COREY TAYLOR Talks STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT And Working With ANTHRAX

Radio Metal recently conducted an interview of with STONE SOUR and SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Radio Metal: What can we expect from "House Of Gold And Bones" [STONE SOUR's upcoming two-disc concept album] second part? Will the atmosphere be different of the first?

Corey: It's still dark, but musically, there are some very different styles of music that we're playing with. It's going to be interesting to see people's reaction. Some stuff is very orchestral and there are some strong musical identities in Part Two. We had a lot of fun doing this. Part Two is a wonderful difference from Part One: it wasn't just getting together and re-recording some stuff on Part One. I'm really excited about it: the songs we've written are above the best stuff we've ever made and can't wait for people to hear it all put together.

Radio Metal: Actually, you did say the same thing for the last album: is it your enthusiasm that's speaking right now ?

Corey: No, not really. When we put out "Audio Secrecy", we hadn't even thought about this new music. At the time, "Audio Secrecy" was a departure from what we had done before but was right in line with what we wanted to do: try new stuff and explore new musical styles. If we hadn't done the first three records, we wouldn't have been able to put out these two parts. It's an extension of what we're trying to do musically, but at the same time, we're so confident in our artistic expression and writing that we know we've been above all what we have done before. The songs are better, the performance is better, the overall mix is better: that's the reason why these two parts are the best thing we've ever done.

Radio Metal: Is it a sort of an accomplishment for STONE SOUR?

Corey: In a way, yes. Definitively. This record was a very big project and required a lot of attention to a lot of details. To be honest, this album will set the tone for the rest of our career.

Radio Metal: You recently confirmed that SLIPKNOT has been "putting together demos" for the fifth album. What can we expect musically?

Corey: Honestly, there's nothing substantial yet. I've been putting some things here and there but I'm unable to see it as a whole project yet. Nobody else [is] either. A few years will pass before we get back into the studio, but I can guarantee you it'll probably be the darkest music we'll have made as we've been dealing musically with Paul's [Gray, late SLIPKNOT bassist] death. We all have something to say, but until we'll be able to say it, it'll be a while before recording a new record.

Radio Metal: Actually, SLIPKNOT has become less violent than it was in the past. Do you still feel close to the "old" SLIPKNOT?

Corey: I think we're more emotional, and also more crazy now because we're more mature. Our shows still are aggressive and have a lot of energy, but we approach them from a completely different standpoint. When we were younger, we were just these balls of fury whereas now, we're more focused. When people are more focused, they're more dangerous.

Radio Metal: You were involved in the recording of ANTHRAX's album, "Worship Music", but the sessions remain unreleased. Do you think these sessions will see the light of day someday?

Corey: Well, I didn't record anything with ANTHRAX, actually. It's one of those things that I would have loved to do, but never had the chance to do it. When they sent me some riffs and some music they had done, I thought it would be fun, not only as a friend but as a fan too, to see where the demos could go after my involvement. But my label forced me out of this project so I wasn't able to do it. Then, I went to do [SLIPKNOT's] "All Hope Is Gone" and ANTHRAX called Joey Belladonna back. After hearing "Worship Music", I really think it's their best record. Although I didn't record anything with them, I told them that I would love to help them in writing stuff in the future.

Radio Metal: Why did your label force you out?

Corey: They wanted a new SLIPKNOT album. When I was talking about doing this, I was at the end of the "Come What(ever) May" and we still hadn't been putting demos together for SLIPKNOT. So, when I was all set to fly to Chicago and work with ANTHRAX, the label told me that they wouldn't let me do it. At first, I was really mad about it, but I let it go after a while. But it would have been interesting to see what ANTHRAX and I could have done, for sure.

Read the entire interview from Radio Metal.