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.”
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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.
