Slipknot’s masks have become an integral part of the band. They idea first started as a way to focus more on the music rather than the human beings playing it. The masks were mysterious and enticed fans about the members who were hiding behind the facade. As most of you know the members of Slipknot sometimes change their masks with each new album, sometimes slightly and sometimes all together. Corey Taylor’s mask has went through the most changes since the band formed. Corey’s mask in 1999 featured dreadlocks poking out of the top and an expressionless, ghostly face, the vocalist felt his first mask allowed the band’s music to be purer. In 2001 there was a slight edit to the mask making it more dark to relate better with the music on ‘Iowa’, In 2004 as the band released ‘Vol.3: (The Subliminal Verses)’ there was another change to Corey’s mask. The dreadlocks were gone, replaced by multicolored hair, but the stitched up, skinless face remained as Taylor battled personal demons behind the mask. He claims he was pretty much drunk the entire 3 years between the release of ‘Iowa’ and ‘Vol.3: (The Subliminal Verses)’. 4 years later the band released ‘All Hope Is Gone (2008)’ and Corey’s mask unveiled significant changes. It featured no hair at all, and had an almost entirely featureless face that appeared stitched to his skull. Eerily blank. I think it related to the scariest thing is to be plain or blank and expressionless. ‘.5 The Gray Chapter’ (2014) was immediately following the tragic loss of bassist Paul Gray, it was a dark time for the entire band as they grieved the loss of their brother. Taylor’s current and most human-like mask, it was an almost realistic two-piece human face but one that appears riddled with disease and disgust across its cheeks. In regards to the mask he stated ““People like me, Clown, Sid change our masks drastically,” “Because, for me, the mask is a representation of the person on the inside, and nobody stays the same over time.”
In March according to Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan in an interview with WRIF radio show Meltdown, the band is working on new material, and is consulting Taylor via email regarding new songs. With a new album the frontman often welcomes a new face. In a recent interview with The House Of Masks / The Crimson Ghost Mask Room Corey Taylor explained that he has an idea for his next mask. He stated “that to me is the epitome of scary” in regards to the mask of Dr. Decker (worn by David Cronenberg) in the 1990 Clive Barker movie Nightbreed. He went on to say “I’m thinking of basing my next Slipknot mask off of that, and making it very like hand crafted, you made it in a fucking, like you made it in a basement thinking dark shit about what your gonna do when your making it. That’s where I’m going with it. Like something that’s a little more old school, a little more, it looks crafted. It doesn’t look like you sent it away and an expert made it. It just looks fucked up. That’s where I’m going.” The mask itself does look like the style that Corey often goes with. It still has the featureless look and also bodes button eyes and a off center zipper mask. Watching this classic movie also makes the mask quite more scary once you know the character. While he states he is thinking of basing his mask from this concept we don’t know how much of the original mask he will keep and how much will come from his adaption. Regardless we have some idea as to what direction he is thinking of going. When the next Slipknot album releases we should get the great unveil.
You can see photos of the original Dr. Decker mask from Nightbreed below:
Here is the original interview where Corey Taylor talks about the inspiration behind what could become his next mask.
