Corey Taylor believes Slipknot will never follow Kiss down the route of abandoning their stage costumes.
Gene Simmons and co abandoned their trademark makeup in 1984 before putting it back on a decade later. And while Taylor says his band could easily perform without their masks, he doesn’t believe they ever will.
The frontman tells HTZ-FM: “I don’t think we’d want to. I always think back to when Kiss took the makeup off. I know why they did it – they kind of hit a wall and it was time to evolve.
“But for us, the masks always evolve and our look always evolves. We don’t feel that pressure to take them off because we allow ourselves to roll with the times and to change with the albums.
“So even though I think we could, I don’t think we will. Because it’s not just about the masks – it’s about everything.”
Taylor reflects that no one told him what the masks represented when he joined Slipknot in 1997. That gave him the opportunity to create his own reasons.
“For me, the mask represents the person inside, who may or may not have a voice,” he says. “Or you may not have the courage to give that person a voice because it may be too controversial.
“If you don’t give that person a voice it gets held back, then all of a sudden it overcompensates and takes over for the rest of you. That’s what it became to me, and that’s what it means to me to this day.”
Slipknot launched .5: The Gray Chapter – their first without late bassist Paul Gray – in October. They’ll headline the 2015 edition of Download in June 2015 after a UK tour with Korn next month:
Jan 14: Dublin 3Arena
Jan 16: Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Jan 18: Glasgow SSE Hydro
Jan 19: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Jan 20: Manchester Arena
Jan 22: Liverpool Echo Arena
Jan 23: London Wembley SSE Arena
Jan 24: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Jan 26: Nottingham Capital FM Arena
Jan 27: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
