Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor has explained his admiration for the Big 4 of thrash – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax.
And he’s singled out Metallica’s Master Of Puppets as “the greatest modern heavy metal album ever made.”
His comments come as Slipknot bandmate Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan confirms the release of his Officer Downe movie.
Taylor tells 2 Hours With Matt Pinfield: “The first time I heard Master Of Puppets it honestly changed my life. But I can say that about all four of those bands.
“Master Of Puppets, to me, is the greatest modern heavy metal album ever made. Pound for pound, songwise, musically, sonically, production – it’s just fantastic.
“I know dudes who will fight me over that stuff because we’re so nerdy on it. But to me, that is the template for every great heavy metal album.”
He identifies Slayer’s Reign In Blood as worthy of praise but adds: “As much as I love Reign In Blood, South Of Heaven really set the tone for me. That album is just so tight. It’s got everything.”
Megadeth’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? is next – Taylor says: “If you talk about that album as a casual listener they’ll immediately talk about that song. They don’t realise that album is such a riff clinic. You’re listening to it going, ‘How did you write that? Where did that come from?’”
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And Anthrax receive praise for Among The Living: “It was such a showcase for everything they’re about. Heavy riffs, crazy blasts, and then you could feel there was a fun vibe that was kind of missing from the other ones.
“Anthrax wasn’t afraid to enjoy themselves. That’s one of the reasons to this day they’re one of my favourite bands.”
Stone Sour are working on their sixth album while also celebrating the 10th anniversary of breakthrough title Come What(ever) May. The frontman reports: “It’s some of the best material we’ve ever written.
“It’s got a little bit of the heavy, like we like to do. But it’s also way more rock’n’roll and hard rock than heavy. There’s even a little bit of punk in there.
“There’s an energy there that’s going to blow away a lot of the stuff that comes out next year. That’s how excited I am.”
Meanwhile, Crahan has confirmed that Officer Downe will arrive in cinemas and on-demand services on November 18.
It’s his debut as director and stars Kim Coates as the the title character, a police officer who comes back to life every time he’s killed.
Crahan told Metal Hammer in June: “I went all-out. I had a lot of rules – ‘Look, if Officer Downe shoots, people fucking die, that’s it. There’s no bullshit, no ‘I got away.’
“It’s very violent, very dark, very over the top. But it’s a comic book, so it’s very fun.”
