The countdown continues to the release of the first Slipknot album in more than six years and the band took to answering an interesting question lingering in the minds of fans: What are the new drummer and bassist going to look like? Not the individuals themselves but what masks will the pair be wearing? After all, you can't just given the personas of Paul Gray and Joey Jordison, can you?
The new Slipknot music video—which you can view at Loudwire—answers that question although not very well. The band and or respective members behind the masks apparently weren't feeling too creative as both the new drummer and bassist are wearing virtually identical masks, which vague resemble the face decoration worn by vocalist Corey Taylor during the Subliminal Verses era. For a band that draws individual identity from ear of its uniquely grungy face pieces—such as Shawn Crahan's Clown persona or Jim Root's The Crow lookalike—the results are disappointing.
Most of the masks worn by returning members are relatively similar to their previous incarnations, although Taylor and Sid Wilson have gotten dramatically overhauls. Taylor's mask features a layer of "skin" that can be peeled off to reveal another mask while Wilson has reverted back to his original gas mask theme (a good choice). Taylor blows the old version of his character "0" up during the video.
Perhaps a more interesting topic isn't what the mask looks like but what performers lurk underneath. The band has still yet to announce the identities of the new drummer and bassist for the album .5: The Gray Chapter and it's driving fans (and us) nuts.
The video itself is brutal, even by Slipknot standards. It features members being eaten by birds, dogs and themselves, among other violent sequences.
