STONE SOUR Drummer Says Next Album Will Be 'Very Different From Last Record In Every Way'

STONE SOUR is tentatively scheduled to enter the studio in January to begin recording its third album for a mid-2010 release via Roadrunner Records. Drummer Roy Mayorga says, "It's been quite some time since we all got in a room together so, we're all looking forward to get down and jam starting December for two weeks before the holidays and then continue on starting January-April 2010. We have a catalog of songs to go through and from what I've been hearing from the others (vocalist Corey Taylor, guitarist Jim Root, guitarist Josh Rand and bassist Shawn Economaki),it's sounding very different from the last record in every way now that there are five writers, including myself. Some songs are heavy, dark, melodic and with a lot of color. A very well-rounded record this is going to be. We're all super-excited to get going on this and can't wait to unleash this monster of a record on you all!"

STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor told Noisecreep that the band already has "ten tunes fully written and another 15 we're kind of working on here and there. When I'm not on the road I'm still working, I never stop. And it's really good, everything we're doing is really, really good."

As for what the follow-up to 2006's "Come What(ever) May" will sound like, Taylor hinted, "I can say the material is darker than 'Come What(ever) May', but a lot more melodic, a lot stronger, a lot more mature, and the lyrics that are coming out of me are really good. I'm really excited."

Taylor has also said in recent interviews that he plans to work on his first solo album while recording the STONE SOUR disc, but told The Pulse of Radio that STONE SOUR will come first on his list. "STONE SOUR's going to be a major priority. If I shot that band in the foot, it would defeat everything that we stood for, basically, and I don't want to see all that work go to waste," he said. "And I also feel that, with everything that's going on with that band right now, there's a lot of exciting, creative ideas coming in. There's so much potential now for that band."

Taylor has played some solo shows in the past year with an outfit he assembled called the JUNK BEER KIDNAP BAND, and plans to put the material down on an album sometime next year.

Asked how he decides which songs fit which project, Taylor told Noisecreep, "I just kind of go by my gut. Sometimes the songs just make it easy . . . I just know what's a SLIPKNOT song, what's a STONE SOUR song, and what's a solo tune. And luckily I can kind of see that."

Taylor's main group, SLIPKNOT, just wrapped up more than a year of touring behind its 2008 album, "All Hope Is Gone", as well as a year-long celebration of the 10th anniversary of its major label debut.