The End, So Far (2022)
Slipknot's seventh studio album has brought with it the typical mixture of terrifying, brand-new visages for us to look at, and reliable old faces for the usual suspects. Corey brought us what might be his scariest mask ever, Sid's looked like something Rorschach might wear in a demented Watchmen off-shoot and Clown brought typically dazzling mix of new looks to the table.
Corey Taylor
After the divided reaction afforded to his We Are Not Your Kind-era mask, Corey seemingly decided to embrace a new look that merged together some of his masks from Slipknot eras gone by. The eyes looked like an even more terrifying reboot of his All Hope Is Gone-era mask, while the mouth was more reminiscent of his Vol. 3 days. The singer worked closely with designer Conor Deless over a period of three masks to bring the new mask to life, telling fans at a convention in December 2021: "I started early. I actually started designing this before the end of the ‘We Are Not Your Kind’ cycle, just to make sure that I was ahead of the game and making sure I could dial in all the details and whatnot.”
Corey debuted his latest mask a year before The End, So Far even arrived, surprising fans with it at a Slipknot show at Rocklahoma Festival in Pryor, Oklahoma in September 2021.
Jim Root
You'll be shocked to find out that Jim's mask is, once again, pretty much exactly the same one as before. Though he has grown his impressive voluminous hair out in time for Slipknot's latest era, at least ensuring he's rocking a different overall look than before.
Jay Weinberg
Jay's The End, So Far-era mask was a far cleaner look than his dark and murky previous outing, but that didn't make it any less scary, looking like something straight out of a modern slasher movie. Jay was actually the second member of Slipknot to reveal his mask change, doing so at a Knotfest show in November 2021.
In April 2023, Jay unveiled yet another update to his mask arsenal. While the band usually reserve new masks for album cycles, this one was developed specially for the band's Japanese Knotfest dates, with Weinberg teaming up with Japanese artist Solid Blackline. "The organic, flowing shapes of his high-contrast designs evoke feelings of mysticism and beauty, balanced within the duality of chaos and order one feels as a visitor in this wondrous country," Weinberg said of the mask.
Craig Jones
As far as we can tell, Craig Jones hasn't drastically updated his mask from last time out, with the stylised nail mohawk still the defining feature. That said, there are a lot of nails up there, so we may be miscounting them.
Michael Pfaff (Tortilla Man)
Tortilla Man's new mask basically looks like he went and fed his first one through a meat grinder, and it's all the more horrifying for it. Ragged as fuck, torn to shreds and featuring a wider, sadistic, grin-shaped zipper where the much more narrow one used to sit, it's definitely one of the coolest visual upgrades Slipknot have undergone for this album.
Shawn Crahan
Clown's gone disco! Alright, not quite, but in our defence, the first new mask he revealed for this album cycle does pretty much look like he rammed his face through a disco ball and smooshed it around a bit. And yet, it being Shawn Crahan, he still manages to make the whole thing look deeply unsettling. With Slipknot going back on tour next year, expect to see more new Clown faces leering over a crowd near you soon.
Sid Wilson
Sid always gives himself a new look when Slipknot begin a new chapter of their career, and no single mask of his tends to look anything like what's come previously. That trend has continued with his latest offering, looking like someone bolted together the remnants of Jason Voorhees' hockey mask and then splattered a Rorschach test over it. Even more terrifying? He's now using his last mask as an animatronic on stage. WTF?!
Mick Thomson
It's Mick Thomson's mask again. What the hell did you expect was gonna happen?
Alessandro Venturella
V-man's mask gets a subtle but awesome makeover, chiefly thanks to a blood-red paint job that brings it to life like never before. It's not the biggest Slipknot mask evolution you'll see, but it's a goodun.
