SLIPKNOT's COREY TAYLOR On Wearing His Stage Mask: 'It Lets You Kind Of Just Go For It'

Spark TV, which is part of the Czech monthly magazine Spark, conducted an interview with SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor on January 27 in Prague. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about his stage mask, Corey said: "For me, the mask has always represented that person on the inside who doesn't have a face, who doesn't have a voice — who feels like he doesn't have a voice. So the music is the voice and the mask is the face. 'Cause we're all different people underneath, and this is just the guy who I need to let go crazy so I can feel like a human being again, you know."

He continued: "It lets you kind of just go for it. And I don't think it's because you're hiding behind it. I think it's because you're letting it out. That's what it's all about — letting it out, letting that person out, letting that person feel it, and just going for it as hard as you can. So the minute you put this mask on, first of all, it hurts; second of all, it's heavy; third of all, it's hard to breathe in. But then when you go on stage, you kind of forget that you're wearing it. It's pretty crazy."

Taylor also talked in more detail about his current mask, an almost realistic two-piece human face but one that appears riddled with disease and disgust across its cheeks. He said: "There's a second piece to it. It goes over the top. It represents the fact that there are masks behind the mask, that there are faces behind the faces. So kind of showing the dimensions of trying to be a good person, a human and trying to do the right thing in your life, and sometimes having to show those layers to be able to get a good balance in your life."

SLIPKNOT kicked off its latest European headlining tour on January 18 in Helsinki, Finland.

SLIPKNOT has selected "Goodbye" as the next single from its Grammy-nominated new album, ".5: The Gray Chapter".

SLIPKNOT is nominated in both "Best Rock Album" (".5: The Gray Chapter") and "Best Metal Performance" ("Custer") categories at the 58th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on February 15 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.

".5: The Gray Chapter" sold 132,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart.