COREY TAYLOR Wants To 'Bolster The Next Generation Of Hard And Heavy New Music' With His Label Imprint

Earlier this week, it was announced that SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor has signed a "global recordings agreement" with BMG to release his second solo album, "CMF2". The follow-up to 2020's "CMFT" will arrive later this year via Taylor's label imprint Decibel Cooper.

Speaking to "The Archive Of B-Sox" about what he plans to do with his label imprint, Taylor said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm really excited [about it]. This is the first major step in something that I've been building towards for a long time — not only my solo career but me trying to help do my part to bolster the next generation of hard or heavy new music, whether it's rock, punk, metal, regardless. I'm always trying to put my money where my mouth is, and for me, being able to go out and discover talent now and try to help them get a foot up when largely sometimes that whole label or studio mechanism doesn't really allow for the aberrant talent to kind of get through, it tends to play against type. So for me, it's just one more notch in my bat where I can break through some walls for people, man. So I'm really stoked. I'm really looking forward to it."

Asked what he is looking for in new artists, Corey said: "It all depends. The thing that I look for, really, first is something that catches me. I look for passion. I look for the ability to really pull it off live, which, to me, is a dying… and I mean 'live live'; I don't mean iPads and MacBook Pros and all that stuff. I mean a band that's up there gritty, raw — flaws and all. You don't have to hit all the perfect notes to make a perfect show. I want something that's real. That's my biggest thing. So that's what I look for. I look for passion; I look for aggression. I look for something in the eyes that lets you know that when they're playing music, that's when they truly feel alive. 'Cause that's [how I am] — when I'm onstage, that's when I know I'm doing something that I was born to do."

Taylor began tracking "CMF2" in January at an undisclosed studio with longtime producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with STEEL PANTHER and ANTHRAX, among others. Corey previously stated about the musical direction of his new material: "I mean, everything's just bigger this time, man. Everything sounds better; everything's running better; everything's running hot. Instead of where I came from, this is where I'm going. Musically, it's harder, it's faster, but there's still tons of stuff from the first album. So, there's elements of SLIPKNOT, there's elements of STONE SOUR, there's elements of 'CMFT'; there's elements of the stuff that I've been doing for years — just, like, cover-wise or whatever, just all the stuff that I've always wanted to do, we're doing that. We're just cranking it up and it all sounds so fucking good that I can't even describe to you how stoked I am."

In February 2022, Corey released a solo album of covers and acoustic recordings, titled "CMFB…Sides", via Roadrunner Records. The collection comprised nine previously unreleased B-sides, covers of tunes that inspired Taylor, acoustic renditions, and live versions.

"CMFT" made impressive debuts on charts around the world, entering at No. 1 on Billboard's Current Hard Rock Albums chart, while claiming No. 2 on Current Rock Albums, No. 6 on Vinyl Albums, and No. 9 on the Top Albums charts. Furthermore, "CMFT" landed Top 10 on the official album charts in Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with Top 20 debuts in the United Kingdom, Finland and Japan (international chart).

"CMFT" was recorded at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas with Ruston and Christian Martucci (guitar),Zach Throne (guitar),Jason Christopher (bass),and Dustin Schoenhofer (drums).

"CMFT" had been a long time coming for Taylor, with newly written tracks alongside some dating back to his teens.

In 2021, Taylor made history as he reached No. 1 at Active Rock Radio with his powerful single "Black Eyes Blue". The achievement put Taylor in a class all his own, making him the first artist in the history of the format to reach No. 1 with three separate projects, following chart-topping efforts from SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR.

Photo credit: Pamela Littky