Eloy Casagrande joined Slipknot in early 2024, the band have had no time to write for the follow-up to 2022’s The End, So Far. They spent much of last year touring to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, playing it in full at each concert.

“Honestly, we’ve been touring so much since Eloy joined the band that my inspiration is nearly zero,” says Root.

He goes on to say that he wants to “get touring behind us” and “have at least a month off just to shut my brain off” before plotting new music.

Following the O2 concerts, Slipknot took two months off, and they’re currently in the middle of another live break set to last from March until June. So, there’s a chance they may have drummed up new ideas in that time.

Despite the 2024 creative drought that Root alludes to, Slipknot still teased new music during that time. Early in the year, the band rented a California billboard and put out teasers featuring the phrase Long May You Die, later revealed to be the name of a single. However, at time of publication, the song is still yet to see the light of day.

All the while, the band continued to tease fans regarding the existence of their album Look Outside Your Window, which was recorded adjacent to 2008’s All Hope Is Gone. First announced in 2018 and described as having a mellower sound than the usual Slipknot fare, the release has been hinted at for years, yet continually postponed.

The latest update came from percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan in July, who said Look Outside Your Window has been mixed, mastered and given album art. All that was left was finding a decent slot to release it.

“The only reason why it’s not been out is because it’s a timeless album,” he added. “It can be released 10 years ago, 10 years from now, today, so on and so forth.”

Slipknot will hit the European festival circuit in June. See all their live plans now via their website.

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.