New Slipknot Drummer And Bassist Will Wear The Same Mask

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Corey Taylor has revealed that Slipknot‘s newest recruits will don the same new mask in order to avoid any disrespect towards late bassist Paul Gray or departed drummer Joey Jordison. Speaking in a recent interview, the frontman confirmed that percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan has “designed a mask that the drummer and the bass player will both wear.”

“We wanted to make something that still looked unified but still stayed with the spirit of what the band is all about,” Taylor told Full Metal Jackie. “Instead of trying to find something that was individualistic, we designed — well, Clown designed a mask that the drummer and the bass player will both wear.”

“On one hand, they get a mask, but at the same time, it’s not the individual mask that we in the band use,” he continued. “We knew that any attempt to do anything like that might be taken as disrespectful, but at the same time it’s part of the way of moving, getting past the hardest steps, which is just moving on.”

In the interview, Taylor referred to the band’s new album, .5: The Gray Chapter, out Friday, 17th October, as “the story of the last four years of everything that we’d had to deal with as far as losing Paul”, and said the track If Rain Is What You Want was particularly difficult to record as it most required the band to “[open] up” about Gray’s death.

The identity of the band’s new drummer and bassist have not yet been revealed, though Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler recently quashed speculation that he was Jordison’s replacement. Meanwhile, Blabbermouth reports that Slipknot is rumoured to no longer be working with original guitarist Donnie Steele, who played bass when the band resumed touring in 2011.

Last month, Taylor said that the band would be keeping the new drummer’s identity under wraps until “the time is right” in order to let “the music to speak for itself”. Many fans have speculated that Jordison’s replacement is Jay Weinberg, son of longtime E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg.

The Soundwave-bound metal veterans recently teased some of their new masks in a promo for their upcoming North American tour. The clip features Taylor obscured by plastic sheeting, seemingly donning a never-before-seen mask, intercut with flashes of the mask traditionally worn by guitarist Mick Thomson and what fans have speculated is Crahan’s new mask.

Gallery: New Slipknot Masks Revealed?

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Melbourne – Sunday, 22nd February, 2015

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Faith No More

Soundgarden

Incubus

Lamb Of God

Ministry

Antemasque

Gerard Way

Mayhem

New Found Glory

Fear Factory

Hollywood Undead

Atreyu

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Area 7

Godflesh

Crown The Empire

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Icon For Hire

Emily’s Army

Patent Pending

Fireworks

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Monuments

Nothing More

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Ne Obliviscaris

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Marilyn Manson

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All Time Low

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Of Mice & Men

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