Clown: Slipknot are a year away from studio return

Shawn “Clown” Crahan
Shawn \u201cClown\u201d Crahan (Image credit: Getty)

Shawn “Clown” Crahan says that Slipknot won’t return to the studio to record the follow-up to 2014’s .5: The Gray Chapter until late next year.

He, along with guitarist Jim Root and drummer Jay Weinberg have been writing new material while frontman Corey Taylor concentrates on Stone Sour and told Metal Hammer in October that they had “seven or eight” full songs ready.

But in a new interview with NME, Crahan reports that fans will still have a while to wait until they hear new material from the Iowa outfit.

He says: “We’re about a year away from being in the studio. It’s not my fault the maggots don’t pay attention. We make an album, we tour for three years, we take two years off.

“It got a little screwed up after All Hope Is Gone because Paul Gray passed away, so we took time off, took time with our kids, and toured for a couple of years until it felt right. Then when it felt right, Joey Jordison took off.

“I’ll be in the studio in November 2018. There’s a plethora of shit written. I don’t wanna be told by a label when to write, like some fucking Cheerio. I wanna write because I write.”

He adds: “I’ve made people so much fucking money – pay for the studio. Give me this engineer, give me this producer. It’s just jamming, but I’ve never heard music like this, that we’re doing right now.

“I’ll be 50 by the time it comes out. I’ll be touring when I’m 50, they’ll throw me a birthday party! So where I’m at these days, I’m like, ‘Maybe make it the last one.‘”

Those comments echo Crahan’s thoughts from earlier this month, when the percussionist hinted that Slipknot’s sixth album could be his last.

And asked by NME if that could mean the end of Slipknot, Crahan replies: “Who knows? I don’t have to explain myself to anyone. I’m not gonna be like, ‘farewell tour!’ then come back.

“Never say those words to fans – you have to come back if you say that. For me it’s like, I’m going to go fishing indefinitely.”

Slipknot released the Crahan-directed live package Day Of The Gusano earlier this year, which documents the band’s first-ever visit to Mexico.

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Scott Munro
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Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.