A rumor regarding the identity of Slipknot's new member emerged following Craig Jones' exit and the band's unveiling of a mysterious photo.
Slipknot continuously dropped updates this week that left fans shocked. It initially confirmed Jones' departure from the band but deleted the statement a few moments later; the band soon uploaded a mysterious photo of a man, who appears to be the keyboardist's replacement, wearing a mask.
It also marked its first show with the reported new member, but it has not confirmed the man's identity as of press time.
Identity of Slipknot's New Member, Craig Jones' Replacement Leaked?
On Twitter, several fans shared a screenshot of a page showing details regarding the band downdthesun and its member, Nathan Church.
The snap shows the details regarding downthesun's formation and early years. Bassist Lance "Kuk" Collier and Church - who served as the band's keyboardist - initially worked together in the rap metal band Canvas.
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They soon played in several shows and joined a number of Battle of the Bands. Although they never won, they scored a chance to become Slipknot's opener in one of its past shows.
"So it seems that @slipknot has signed Nathan Church from the band "DowntheSun" as Craig Jones replacement as sampler. #slipknot," one said, while the other wrote, "nathan church from "downthesun" is craig jones replacement in slipknot."
This, however, should be taken with a grain of salt as Slipknot has not named the new member yet nor confirmed whether he would be Jones' replacement.
Jones exited the group and became its second-longest tenured Slipknot member after Shawn "Clown" Crahan. His first work with the band was the 1999 self-titled album, and he was able to record "The End, So Far," as his final music project with his former bandmates.
Slipknot Performs With New Member
Amid queries regarding Slipknot new member's identity, the band pushed through with its performance at the Nova Rock Festival on Wednesday and marked its first show without the longtime keyboardist. Clown was also absent as he announced he would be sitting out of the shows to care for his wife amid her health issues.
The mysterious man became the first new member to join Slipknot since Tortilla Man, who was soon identified as Michael Pfaff, joined the band to replace Chris Fehn.
It performed its songs with the new member smoothly, including "The Blister Exists," "Liberate," and "Purity," and "Yen."
As of the press time, Slipknot is yet to share further details about the new member after showing a creepy photo of him online.
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