A surprising block has appeared in the road on the way to a new Slipknot album. It was announced via the band's website that drummer Joey Jordison had left the group for "personal reasons." Jordison was one of the founding members of the band, and has long been regarded as one of the better drummers in mainstream metal.
His vacancy of his position puts the band in somewhat of a double bind. The first of which is that Jordison was one of the main draws for the group, one that hardcore fans of the band (respectfully referred to as "maggots") might not find easily replaceable. Vocalist Corey Taylor often represents the face of the group in the media, whereas Jordison and guitarist Jim Root formed the core.
The second question is whether it's even worth it for the band to continue pursuing a fifth LP, what with all the dramatic changes the group has gone through since its 2008 release All Hope Is Gone. Bassist Paul Gray died of a morphine overdose during 2010, and other band members have all dedicated significant amounts of time to side projects. Taylor also serves as vocalist for successful rock group Stone Sour, and Jordison has toured with Rob Zombie and Ministry among other groups. Still, the band stated during its headlining gig at the Download Festival that it was working on new music. Jordison hasn't updated his Twitter since early November, but he did advise fans to be on the lookout for Slipknot updates.
The band's statement promised that updates and specifics on the split would come in the near future. For now, the band confirmed that it will continue to move toward releasing new material during 2014.
