SLIPKNOT Frontman Wants To Spend 'Next Couple Of Years' Putting Together New Album

SLIPKNOT released a greatest-hits package on July 24 called "Antennas To Hell". The set consists of 19 songs from the band's four major label studio albums, as well as live performances of "The Heretic Anthem" and "Purity", plus a remix of "My Plague". A 17-track bonus disc, "(sic)nesses: Live At The Download Festival 2009", is also included in the package.

The collection is the first release from SLIPKNOT since the passing of bassist Paul Gray in 2010.

Speaking about what it's like to be carrying on with the band following Gray's death, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor told Canada's QMI Agency, "It's starting to get back there. But I don't know if it's ever going to not be weird without Paul there. He was one of the founding members of this band and contributed so much. He was a very powerful musical force. So even though we've all come together to do our thing, you can just feel that a little bit of the glue is not there. So we're taking steps to try to figure out where we go from here and how to get there."

Asked if it was difficult to get everyone together for a tour a year after Gray's passing, Taylor said, "It was just a matter of us all getting on the same page. I think if the offer hadn't come in to do shows last year, we would have put it off as long as possible. At first we said, 'Hell, no!' It was almost insulting. But the more we talked, the more we realized that if we were going to continue, it was going to have to start with us getting on a stage. Because that's our bonding process and how we heal: By playing that music. That first show was really hard. But about halfway through it, the audience let us know it was OK. There was just this huge outpouring of emotion."

He continued, "There's never going to come a time when we even entertain the thought of replacing Paul. There will never be another mask. There will never be another #2. But to us, it's … I don't want to say we're looking backwards, but it's us showing the respect to Paul that we felt was necessary, and trying to figure out what the future holds for this band. Going into the studio without Paul is very, very daunting. But we're doing it right, you know. We're in no hurry to run right in and make an album. We're writing music here and there, putting some stuff together in the event that we all decide to do it. But there's no rush. It's a matter of doing it right. That's what this band is all about; doing it right and doing it with respect."

Taylor, who has been ambivalent about working on new SLIPKNOT material without Gray, recently confirmed that the group has been "putting together demos" for its fifth major label album, which it expects to begin recording next year.

On the topic of what he wants SLIPKNOT's future to be, Corey told QMI Agency, "What makes sense to me is to take the next couple of years and really put the right music together, not just run in with riffs and songs that may not represent where this band is at. We need to allow ourselves the time to get used to the fact that Paul is not there. Everyone needs to be able to say something on this album and really feel it. This is going to be how we reconnect. And it needs to start now with communication and sharing ideas and opening up and being able to embrace that. And it's going to take time."

SLIPKNOT's last record, "All Hope Is Gone", was released in 2008.