SLIPKNOT's COREY TAYLOR: Doing 'Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses' Album 'Was Just As Big A Risk As Making' 'Iowa'

Corey Taylor, lead singer and lyricist for SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR, recently paid a visit to Seton Hall's Pirate Radio, 89.5 FM WSOU. He is currently on the road supporting his latest album "CMF2", which was made available on September 15. On the air, Taylor talked to music director Patrick Ritter about his entire career, spanning multiple projects, albums, and groups. In between talking segments, WSOU played a selection of solo material, SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR and other music that has inspired Taylor. The full interview with music will be available on Spotify under "WSOU Interviews".

Taylor looked back on SLIPKNOT's "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses" album, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Produced by Rick Rubin, "Vol. 3" features classic SLIPKNOT anthems like "Duality", "Pulse Of The Maggots", "Vermilion" and "Before I Forget", with the latter song winning the band a Grammy for "Best Metal Performance." Asked to name something SLIPKNOT did on that album that you wouldn't hear on a previous SLIPKNOT LP, Corey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, man. Well, I mean, obviously the acoustic stuff that we did with songs like 'Circle' [and] 'Vermilion Pt. 2'. I mean, really diving… It was where we really started wearing our artistic side on our sleeve, because it was something that we knew that we could do and that we had done in the past, but we had never really been afforded the opportunity to do it. And we also knew that if we stayed just trying to out-heavy ourselves, we were going to turn into somebody who didn't sound honest, who didn't sound legit. Which is one of the reasons why we stopped and we said, 'We need to spread our boundaries out and we need to take this risk.' And people don't realize this, doing 'Vol. 3' was just as big a risk as making 'Iowa'. So, lyrically, sonically, creatively, we were able to kind of pull together, even though we were pulling apart at the seams at the time, and we created something that to this day is probably — other than some of my approaches at singing some of the songs, it's probably one of the best things I've ever done."

Taylor also addressed his previous comment that he was so disappointed in his vocal takes in the first few months of the recording process for "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses" that he thought about quitting. He said: "Well, it was largely because my alcoholism was really in full effect. I mean, yeah, it was brutal. It is hard for me to listen. And, of course, as an addict, you're blaming everybody but yourself. And once I got clean, I realized, I was, like, 'Man, I have to start from scratch.' And I did. And I slowly but surely started building my vocal takes and vocal passes back. But it was hard going, man. 'Cause people don't realize the damage that alcohol does to your voice. Plus, I was smoking, so it was a gnarly, gnarly time in my life."

Upon its release, "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)" sold 243,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to debut at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)" was the follow-up to "Iowa", which registered a first-week sales tally of more than 254,000 copies back in September 2001 to enter The Billboard 200 chart at No. 3.

Taylor's first album for BMG and the first on his own label imprint, Decibel Cooper Recordings, "CMF2" was produced by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, AMON AMARTH),who also helmed STONE SOUR's 2017 LP "Hydrograd" as well as 2020's "CMFT".

Taylor began tracking the follow-up to 2020's "CMFT" LP in early January at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada with Ruston. Joining Corey in the studio was the rest of his solo band — bassist Eliot Lorango, drummer Dustin Robert, along with guitarists Christian Martucci and Zach Throne.

In support of his new album, Taylor recently embarked on his 2023 tour featuring special guests WARGASM, OXYMORRONS and LUNA AURA on select dates. Produced by Live Nation, the 28-city tour kicked off on August 25 at Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, making stops across the U.S in Detroit, Orlando, Dallas and more before the final headline show in Los Angeles at The Wiltern on October 5.