Slipknot front man Corey Taylor says there is plenty more to come for the hard rock masked men

SLIPKNOT front man Corey Taylor says he is not fully healed from serious injury but is promising some seriously hard-rocking shows this month.

FOR almost two decades Slipknot have been that band that parents love to hate.

But those fans who had their walls adorned with the masked men during their formative years have followed them into adulthood, while a fresh batch of recruits (or “maggots” as they are affectionately called) continue to hang on the band’s every word.

Frontman Corey Taylor says if there’s a secret to the Slipknot’s success — he doesn’t want to know what it is.

“That’s when it starts f!@#ing up, when you start thinking about it,” he laughs.

“The only shit I can think of about our secret is that my reasons for doing this haven’t changed since I was 13 years old. Wanting to make kick-ass, awesome music. I think it’s when you let all that other shit in, is when it gets weird and gnarly and you start changing the things you do.”

It’s been a tough year for Slipknot — particularly Taylor.

He essentially broke his neck without realising it, forcing the band to cancel a number of dates on its US tour with Marilyn Manson as he underwent emergency surgery to replace a spinal disc.

To make matters worse, just weeks later he took a spectacular fall onstage in Atlanta that he described as “one for the ages”. But ahead of this month’s Australian tour he says he is slowly getting better.

“The neck’s doing okay — I just had a follow-up with my doctor and he said that everything is going good and everything is healing,” he explains.

“I still have another four or five months before I’ll be able to get back to maybe 80 per cent. I’m healing very well considering the severity of my injuries — I’m pretty fortunate and happy that we caught it when we did.”

This Australian tour almost marks the end of a powerful period in the band’s career.

Its latest album, .5: The Gray Chapter, is dedicated to the memory of founding bassist Paul Gray who died of an overdose prior to its recording. It also marks one of the band’s longest outings on the road.

Singer Corey Taylor of Slipknot said he will be fit for the Australian tour later this month. Picture: Kevin Winter / Getty

“This is the white flag I guess — right around the time the final lap is happening,” Taylor says.

“We shoot over to Taiwan after you guys and I think the last show is Knottfest Japan and I think that will be the official last show of the Gray Chapter cycle. It’s been soup to nuts — damn near three years where we’ve not only recorded the album but toured the album and it’s been intense and way longer than we’ve ever done a tour cycle. It’s been worth it and a hell of a run.”

Taylor admits it can be sometimes hard to say goodbye to an album and its touring cycle, particularly The Gray Chapter.

“We look back and think — ‘man we put a lot of miles on’ but the reaction was exactly what we wanted it to be’ — especially given what the album was about, which was us saying goodbye and showing our respect to Paul,” he says.

“I think the best thing for us was to go out and tour it as long as possible just so we can work it out for ourselves. Now is the real test because now we’re done doing this — I’m going to go do Stone Sour for a couple years — so after that is the real challenge.

“We knew exactly what The Gray Chapter was going to sound like and be about now we have no idea what is next.”

Slipknot’s Chris Taylor says there ‘25-year-old locked in 42-year-old bodies’. Picture; Supplied

So while the band’s next move is anyone’s guess Taylor says the “sky’s the limit” as far an expiry date on the band, which released its first album in 1999, is concerned.

“The funny thing is if you asked me that question ten years ago I probably would have said yes,” he says.

“Ten years ago was right around the time we were still trying to figure out what the future would mean for a band like Slipknot, now in retrospect watching the way this band has been able to evolve ... I think the sky’s the limit for Slipknot.

“We’ve all embraced the fact we’re not 25 any more — we don’t have to kill ourselves night after night — we try to because we’re still 25-year-olds locked in 42-year-old bodies — but the intensity is still there and with every album we evolve and are shaping the band to who we are now not who we were then.”

SEE Slipknot, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, October 28. livenation.com.au

SEE Slipknot, Quodos Bank Arena, October 29. livenation.com.au

SEE Slipknot, Rod Laver Arena, October 31, livenation.com.au

Originally published as Slipknot front man Corey Taylor says there is plenty more to come for the hard rock masked men